The rise of middle-age nostalgia concert tours in New Zealand

New Zealand is in a millennial concert boom. As nostalgia fills stadiums and arenas, we look at why boy bands and Brit legends are having their moment here.

Robbie Williams has sold out Christchurch’s Te Kaha stadium, 31 years after releasing hit power ballad Angels.

Up to 37,000 people are set to descend on the stadium to sing songs of their youth, recapturing nostalgia they’ve held on to since the 90s. Many are likely to be millennials, aged between 30 and 45.

Williams is not the era’s only act pulling crowds in New Zealand, with popular 90s and early 2000s artists selling out venues, with more on the way.

British boy band Five headlined Auckland’s Trusts Arena and alternative act Deftones sold out Spark Arena in May. In April, local legends Supergroove embarked on a multi-date tour of the country.

Westlife, former Disney star Hilary Duff, and System of a Down are heading our way in the next 12 months. So are TLC and Macy Gray.

Some acts are on anniversary tours, marking 20, 25 or even 30 years since releasing key albums, like US R&B stalwarts Boyz II Men, folk-rocker Cat Power, and Northern Irish bands Ash and Two Door Cinema Club.

On the local front, the legendary Che Fu is hitting the road on a 10-date tour in November to mark the 25th anniversary of his hit album, Navigator, and Fat Freddy’s Drop recently announced two Based On A True Story 21st Anniversary shows in Nelson for January 2027.

Demand for millennial acts is also strong overseas – clearly there is money to be made.

For example, the Backstreet Boys’ Las Vegas residency is estimated to be making US$4 million ($6.8m) per night, according to People.

But what’s causing this millennial mania? And will such tours be sustainable?

AUT Communication Studies lecturer and guitarist for New Zealand band Villainy, Thomas Watts, says it’s not just nostalgia making these gigs popular.

He describes the psychological concept of a “reminiscence bump”, where people remember music from their teens and early 20s more vividly because it’s tied to major life experiences, such as first relationships and heartbreaks.

That emotional attachment makes anniversary tours more of a draw.

“I think nostalgia’s a super key one,” Watts says.

“But I also think there’s like a level of rediscovery of artists by new generations.

“Deftones, as an example, got rediscovered on TikTok in a really massive way. A whole bunch of younger Gen Z people online were like, ‘These guys are really good’.”

Empire of the Sun, who headlined last year’s Electric Avenue Festival in Christchurch, have also found a significant resurgence through TikTok, proof that millennial acts are cutting through the age gaps.

The Pixies, who toured New Zealand this year, have had a similar resurgence with their 1988 song Where Is My Mind used in multiple online trends

Having a strong hook, like an online presence or link to current pop culture, keeps acts relevant.

“An act like [Canadian pop punk band] Simple Plan makes sense where they have had both the millennial resurgence, but also they’ve got a really good social media presence where they are posting all of the time.”

The question is whether the appetite for millennial acts will waver as audiences grow older. This will come down to the longevity of the music, NZ Promoters’ Association president and promoter Layton Lillas says.

“If a song continues to be played in bars for a new generation, then it’s not unknown for bands to look out and see two-three generations of fans in the audience.”

Lillas has seen this trend before with touring acts from the 80s, and says concert demand tends to peak when fans hit different life stages.

The increase in millennial-targeted tours, he says, may be due to retiring 70s and 80s heritage acts like Sir Elton John and Fleetwood Mac leaving a “gaping hole” in the touring market for younger acts to fill.

“Anniversaries, as we move through our life, always add to the nostalgic value of the concert. We love to recall a happy time from the past, which is generally tied up with the bands we were listening to back in the day,” he says.

Lillas also notes fans who grew up listening to these artists may now have more disposable income for concert tickets.

“[Some of those are] child fans – from around the year 2000 – who are now out of their parents’ house and finished uni and earning money to spend on events, but are not yet in family life,” he says.

“When a band’s fanbase is in the ‘family life’ phase, things get hard, as those people are no longer going out as much and are focused on the household. The second phase happens when the kids are teens, and you have more time on your hands to go out.”

Renée Hermsen, Head Promoter for Live Nation New Zealand, says it’s a universal tendency for people to go back to the music they grew up on.

“The huge demand for artists like Hillary Duff, Deftones and Evanescence, and on a local level Home Brew presenting their 2008 album Last Week are all good examples of audiences reconnecting with the soundtracks of their youth,” she says.

“These tours tap into that emotional pull, and as those fans move through different life stages, that yearning seems to grow stronger. Especially when they haven’t had a chance to hear those songs live for a very long time.”

Eccles Entertainment’s Brent Eccles says punters often buy tickets for artists whose catalogue they know well, which fits with millennial acts.

“That always helps any act sell tickets,” he says, “especially with New Zealand artists.”

But Lillas warns too many similar tours at the same time could hurt ticket sales.

“Too much of a good thing can be detrimental to the box office,” he says. “There’s got to be a reason for people to part with their money, and sometimes, if they have just seen the group two years ago, this time they skip it. Likewise, if there is too much crossover with touring acts, people will be forced to make a decision.”

Watts says that while these acts are “definitely not a never-ending cash cow,” if there’s money to be made and audiences that want it, those millennial acts will continue to tour.

“We’re in this really interesting time with media consumption where there’s been so much audience fragmentation.”

Millennials experienced one of the last eras of shared musical culture, he says, part of the appeal of coming together for a shared experience at a live event.

“Millennials have that feeling that everyone consumed an element of the same thing. The further we get, the more fragmentation kind of exists.”

This article was first published by the NZ Herald and is republished here with permission.