ON TOP DOWN UNDER: THE NEW FRONTIER

Australia and New Zealand’s leading concert promoter, Mushroom Group and AEG’s Frontier Touring, has a shiny new C-suite. Dion Brant, who joined Frontier Touring and Mushroom Group as COO in 2013, has grabbed the reins as CEO. Susan Heymann—managing director of JV partner Chugg Entertainment—claims the COO title. Reegan Stark, who’s already spent nearly two decades at Frontier and Mushroom, becomes CMCO, while Chugg COO Andrew Spencer becomes Frontier’s CCO, handling business affairs, strategy and development.

Brant, Heymann, Stark and Spencer will report to Frontier’s touring board, namely AEG Presents honcho Jay Marciano, Mushroom king Matt Gudinski, Brant and AEG Presents Asia Pacific president and CEO Adam Wilkes, who will serve as chairman.

Frontier Touring executive team (l-r): Andrew Spencer, Reegan Stark, Dion Brant and Susan Heymann

“Mushroom Group is built on our great people, which is something we've always valued first and foremost,” said Gudinski, who took over Mushroom last year following the unexpected death of his father, Australian music-biz giant and beloved artist champion Michael Gudinski. (Michael Gudinski, who launched the creative behemoth—which handles everything from record deals and publishing to concert booking and television production—50 years ago at age 20, sold the company to AEG in 2019 for $75 million, according to insiders.) “I’m thrilled that moving forward, Frontier will be led by four incredibly dedicated, experienced and strong leaders in Dion, Reegan, Susan and Spence, working closely with myself, Adam and the AEG Presents team. Frontier was founded on strong relationships, an artist-first approach and a never-ending passion for music, and I know Dad’s legacy and the future of Frontier is in safe hands.”

Said Marciano, “Michael Gudinski was a man of endless passion, energy and creativity, with an innate sense for the business, and it was clear no one person could replace him. All of us who worked on this new structure were bound by the same sense of duty: We’re committed to properly and thoroughly stewarding Michael’s vision for the future of Frontier.”

If any of us HITS folk can make it out to the Antipodes next year—which Frontier expects to be its biggest yet—we promise to celebrate the company's commitment to its founder's legacy by taking a healthy handful of shrooms while taking in shows by Foo Fighters, Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber, Tame Impala, Lorde, Tyler, The Creator, The Killers or Midnight [freakin’] Oil, all of whom have dates on Frontier's packed calendar. Portobello mushrooms, of course.

Photo: Ian Laidlaw