Musician Paul Simon will only grace land for a day while in Dunedin for his concert on Saturday.
The 12-time Grammy Award-winning artist will arrive at Dunedin Airport on Saturday morning and immediately after his Dunedin date he will fly to Auckland for his Monday concert.
''He's got a very tight itinerary. He and the band arrive in Dunedin by private aircraft on the day of the concert and fly to Auckland afterwards,'' Chugg Entertainment New Zealand representative Manolo Echave said from the Coromandel this week.
''He travels outside the normal tour routine and has the freedom to travel when and how he likes.''
Simon (71) arrives in Dunedin for his debut New Zealand performance after completing his critically acclaimed Australia tour.
''His body of work really is incredible. His influences have been so diverse,'' Mr Echave said.
Work started on constructing the concert stage at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Tuesday and a limited number of additional ''gold ticket'' seats would now be made available.
''We've just done the final concert mapping specs and there are two new wings, left and right, at the front of the stage. We didn't really know until we did the final mapping whether people would get a good view of the stage from there. But it's a wide and open stage,'' Mr Echave said.
''It won't be a sell-out, but we're hoping to get close to the maximum house, for this concert, of 18,000. Sales were going exceptionally well originally, but were impacted by the Aerosmith show [on April 24]. We didn't anticipate there would be another show so close.''
However, promoters were impressed with the stadium as a concert venue, Mr Echave said.
''You have a facility that is world-class. I think it's spectacular. To have a facility of this significance in Dunedin is outstanding. There has always been innovation with you people down there.
''If the facility wasn't there, the [stadium controversy] issues wouldn't be argued about, because there's no possibility of these sort of events happening there. You've had a plethora of events of regional, if not national, significance,'' he said.
''I was there for the Elton John concert and I thought it was very good. About three-quarters of the way back it [the sound] got a bit light but, like any new venue, it takes a while to work the logistics out. We're confident we'll deliver our best production.''
Simon will be playing with his veteran backing band of Vincent Nguini (guitar), Tony Cedas (accordion, keyboards, guitar), Bakithi Kumalo (drums), Jim Oblon (drums, guitar), Jamey Haddad (percussion, hadgenga), Mick Rossi (piano, percussion), Andy Snitzer (saxophone, synthesizer) and Mark Stewart (guitar, cello, saxophone, self-made instruments).
Gates open at Forsyth Barr Stadium at 5.30pm on Saturday. Aaradhna plays at 6.30pm, Rufus Wainwright at 7.30pm and Paul Simon at 8.45pm.
