FEATURE INTERVIEW LUKE FIELD GENERAL MANAGER THE WIGGLES
THE WIGGLES
AUTHENTICALLY AUSTRALIAN FEATURE INTERVIEW WITH LUKE FIELD
Leading into the Las Vegas Licensing Expo, The Bugg Report has been able to catch up with the new General Manager of The Wiggles — Luke Field. After a most difficult two years for live entertainment across the world, The Wiggles have just completed an arena tour of Australia (The Fruit Salad TV Big Show) and will soon embark on a brand-new regional tour of Australia (The Wiggles Superhero Tour). Now into their 31st year, they have stood the test of time, selling over 30 million albums & DVD’s, eight million books, a billion music streams & two billion views on YouTube. As the market looks ahead to more normal trading patterns, Luke was keen to update us on local and international plans for the group and their commercial business interests. We began by asking Luke about the most recent changes and new team members:
Luke, The Wiggles have successfully transitioned new members into the team over time. Tsehay is the most recent addition, what attributes does she bring to the yellow Wiggle role? Tsehay is the second female to be a member of The Wiggles and is a dancing sensation. She won the Youth Salsa Soloist at the 2019 World Salsa Championship, amongst many other titles. Tsehay has already brought her own unique touch to the yellow skivvy and will be a favourite with fans worldwide. The team will embark on a new tour in Australia shortly. Can you tell us a little about this, please? Performing live for audiences worldwide is what we love doing the most. We’ve just completed two tours since February — the Wiggly Road Trip and The Fruit Salad TV Big show. The new Superhero Tour will visit over 22 regional cities performing over 65 shows and features new Wiggles John and Caterina from The Fruit Salad TV specials. The tour will feature all your favourite Wiggles songs such as ‘Do the Propeller!’, ‘Hot Potato’ and ‘Rock-a-Bye Your Bear’, and new and catchy tunes like ‘Dippy Do Dinosaur Dance’ and Superhero song!
06
THE BUGG REPORT MAGAZINE
With live entertainment returning, can you tell us a little about your international touring schedule for the remainder of 2022 and have you set plans for 2023? We will be going to New Zealand in August to do an arena tour of the North & South Islands. In September, we will head to North America, touring coast to coast in both the USA and Canada finishing in November. We have all seen the new OG’s Wiggles come to market over recent times. What has been the demographics of the audiences at the shows? Following the success of Triple J’s Hottest 100, the original line-up has accompanied The Wiggles on their tour around Australia, performing evening shows when our usual audience were fast asleep! The response to the tour was amazing with 10’s of thousands of 20 somethings rocking it in the aisles.
Performing live for audiences worldwide is what we love doing the most. We’ve just completed two tours since February — the Wiggly Road Trip and The Fruit Salad TV Big show.