A determined 19-year-old Ulverstone local may finally be getting the result he’s been campaigning for, celebrating Australian pop star Tones and I hinting she will perform in the town.
Jyron Flannery has been trying to get the singer to perform on the north-west since 2021.
He launched his grassroots campaign, Tones And I Come To Ulverstone, in January this year – hoping to convince the Byron Bay singer-songwriter to come to the north-west town.
His efforts were in response to a challenge Tones And I set out for regional Australian communities, where she promised to perform affordable concerts in the town that could drum up the most support.
On Sunday night, the artist teased the possibility in a post to her 609,000 Facebook followers, writing: “ULVERSTONE. What you doing first week [of] May?”
Flannery says it now looks like his years of effort could finally pay off.
“I want to bring it to our area because there’s not a lot of people that can’t afford to come to big concerts,” he told Pulse.
“There’s heaps of people with disabilities and the elderly that can’t get as far as going to airports and having to walk two kilometres, especially at Melbourne Airport.”
Local businesses and community members have rallied around Flannery’s efforts since January.
“It took over two months to get a reply out of her, but I’m just proud about the whole community and how they’ve all come together,” he said.
Flannery works as a bartender while saving to start his own food van business on the north-west coast.
The venue for the Ulverstone show remains undecided, with Flannery saying council were in discussions with the singer.
Flannery suggested the West Ulverstone Soccer Club or the wharf, though he admits the wharf would be “definitely too tiny” for the expected crowd.
“She’s someone that came from a small town and she’s showing everyone that coming from a small town, you can make it doing anything,” Flannery said.
The young campaigner hopes the concert will put Ulverstone “on the map” and lift spirits in the town.
“Ulverstone will be pumping,” he said.
