The Topp Twins and The Seekers – two bands with large followings in Tauranga – will be touring the country very soon.

But if you wanted to see them play in Tauranga you're out of luck – neither act is stopping here.

Kokomo frontman Derek Jacombs, outside Baycourt, says the city has music tour venues but they're not always available or suitable. Photo by David Tauranga.

As the fifth largest city in New Zealand, why do we miss out on some great acts from time to time?

We have the venues; there's Baycourt Community and Arts Centre with 577 seats, Holy Trinity Church with 800, and the ASB Arena which can host up to 4000 people.

Kokomo frontman Derek Jacombs says yes, there are venues, but they're not always available or suitable.

'Tauranga is poorly served with variety and number of venues, there's no alternatives – that's the problem.”

Derek also laments the loss of Bureta Park, which in its heyday hosted acts like Cold Chisel's Ian Moss and the Hunters & Collectors.

'Now they're building a goddamn supermarket. We lost it and nothing took its place.”

This November The Seekers are taking a five-stop tour of New Zealand, presented by Showcase Entertainment Group Ltd.

Company director Layton Lillas says he has no issue with Tauranga, we're a 'good audience”, but limited by venue options.

He's brought acts to Tauranga in the past, such as The Hollies at Mills Reef Winery in 2013, Gerry and the Pacemakers with The Searchers at Holy Trinity Church, plus John Rowles at Baycourt in 2012.

'The only bona fide venue in Tauranga is Baycourt. It's fine but too small; there's only 550-odd seats and only certain sorts of acts play there.

'There's nothing wrong with acoustics and sound, but the capacity is too small. It just makes no financial sense.”

In terms of The Seekers, it was ultimately a financial decision as the band only wanted to do a handful of shows, Layton says.

For The Topp Twins latest tour, managed by Diva Promotions in Auckland, Tauranga was left off due to venue availability.

Tour manager Michelle Duff says Tauranga was originally pencilled down but they were unable to secure Baycourt for the required dates.

'The Twins have always had fantastic support for their shows in Tauranga, but sadly the only venue big enough is Baycourt,” says Michelle.

'It is always difficult to coordinate venues within tour dates, a bit of a jigsaw. There are often places we would have liked to go but didn't have dates available. I am sure this is the case for every promoter.”

'To the best of my knowledge we have never had any particular problems securing dates at Baycourt and have performed there in the past.”

There are also the costs and logistics of moving a large cast and crew around the country, says Michelle.

While not wanting to cause a ruckus, Layton believes Tauranga City Council and venues don't help themselves either.

Hamilton's Claudelands Arena chased promoters to bring acts to the venue, a reason why Bob Dylan played there in August and Ricki Martin will be there next year, says Layton.

'The TECT Arena; I wouldn't have a clue who runs that place. No-one has put it in front of me and said: ‘Look, this is a venue that's got brilliant sound'.

'They're not proactively attracting promoters to Tauranga; if they did they'd be all over me and other promoters of my ilk.”

TCC's strategic events manager Pip Loader disagrees, saying Baycourt in particular actively pursues events.

Council wants to provide a wide range of entertainment options for Tauranga locals and maximise the use of our venues, says Pip.

'Many promoters are happy to put Tauranga on their tour schedules and shows often sell-out.

'An example of this is the Wellington Ukelele Orchestra, which is committed to coming to Tauranga on their next tour.”

But Pip says the size of Tauranga's venues will be an issue at times with promoters, who often need to make tough commercial decisions.

There are a number of factors for promoters when booking in events – seat and venue availability are two.

'This would happen for most centres for differing reasons. We can only work with what we have got until someone decides to build and pay for new and larger venues in the city,” says Pip.

Council has proposed additional funding of $382,000 in the draft 2014/2015 Annual Plan to support the delivery of events.

This included additional funding of $200,000 for major events which would be matched by external funders.

The proposed changes would also include a new structure for delivering events and updating of the existing events policy.

Council has adopted both the new policy and additional funding, so Tauranga locals 'can expect to see more support for existing events and new events being added to the events calendar over time”.

But until this happens – anyone fancy a weekend in Hamilton?

What band currently touring would you love to see play in Tauranga? Write your answer in the comments below.