The national tour kicks off on March 11 at Maitland Showground and will be the first live music event in Australia to feature international acts since the pandemic began two years ago.

Under The Southern Stars will be headlined by US Rock'n'roll Hall Of Fame inductees Cheap Trick and also features American '90s grunge band Stone Temple Pilots, British contemporaries Bush and San Francisco 2000s rockers Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

Restrictions on live music continues to plague various tours around Australia and McManus admitted convincing punters to return to major concerts is an ongoing challenge.

"There is definitely consumer fear still around," The One World Entertainment CEO said. "It's not only me noticing it, we're all noticing it.

"I'm aware of several other major tours - which I can't mention right now but they will be announced over the next week and they're gonna be pushed back - but we're not. We're gonna ride it out.

"We're gonna hope people see us for what we are and support us in the same breath, that we're having a real Australian red-hot go and we're not giving in and we're gonna meet each challenge as it comes and we're gonna push through it."

All the international acts and crews for the tour - which travels through Hastings, Yarrawonga, Melbourne, Adelaide, Wollongong, Sydney, Caloundra, Gold Coast and Brisbane over a three-week run - have been pre-approved and double vaccinated.

Last week McManus held a Zoom conference call with representatives of the four bands to agree on the strict backstage COVID protocols for the tour.

This includes all bands arriving at the venue less than an hour before their performance and leaving shortly after.

Under The Southern Stars was first planned for April 2020 and has been rescheduled three times.

Along the way the festival lost original headliners '90s rockers Live, due to the band's hesitancy to tour during the pandemic, and picked up '70s stalwarts Cheap Trick.

Over the past two years McManus said he's come close to cancelling the tour altogether as the volatile COVID situation took several unwanted twists.

"I've had that conversation in my head probably 50 times," he said. "Do I cancel? Do we run with it?

"I'm very close to my crews and my artists. Having managed one of the biggest bands to ever come from this country in Divinyls, I know how much crews and tech guys rely on live work.

"I've got guys in my crew who have big families and they're super reliant on this tour going ahead."

McManus estimates the pandemic has caused between 30 and 40 per cent of experienced live production crew to leave the industry.

"They couldn't cope for two years with no money so you've got riggers who've gone and they're now painting or doing a trade," he said.

Under The Southern Stars comes to Maitland Showground on March 11. Tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster.