The Shockwave Festival was supposed to kick off tomorrow (July 6) at Studio Seven in Seattle, WA. However, with numerous bands (most recently Voivod and Havok) dropping off over the past few weeks, it seemed hard to believe that the festival could continue on. Well yesterday, while everyone was celebrating Fourth of July, the plug was officially pulled.
Headliners Fear Factory were first to the funeral, releasing the following statement:
“We are truly disappointed not to be part of the Shockwave tour. We send our sincerest apologies to all our North American fans planning to come out this Summer, but we will be back. Please look for Fear Factory headline dates in August.”
It then didn’t take long for Shockwave’s organizers to release a statement and hammer the final nail in the coffin. Blaming poor ticket sales and Voivod’s departure specifically, organizers released the following statement:
“It is with great disappointment that we have to make this announcement. With the recent departure of Voivod from the Shockwave festival lineup, as well as low advance ticket sales, we have decided to pull the plug on the Shockwave festival.
For purchases made with a credit card, your card will automatically be refunded. All other refunds are available at point of purchase. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.”
Something seemed weird after Dirge Within, Forged In Flame, Revocation and Vildhjarta first dropped off the bill. And Voivod and Havok’s departures from the tour seemed to confirm that something was going down behind the scenes. Whatever actually happened to lead to this, it’s a shame that such a promising tour package never came to be. Meanwhile, Metal Sucks has uncovered at least one headlining date for Fear Factory.
