Since 2007, Australia’s Soundwave Festival has been a great opportunity for international bands to tour Australia and for Australians to get a chance to see bands from around the world in a festival setting. However, according to promoter AJ Maddah, Soundwave will not be returning in 2017. “Definitely no SW17,” he responded in a Tweet to a question asking about it. “It’s a lot of hard work, stress & risk in return for which we get hate & stupidity #overit.” Then when asked to guarantee whether the festival would take place next year, Maddah replied “I’m doing my damest [sic] to make sure shows go ahead. Once I know position, will let everyone know.”
This all comes as the Soundwave festival has continued to downsize. From 2008-2014, the festival toured Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. This year, they’d dropped Perth, and 2016’s, should it happen, will only take place in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. And while Bring me the Horizon is scheduled to be one of the headliners for the fest, as of yesterday, they’d stated that they weren’t 100% locked in. Maddah said via Twitter that they were working on it. And as for the Soundwave Touring company, Maddah says that’s done too. It’s unfortunate that they’ve been losing a market a year, and it appears where there comes a time when it doesn’t make sense financially for the bands or the festival. It also goes to show that it’s not just America where some highly respected festivals aren’t pulling in enough to survive.
[via musicfeeeds.com.au]
