We recently asked whether the big Australian music festival is set for a comeback and it now looks as though we may not have to wait too much longer for an answer, with Stereosonic founder Richie McNeill revealing his plans to launch two new festivals.
The Australian music festival scene has of course taken some serious blows in recent years thanks to the collapse of the Big Day Out followed by the more recent egress of Soundwave and Stereosonic, which announced a hiatus earlier this year.
However, there’s a growing number of reasons to remain optimistic. In addition to murmurs that we’ll have up to three new touring festivals in the new year, McNeill is set to launch a new festival in December and a camping festival next year, he told Mixmag.
When asked by the outlet what he’s been working on, McNeill dropped the big news, adding, “Heaps of tours. Heaps of new events. You’ll just have to wait and see. Can’t let too much out of the bag.”
McNeill confirmed that his Stereosonic partner Frank Cotela will likely be involved with the events, saying, “Sure (I would work with him). Frank is great. He has always been forward thinking and we share a passion for the music and putting on shows.”
Whilst McNeill was not involved with Stereosonic in 2014 or last year, McNeill’s Hardware Group were instrumental in putting on Carl Cox’s new PURE events in Sydney and Melbourne, with 2017 events already being planned.
It’s not clear just yet what kind of events McNeill has in the works. Whilst it’s likely they will be focused on the EDM genre, Totem OneLove, the company behind Stereo, have hired staffers more experienced in working with bands.
