Organisers have confirmed rampant speculation earlier today that the festival, which was due to kick off next month, has been cancelled. Originally put together by organisers Soundwave Touring following the massive success of the Soundwave Festival earlier this year, it appears that a number of factors have forced them to pull the plug.
Experiencing difficulty in securing suitable venues in the lead up to the line up announcement, particularly in Melbourne where the location was on a dog track out in Melton, some 30 + kilometres from town, saw the festival off to a some what shaky start. A line up announcement of Van Halen, Alice Cooper, Hole, the Sisters of Mercy, Panic At The Disco, Danzig and Machinehead amongst others appeared to steady the ship and get fans excited, but rumours of sluggish ticket sales amidst an oversaturated festival market and increasing concerns about the economy didn’t bode well for the festival’s success.
The final straw appeared to be the organisers struggling with headliners Van Halen, with reports of internal strife and/or difficulties in dealing with the band’s management swirling around the industry. Initially it appeared that organisers were going to announce two replacement headliners it appears the final straw was the cancellation of a second headliner which forced organisers to scupper the festival , with organiser AJ Maddah confirming to Nova Radio that they didn’t want to put an ‘inferior product’ on the market.
Stay tuned for an official statement from organisers. You can listen to AJ Maddah talking about the cancellation below.
Update: An official statement from Soundwave has now been released on their forums. Read it below.
It is with great sadness that we announce the cancellation of the Revolution Festival.
Many of the festival bands will still be coming to Australia in that time period and team up to bring you some very special shows. These will include multi band/mini festival line-ups in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. We will be announcing these events in the next 7 days.
Tickets purchased online will be refunded automatically as soon as it can be processed. If you purchased from an outlet, refunds will be available next week from point of purchase.
