The saga surrounding failed Australian hip hop festival Heatwave continues more than a year after liquidators were called in to manage the festival’s finances after it entered voluntary administration due to large unpaid debts and a shortfall in revenue from poor ticket sales.
The festival made headlines in January 2011 after headliner D12 failed to show for half the dates, the Perth event was cancelled at the last minute, theMelbourne event had no alcohol after organisers forgot to apply for a liquor license, and VIP ticket perks failed to materialise.
The NSW Department of Fair Trading ran an investigation earlier this year into the festival after an avalanche of complaints from ticket holders, and eventually demanded the festival offer refunds to those who want them in Sydney due to misleading advertising.
Liquidators Ferrier Hogdson launched legal action against D12 late last year after the Detroit-based group failed to show up for half of the festival dates. The liquidators wanted the rappers to immediately refund the $35,475.73 they were paid to perform and to pay court costs and interest.
But unfortunately for the liquidators, authorities in the US have been unable to located the rap group to serve them with the Australian lawsuit. To make matter worse, the process server responsible for locating D12 is now demanding more money in order to find their location.
The Australian reports that magistrate Kym Millard had informed the parties that the court had received a letter from the US, informing it that the lawsuit had not been presented to the rappers.
“The communication comes from a process server, advising they are the (responsible) agent (for serving documents) in the US,” he said. “The server is requesting a fee of $95 … let’s hope they can locate the parties before the next court date.”
Magistrate Millard has adjourned the case until September in order to give the process servers more time to locate the group.
Of course they’re probably not looking very hard. One of the members, Swifty McVay, is actually in Australia supporting Obie Trice on his national tour.Of course they’re probably not looking very hard. One of the members, Swifty McVay, is actually in Australia supporting Obie Trice on his national tour. The group played Perth earlier this week and are due to play Melbourne tonight. Ironically, the promoter behind Heatwave is also supporting Obie Trice under his hip hop moniker Mastacraft.
D12 missed the first three dates of the Heatwave tour, including the multi-day Adelaide festival, after they didn’t show up for their scheduled flight. Organisers were reportedly furious with the rap group, but D12 told Tone Deaf in an interview that ”it was just paperwork holding us up and once we got that all done, we was over here. That’s all that was.”
The liquidators however see things differently, and in their statement of claim to the court say that D12 breached their contract when they failed to show.
“On or around November 2, 2011, the defendants entered into an agreement with Heatwave’s organisers (and) were paid two instalments of $US18,000,” read the liquidators claim. ”The defendants failed to perform at three of the festivals, in breach of the agreement. (We) are entitled to a refund of the total monies paid.”
Similar proceedings were brought by Mothership Music, the promotions company behind the popular Fat As Butter music festival, whosuccessfully sued Flo Rida who decided on the day of the event not to perform.
Flo Rida, and his Australian representative, Darren Ayre, were ordered to make an upfront payment of $55,000 to Mothership Music, as well as almost $7,000 spent on air fares, “appropriate motor vehicles” and hospitality for Dillard and his entourage.
On top of that, Flo Rida and his managment were ordered to pay $380,400 in damages and $37,745 in legal fees for loss of revenue, poor ticket sales and lost sponsorship over Flo Rida’s notorious no-show.
Last September, Flo Rida and his management appealed against the $380,400 in damages and $37,745 in legal fees ordered to be paid to Mothership Music, but in the Court Of Appeal last week Flo Rida is now claiming that the Australian court has no power over him. The case continues.
