Organisers of Lunar Electric have confirmed the music festival will not be going ahead next month, as some performers from last year’s festival claim they are still waiting to be paid.
Grammy Award-winning Doja Cat was initially promoted to perform at the festival alongside fellow U.S. rappers 6ix9ine, NLE Choppa and Swae Lee, UK stars SwitchOTR and Russ Millions, as well as hip hop duo Rae Sremmurd and Jamaican singer Popcaan.
The Gold Coast Bulletin reported last week that it was doubtful the festival would be going ahead at Doug Jennings Park on March 11th, after it failed to secure key performers or confirm the venue.
Tickets to the event had been on sale for months, but ticket sales were deactivated, and the names of high-profile artists, including Doja Cat, 6ix9ine and Russ Millions, were promptly removed from the Oztix website on Thursday.
The event’s social media accounts confirmed the events, scheduled for March and April, were cancelled and would instead go ahead in September.
“Unfortunately we have had to make the difficult decision to postpone the March Lunar Electric tour until September 2023,” the posts read. “We want to ensure we deliver the best line up and experience for you all and this just couldn’t be achieved at this time.
“We apologise for the delay in communicating this to you and hope you’ll be there with us come September for what is going to be one huge Lunar Electric tour!”
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Tickets purchased would be valid for the September events, organisers said, with Oztix to be in touch with ticket holders regarding refund options.
Doubts were initially raised over the legitimacy of the lineup when a rep for one of the acts said his client had not been booked to perform.
“I have no idea why they are using Russ Millions’ name as he is not booked for this event,” said Patrick Alcide from London-based booking agency LiveBase. “This is fake.”
The festival organisers have been under siege on social media after artists and suppliers came forward and said they were still owed payments from last year’s festivals, according to The Daily Telegraph.
The event’s financial woes began in December 2021 when their Newcastle event was cancelled by a NSW Health order due to the Omicron wave which swept through the city. The Melbourne and Adelaide shows, scheduled for April last year, were cancelled entirely, with the Sydney and Gold Coast events pushed back to June.
Jess Origliasso from The Veronicas told the Telegraph last November that she and sister Lisa were not only missing half their fees, but were out of pocket for tens of thousands of dollars they had to pay for flights, hotels and band and crew wages.
“The promoters seem to have decided to just not pay us, it’s just insane,” she said. “We flew back from the US for these shows and flights are expensive now. We still paid all the crew, all the band, all expenses, flights, hotels, everything. And so we’re out of pocket as well as not getting paid for this festival.”
While some artists, like Havana Brown and William Singe, had their performance fees paid in advance or reconciled, others – including Illy, Hooligan Hefs and The Veronicas – were still waiting, the Telegraph reported.
“Some people are ‘cry me a river’ about artists and while I don’t agree with that, of course that’s going to be a perception,” Illy told the publication in November. “But what people don’t see is what happens to the people behind the scenes who had a really tough time over the last few years and rely on me and these gigs to pay their rent.”
The Veronicas and Hooligan Hefs confirmed they were still waiting on payment in comments shared on a since-deleted post on the Lunar Electric Instagram page.
“Stop the [cap],” Hooligan Hefs commented in early February.
“Pay the artists you owe from last year!!!” The Veronicas added, followed by “STOP THE [cap].”
Tone Deaf this week confirmed a number of artists were still awaiting payment, however they wished to remain anonymous.
