The timetables for all 3 cities of the inaugural Harvest Festival have finally been released after a very public war of words between headliner Portishead and promoter AJ Maddah threatened to derail the festival.
For the Melbourne timetable click here
For the Sydney timetable click here
For the Brisbane timetable click here
There will be no other live acts performing in Brisbane and Sydney when headliner Portishead peforms due to restrictions on the time the event can operate until. This was also at the request of Portishead who made it a condition of their performance at the festival. However in Melbourne Phosphorescent will be playing on the Big Red Tractor Stage at the same time.
Earlier in the week Maddah explained in a blog post the reason behind the delay, blaming an unnamed headliner that was clearly a reference to Portishead.
Most of the last 6 weeks have been spent going back & forth between half a dozen bands, horse trading, massaging egoes and trying to get the best possible outcome for fans coming to Harvest.
At the beginning of this saga, we had what Declan (my Harvest co-conspirator) and I thought was the perfect timetable. Then came word that 1 of our headliners wanted absolute silence on other stages. We had to comply with this for 2 reasons:
1. Their amazing, melancholy and ethereal music would be ruined if there was any noise bleed from other stages; &
2. They would cancel. And this was no bluff.
Now usually I don’t react well to these situations… This time, however, it was a band I had chased for a decade. I had got down on my knees and begged them to play Harvest. It was a band whose final acquiessence had prompted me to launch the festival this year….
And so began the winter of our discontent. A bogus journey armed with a multitude of sqaure pegs and facing a wall full of round holes.
I am clearly biased here, but I do feel that Harvest features one the best festival line-ups ever assembled. The downside of that, however, is that there are no sacrificial filler bands at the top of the bill you can shunt off to an afternoon spot.
It is hard enough to get timetables right without having the equivalent of your arms tied behind your back, a blind fold applied and a large carrot unceremoniously wedged up your nether regions.
Once you have struck that perfect timetable, to reshuffle things is messy and the results will never be satisfying.
As I write this, we are still petitioning local authorities to get show times extended in Brisbane & Sydney so Flaming Lips can close Stage 2 after Portishead.
Speaking of carrots and nether regions, I don’t much like our chances.
However Portishead member Geoff Barrow took exception to Maddah’s comments, explaining his frustration in a series of tweets:
http://twitter.com/#!/jetfury/status/133704410974007296
http://twitter.com/#!/jetfury/status/133706642998050816
http://twitter.com/#!/jetfury/status/133763310561660928
http://twitter.com/#!/jetfury/status/133769178854334465
Barrow later clarified his statements assuring worried fans that Portishead in no way would be cancelling their appearance.
Harvest Festival kicks off in Melbourne this Saturday
Melbourne, Saturday 12th November @ Werribee Park
Sydney, Sunday 13th November @ Parramatta Park
Brisbane, Saturday 19th November @ Botanical Gardens
