Despite the $2 million dollar debts that it owes to creditors, which had thought to have crippled Supafest, the embattled hip hop festival instead announced that they would be going ahead for 2013 with dates around the Anzac Day holiday in April.
Supafest recently revealed the tour dates, with shows in Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane on the 25th April and the three days following respectively, which instantly pits organisers to go head to head with the brand new Aussie hip hop festival, Movement, whose own dates were announced in February, run concurrently and clash directly with Supafest on three consecutive days, as FasterLouder points out.
Both Movement and Supafest are looking to lure similar demographics, and their Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane shows are on the exact same days, and while their respective Perth dates are thankfully five days apart (Anzac Day for Supafest, April 30th for Movement), there’s going to be a serious showdown between the two in attempting to grab similar shares of the market.
Given that Supafest have yet to reveal any of the acts for their lineup, or their proposed venues, from an objective point of view, the betting type would put money on Movement Festival as being the bigger drawcard given that they have the lineup, venues, and tickets all locked in.
Put together by Michael Coppel’s Live Nation Australia and Niche Productions, the Movement Festival is a brand new entrant to the Australian festival market, securing rap superstar Nas as the festival’s curator, headlining the festival and handpicking a selection of local and international talent; a role Live Nation have contracted him for until 2015, demonstrating their long-term investment in setting up an Australian hip hop event.
The lineup includes Nas, as well as Australia’s own Bliss N Eso, and a host of rising international stars like 2 Chainz, Chiddy Bang, Joey Bada$$ and Angel Haze. Not only that but Movement has the power and connections of the world’s biggest touring promoter, Live Nation, running behind it.
Given that Supafest have yet to reveal any of the acts for their lineup, or their proposed venues, from an objective point of view, the betting type would put money on Movement Festival.Given their shonky track record, Supafest promoters Paperchase Touring and Entertainment look like the underdogs by comparison. Organisers behind Supafest are still in serious financial strife, with administrators assessing that creditors are owed in excess of $2 million from the company.
Much of their problems stemming from last year’s Supafest 3, which saw thousands of ticket holders being dodged when a number of the headliners, such as P, Diddy, Missy Elliot and Rick Ross, were pulled off the lineup, according to the promoters ‘to cut costs‘.
It was later revealed that a number of the acts were never even booked for the event, with Missy Elliot’s long-time manager Mona Scott-Young revealing that they were never booked to play Supafest. “It is unfortunate when this happens as this dishonest behavior hurts everyone involved,” said Scott-Young at the time. ”It not only damages the reputation of the artist, but most importantly it disappoints the fans who spend their hard earned money on tickets expecting to see the artist.”
Hip hop tours and festivals have a patchy history in Australia, indicative of the problems hurting the festival market, along with Supafest’s problems, the other notable collapse was of Heatwave festival which offered a horror show of cancellations and mismanagement before going belly-up and owing investors millions in debt.
Michael Coppel, an industry veteran and the head of Live Nation Australia, has spoken before about the dangers of moving into the precarious festival market. “There’s so many festivals now, the only way you get a lineup is to pay more money than the other guy. I just don’t think that’s a basis of doing a festival,” he told Billboard ahead of the Movement announcement.Given their shonky track record, Supafest promoters Paperchase Touring and Entertainment look like the underdogs by comparison.
“The festivals that have strength are the ones that kept a connection with the key idea, whether it’s Stereosonic with dance music, or Soundwave with hard rock and heavy metal. And regional festivals like Splendour or Falls, they have a bedrock idea that they’ve kept faith with,” said Coppel.
Hip-hop is now their key idea in the Nas-curated Movement Festival, hoping to do for the genre what Sterosonic and Soundwave does for their demographics, and given their success in bringing out blockbuster names like Jay-Z, U2, Lady Gaga, and Pink’s upcoming 42-date stint already selling more than 450,000 tickets – Live Nation are aware of the infrastructure needed to put on a large-scale live show.
Supafest on the other hand, writing on their Facebook page, are wary of having their 2013 lineup plans marred by their spotty history. “Unless its on this Supafest Facebook page or the Supafest website it is considered to be a rumor and we will not be held responsible for public speculation,” write organisers.
“We appreciate everyone’s enthusiasm for the event, however we must once again stress we have no affiliation with anyone other than this Facebook site and the Supafest website,” they add.
Supafest 2013 Dates
THURSDAY 25TH APRIL – PERTH
FRIDAY 26TH APRIL – SYDNEY
SATURDAY 27TH APRIL – MELBOURNE
SUNDAY 28TH APRIL – BRISBANE
Movement Festival 2013 Dates & Tickets
FRIDAY 26TH APRIL – SYDNEY, HORDERN PAVILION
www.ticketek.com.au
SATURDAY 27TH APRIL – MELBOURNE, SIDNEY MYER MUSIC BOWL
www.ticketmaster.com.au
SUNDAY 28TH APRIL – BRISBANE, RIVERSTAGE
www.ticketmaster.com.au
TUESDAY 30TH APRIL – PERTH, RED HILL AUDITORIUM
www.oztix.com.au www.ticketmaster.com.au
