Just 10 days out from its kickoff, Soundwave 2014 is relocating the venue of the closing Perth date of the annual hard and heavy festival.
The WA leg of Soundwave 2014 will no be held at Arena Joondalup, mirroring Big Day Out’s last-minute venue change following ongoing battles with local council at the Claremont Showgrounds.
The good news arrives via Soundwave boss AJ Maddah, who noted in a recent tweet “we’re very close to getting Joondalup done!” speaking of the previously proposed venue shift while putting the finishing touches to the festivals’s set times.
Now the promoter has confirmed the move away from the Claremont Showgrounds and the anti-festival attitudes of Perth’s Claremont Council into the welcoming arms of Joondalup.
@zosheree YES! We just got approved for Joondalup!
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) February 11, 2014
@kyleholdsworth1 @Pucc Yep. But they don’t want us there and have made it very clear by thuggish behaviour, threats to suppliers, etc
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) February 11, 2014
“So excited! Finally no ridiculous sound restrictions or thugs closing down stages!” enthused Maddah recently.
The promoter has had a long-running conflict with the antagonistic attitudes of Claremont Council, who have a storied track record of making life difficult for major music festivals – including battling Big Day Out and Soundwave over curfews and noise regulations, and labelling last year’s Stereosonic punters as “the worst ever,” before voicing concerns over Stereosonic 2013 punters becoming squatters.
“Between the stage[sic] Gov, local council and the assholes at RAS they are making it impossible to do shows,” remarked Maddah last month while discussing his predictions of there being “zero festivals going to WA in 2015” unless issues with local authorities could be resolved.
It’s not the first time Maddah has accused Perth officials of foul play; following power cuts to the 2013 Soundwave WA leg, the promoter slammed local government for their “cheap political stunt.” An experience that soured his views enough that when it came time to launch the Aussie return of the Vans Warped Tour, the festival skipped Perth entirely, directly blaming government for the snub.
Adding in a follow-up tweet: “It’s all about pushing events out of Showgrounds so it can be flogged off to their developer mates for apartments & town houses.” The promoter has been involved in a long-running conflict with local authorities, specifically the antagonistic attitudes of Claremont Council
Claremont Mayor Jock Barker and his constituents were also the catalyst for Big Day Out’s last-minute venue change in Perth two weeks out from its kick-off, shifting from the Claremont Showgrounds to Arena Joondalup after Council were furious that Big Day Out had snubbed the council in an application for a 10pm curfew.
Soundwave festival now makes the same 25 kilometre trek north to the City Of Joondalup and its VenuesWest-operated Arena Joondalup, who gladly received the Big Day Out.
The venue change will also mean a change of date given that Future’s underage Good Life 2014 festival already has Arena Joondalup booked for the scheduled Soundwave Perth leg, on Monday 3rd March, though an official announcement has yet to be made.
UPDATE 12/02: Turns out Soundwave is going ahead on Monday 3rd March after all, with Good Life’s organisers – Future Music and Frontier Touring – announcing they are swapping over to Claremont Showgrounds in order to lend Maddah a hand.
“Good Life Festival has agreed to move our Monday 3 March event in WA from our original site of Joondalup Arena to Claremont Showgrounds, with the support of the venue and the local Council,” said a statement issued by Future Music. “We felt strongly about assisting Soundwave with the logistical issues they were faced with, as our finishing time is much earlier than Soundwave.”
Meanwhile, the finishing touches are being put to the Soundwave 2014 set times after drafts were revealed this week, while the lineup recently lost Megadeth after frontman Dave Mustaine announced the metal masters had pullet out of the event.
In related news, Maddah recently opend up about the “ugly” financial losses of Big Day Out 2014 and discussed the return of the Australian Vans Warped Tour, minus one of its East Coast dates.
Soundwave 2014 Dates, Tickets
View drafts of the Soundwave 2014 set times here.
Saturday 22nd February – Brisbane, RNA Showgrounds
Sunday 23rd February – Sydney, Olympic Park
Friday 28th February – Melbourne, Flemington Racecourse
Saturday 1st March – Adelaide, Bonython Park
Monday 3rd March – Perth, Arena Joondalup Date – NEW VENUE
Tickets on sale via: soundwavefestival.com, oztix.com.au & other outlets
Soundwave 2014 Lineup
Green Day
Avenged Sevenfold
A Day To Remember
Alice In Chains
Rob ZombieMegadeth
Mastodon
Placebo
HIM
AFI
KoRn
Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi)
Filter
I Killed The Prom Queen
The Ghost Inside
Authority Zero
DARKC3LL
The Defiled
The Danger Kids
Alter Bridge
Trivium
Pennywise
Jimmy Eat World
Down
DevilDriver
The Dillinger Escape Plan
Glassjaw
Panic! At The Disco
Eagles Of Death Metal
Less Than Jake
Mayday Parade
Newsted
Biffy Clyro
Rocket From The Crypt
Asking Alexandria
Clutch
Alkaline Trio
Baroness
Five Finger Death Punch
August Burns Red
Testament
Living Color
Letlive
Motionless In White
Gwar
Crosses
Suicide Silence
The Porkers
Gojira
Black Veil Brides
Zebrahead
Satyricon
Dream On Dreamer
Mutemath
Desparecidos
Stiff Little Fingers
Thy Art Is Murder
Graveyard
Dir En Grey
Deez Nuts
In Hearts Wake
Breathe Carolina
Defiler
I Call Fives
Hacktivist
Devil You Know
Soil
The Boss Hoss
Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats
Nostalghia
Upon A Burning Body
Black Dahlia Murder
MushroomHead
Finch
Pulled Apart By Horses
Ill Nino
Nancy Vandal
Bowling For Soup
Trash Talk
Skindred
Volbeat
Amon Amarth
Terror
Whitechapel
TesseracT
The Story So Far
Hardcore Superstar
10 Years
Walking Papers
Our Last Night
Coliseum
Your Demise
Heaven’s Basement
Real Friends
