The Australian Soundwave Festival has continued to make cuts, this time announcing that following the 2015 event, Adelaide would be no longer be included on the event's annual route. This follows in the footsteps of last year's announcement that Perth would be cut out of the loop following a slow 2014 (from MusicFeeds).
Indeed the slashing of Perth was less than surprising to those with a grasp on logistics. The majority of the annual stops rest within the Southeast quadrant of the Australian continent, and that makes organizing the schedules and transport of equipment all the way out West to Perth a potential problem if ticket sales weren't high. Hence the cancellation. Adelaide was more surprising however, considering its relative nearness to New South Wales. Promoter AJ Maddah warned Adelaide residents on Twitter that if "pathetic" ticket sales didn't increase, he'd be forced to cancel next year's event.
Although he claimed there was a rise in sales following his warning, he conceded that it wasn't nearly enough to justify continuing the run. Soundwave—a primarily rock music festival that features Slipknot, Faith No More and Soundgarden as headliners this year—was founded by Maddah during 2007 and made yearly stops at Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Now it's down to just three cities.
This will only cause some to point fingers at Maddah, one of the loudest and most controversial voices in concert promotion, worldwide. He recently unleashed a tirade on Melbourne's transportation department, alleging that the city was intentionally withholding service so that it could cater to the competing White Light festival. Although Melbourne denied all the charges, it did buckle and provide a free shuttle to Soundwave attendees.
You can check out a list of other Australian music festivals that have been less than successful here.
