The Splendour in the Grass news is bad for us too.
Saying goodbye to Australia's best festival means saying goodbye to New Zealand sideshows.
It has Turnstile, one of the most electric guitar bands touring today.
It has Future, who has the most talked-about rap song in the world right now.
It has Kylie – fucking Kylie Minogue! – for her first performance in God-knows how long.
It has surprises, with old artists mingling with new ones: Arcade Fire, Girl in Red, The Kills, Tash Sultana, Omar Apollo, Fontaines DC, Pond, Fletcher and Yeat.
Announced just two weeks ago, someone put time into the line-up for Splendour in the Grass, the acclaimed and massive Australian music festival responsible for bringing a bunch of big names down under over the past 23 years.
For 2024, someone put thought, energy, and love into the bill.
On paper, this year’s Splendour did everything right.
It’s all over.
The plug has been pulled on Splendour in the Grass’ July event just five days after tickets went on sale.
It is the latest in a string of high profile festival cancellations from across the Tasman, including Falls Festival, Dark Mofo, Vintage Vibes and Groovin the Moo.
Splendour’s cancellation feels bigger.
It feels important.
Splendour was responsible for bringing a bunch of big name artists down under at a time of the year when we didn’t really get many coming our way.
One of the first artists I saw post-lockdown was Tyler, the Creator, who was here performing in 2022 only because he was headlining Splendour in the Grass alongside The Strokes and Gorillaz.
We got an acclaimed Liam Gallagher sideshow that year too.
I’m sure many of those 2024 artists would have made it over here – I already had my fingers and toes crossed for Turnstile and Future – for New Zealand sideshows.
Local lads Leisure were on that bill too.
Now, it’s unlikely we’ll see any of them.
Why has this happened?
News stories haven’t pinpointed the reason yet, and promoters Secret Sounds haven’t spoken about it.
But it has to be related to ticket sales.
After five days, organisers would have been able to spot trends and get an indication of where things were heading.
That place can’t have been anywhere good.
Clearly, music festivals are in a tough spot right now.
Overseas, the Californian juggernaut Coachella has been struggling to sell tickets for a festival that has Lana Del Rey, Tyler the Creator and Doja Cat topping the bill.
Locally, Nest Fest went under in debt, and Morningside Block Party was outright cancelled. They’re just the ones we know about.
The trends are easy to see: Festivals are struggling to secure headliners, with big-name artists choosing to instead embark on their own more lucrative tours.
Stadium tours by major acts are sucking up everyone’s spare cash: think Foo Fighters, Pink and Taylor Swift already this year, with Pearl Jam and Coldplay coming soon.
There’s been a post-Covid concert and festival boom, with more than 100 separate festival events happening over summer, offering choice on a scale we’ve never had before. The same thing has been happening in Australia.
The cost of putting on a show have risen exponentially, making margins tighter.
There remains a cost of living crisis, meaning disposable incomes are tight.
I don’t know which of these factors has affected Splendour in the Grass.
What I do know is that this is going to have ripple effects that last for years.
If that festival with that line-up can’t make it, who the hell can?
Everything you need to know…
“Punches ... vomit ... a completely obliterated crowd” ... Stuff's incredible review from last night’s Fred Again show in Auckland is a fantastic read and made me feel like I was right there in the apparently quite feral crowd. But it’s also making me question whether I want to go tonight. (I will … more on that tomorrow.)
Twenty One Pilots are teasing a huge world tour, and Live Nation NZ is teasing tour dates for us. I’ve seen the duo live – twice – and they’re a really fun live act, mixing magic tricks, plenty of pyro and in-crowd action along with songs like ‘Ride’ that are borderline anthems now. I’ll be taking my teenage son, for sure.
The artist formerly known as Mos Def, Yasiin Bey, has confirmed he’ll play a Vivid sideshow in Auckland. The rapper’s scheduled to perform at the Powerstation on June 7. This is a different show to previous visits: Bey will be playing songs from the late rapper MF Doom’s catalogue only. That could be a really fun night – a tribute show by a well-known artist. The pre-sale’s here.
Finally, this week’s been all kinds of crazy, hasn’t it? Like, something’s just felt a little off? Maybe it’s Easter, or that full moon? To soundtrack these weird, eerie vibes, I’ve been listening to Wellington’s blissfully fuzzed-out noise-rock duo Earth Tongue. Their scuzzy riffs ignite a part of my brain usually reserved for Kyuss, Mastodon and Queens of the Stone Age. Enjoy…
Got a tip, some advice, a piece of gossip, an anecdote or something to get off your chest? Contact me at iamchrisschulz@gmail.com. I’d love to hear from you.
I don’t know if it’s always been this way or it’s the cost of living crisis but damn concert tickets feel sooo expensive. My son is desperate to see Tenacious D but it’s $400+ for the three of us to go! I am sure I remember seeing them for $40. Really feels out of reach but it’s obviously ok in the market because all the seats are already sold out, there’s only standing left.
Mona Foma, one of Tasmania’s largest contemporary music and arts festivals, has come to an end after 16 years.
The summer festival, which was established by the Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) in 2008, and led by artistic director and Violent Femmes bassist Brian Ritchie, has featured major names including Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Bikini Kill, as well as a wide array of eclectic performances and art installations.
Mona founder David Walsh described the festival as magical but said the “spell had worn off”. “Mona Foma took us around the world. But it ends here. Maybe the end started at COVID. Maybe it’s because the last festival was a poorly attended artistic triumph. But those aren’t the reasons I killed it,” Walsh said in a statement released on Friday afternoon.
“I know that we live for experience but, more and more, I seek permanence, a symbolic immortality. At Mona, I’m building this big thing, hopefully it’ll be a good thing, but it’s a costly thing. I’m addicted to building, and my addiction got out of hand. Some things have to go before I’m too far gone.”
The pin has been pulled on a number of other Australian cultural festivals in the past 18 months, including Falls Festival, Groovin the Moo, Splendour in the Grass and the National Young Writers’ Festival. The list continues to grow, as supplier costs surge, ticket sales dwindle, extreme weather worsens and organisational funding for creative events wanes.
https://www.theage.com.au/culture/music/another-one-bites-the-dust-mona-foma-cancelled-in-further-blow-for-live-music-20240405-p5fhro.html