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.
Oh it’s brutal out here Emily! SZA is the most I’ve ever paid at $527.44 for two tickets … and I just know the whole family will want to see that Twenty One Pilots show. But even a Powerstation show is over $100 now.
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.
Splendour was always one of those festival lineups I was always excited to see drop because of the sideshows.
Hearing about the cancellation gave me the same feeling I felt back in 2012 when they announced that the Big Day Out would not be returning and you could get in for free with an old ticket. It's huge.
I really hope the AU festival market takes a year to recover, consolidate, and rebuild.
Without a strong AU market, it's going to be harder for NZ promotors to entice the headliners.
I don't think we will see a repeat of the summer of music we've just been lucky enough to experience. Perhaps that's a good thing? My wallet definitely thinks so.
I do wonder what the flow on effect will be here - def less winter shows, and I’d say there will be a few nervous festival promoters watching this carefully too.
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.
Oh it’s brutal out here Emily! SZA is the most I’ve ever paid at $527.44 for two tickets … and I just know the whole family will want to see that Twenty One Pilots show. But even a Powerstation show is over $100 now.
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
Nooooooooooo!!!
Splendour was always one of those festival lineups I was always excited to see drop because of the sideshows.
Hearing about the cancellation gave me the same feeling I felt back in 2012 when they announced that the Big Day Out would not be returning and you could get in for free with an old ticket. It's huge.
I really hope the AU festival market takes a year to recover, consolidate, and rebuild.
Without a strong AU market, it's going to be harder for NZ promotors to entice the headliners.
I don't think we will see a repeat of the summer of music we've just been lucky enough to experience. Perhaps that's a good thing? My wallet definitely thinks so.
I do wonder what the flow on effect will be here - def less winter shows, and I’d say there will be a few nervous festival promoters watching this carefully too.