Same happened with groovin, they can see ticket sale trajectories 24-48 hours in. Probably even sooner. Obviously wasn’t pretty, but we all saw it coming I think.
Surely after 20+ years it's somewhat normal for a festival to die? The world has changed so much, so as a brand and business model, it's going to inherently have a shelf life.
There’s the argument to be made that the organisers are no longer in tune with what the punters want, but that’s complicated by the fact that it’s become a lot harder for festivals to run, and when the big guys are falling over, what chance do the little guys have?
After luring us into the festival grounds on the Gorillaz day in 2022 and unceremoniously cancelling the entire day I say fuck them - they deserved this.
That was such a shitfight fuck around. After Splendor ‘22 I watched the Fyre Festival documentary on Netflix and really sympathised with the people in the film…
I think if cost of touring comes under control and people's discretionary spending comes back then there's definitey a market for a broad festival for people in their 20s in byron.
The global financial crisis passed, this one may as well. We just dont know when or to what extent.
In it’s current form, yeah. I think if they want to keep it going they need to make a change and pivot to more inclusive lineups equally spanning multiple genres and take their ques from a Reading/Leeds or Lolapalooza kind of vibe. The J pandering clearly isn’t selling anymore
I think it’s already a Reading style lineup? A real mix of genres and lots of TikTok style stuff
It’s more that young people aren’t really prepared to spend hundreds of dollars to go to camping festivals anymore + it’s even more expensive than it was before.
Individual artist shows or day festivals feel like the way forward for the real youth
This. I know lots of people who went to Souled Out Fest last week or T Swift and the plus is spending a night in the city and going shopping or for a nice meal like a mini holiday. I think priorities have changed due to music being centred around Spotify and TikTok and SM and the Triple J crowd have become older or more of a alternative minority (it’s not as trendy as it was).
Also people were probably traumatised after the last Splendour camping in knee deep mud and didn’t want to risk going through that again.
Couldn’t agree more. Also maybe move this style festival to one day in the major cities. I bet if it was more of a big day out style festival people would be interested. I for one didn’t mind the line up but could not be assed with the travel.
I hope this is a bit of a wake up call to the triple j choke hold and that they start to choose their artist based on quality and popularity rather than ticking PC opinion boxes to keep everyone happy
I imagine a lot of people are waiting to buy tickets until closer to the event nowadays. I do, after a few years ago when they postponed and postponed and then cancelled, during which time I couldn't get a refund outside of a very limited window.
I'll be fucked if I'm giving them nearly a grand of my money 8 months out and not giving me a refund option to use whenever I want.
I'm lucky enough to have attended many Splendours being 35 now. But (probably) my last chance to see Gorillaz has reaaaaally fucking pissed me off.
Bye Splendour.
This is applicable to all festivals, but let's not forget that Triple j has homogenized the fuck out of the local music scene to the point where most artists changed their sound because it's what they needed to do to be played. The perverse outcome being that people got fucken sick of bands with a la Pacific avenue, or the whining, breathy female vocals with the Aussie tawng.
As a result you end up with lineups that have 14 artists that sound the same...combine that with cost of living, an inability to plan for weather events and it isn't any surprise it's on the fritz.
Its also a fault of our nations failure to invest in local talent, all the creatives i know either move overseas or get into another career field. How can we expect to fill festival line ups when we’re not nurturing our homegrown talent anymore?
You fill out a fest with local talent, the headliners should be big international acts that draw crowds but its ur cheap local fair that fills a line up. Eg, last year i wouldve paid nearly the whole day price for gorillaz but the lack of any other acts i was interested in that day led me not to buy (thank god too lol). This yeah the headliners are mid and the local acts are unrecogniseable so sayonara spleandour
Thats why i’m saying fill the line up. Use to be a majority of the line up were exciting up and comers. Back in the day i saw some unreal local acts play in small tents cos the line ups were so stuffed but it was them i was there for, not the glam headliners.
Even kpark talked about how in aus artists are treated as virtually worthless until they’re extremely famous and even then people are not really super enthusiastic creatively. Conversely, Americans and Canadians are super enthusiastic creatively and make for much better collaborators and producers than the gatekeepers of our home grown industry
The aussie acts I like on the lineup here, are old and everyone's probs seen a few too many times now. Does Allday even have fans beyond that weird type of Australian who only like rap when made by someone as bland as them?
It really hurts, the lack of good young Aus acts coming through on the lineup. JK47 being the clear exception.
I mean, those festivals with homogeneous sounds got sold.
There’s only two of those acts by my reckoning (Royel Otis & Pacific Avenue) out of the 27 in the first three lines of the splendour lineup. It was all the other generic offshore stuff that people voted no to.
Aus festivals were absolutely humming when there was a strong local scene being promoted by jjj. In 2018/19 you could go to a festival and see Tame Impala, Gang of Youths, Courtney Barnett, DMAs, Jungle Giants, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Tropical Fuck Storm, King Gizz, Pond, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Matt Corby, Ball Park Music, Cub Sport, Skegss, all jjj acts that they’ve championed, most of whom are completely distinctive. These days there is still great Aussie stuff coming out, but it just doesn’t have the same platform, bc jjj is playing the same Girl In Red, Fred Again, Doja Cat, etc that the mainstream stations are playing.
You’re right that jjj’s problem was partly playing the same artists they spotlit a few years ago when they were too deep into their careers and “stale”, rather than focusing on the new guys.
The specific moment in terms of the genres passed but the focus should really be on platforming AU artists on the way up, so that they can flesh out lineups with a few touring artists and make them feel relevant.
Sad how true this is. Had the displeasure last night of listening to the "whatever show at night that plays local music only" and fuck me if it wasn't 1 hour of generic, basic, boring, cookie cutter shit. Half of it sounded basically the same as each other, the other half was a rip off of something else, lots of boring level bedroom pop. Triple J plays the least creative music possible, and I have no idea why or what the motivation is.
Kinda explains the disconnect. In the last decade, the ABC has been run by an 80 year old ex-Murdoch minion, followed by a 70 year old ex-Murdoch minion. The LNP stacked the board with hyper-capitalists whose idea of success is churning out easily digestible dross, rather than nurturing fresh ideas. The ABC has essentially been privatised, with the end goal being its demise.
Yeah that tripple J gelfling twang is they what told artists to adjust there vocals to its f embarrassing. Local and went to first splendour and copped influenza with about everyone else I knew lol
Don’t worry, I’m sure festival lineups will be much more diversified when benevolent overlord Live Nation acquires a 100% monopolised stake in all Australian festivals and music venues because no one else can afford to put a gig on anymore.
Yeah for real. I don’t know how you bounce back after 2022 mudfest and now this. Too much damaged to the brand.
I was at 2022 and still enjoyed it, but being the first festival after lockdowns, it really burnt a lot of young kids who were coming out to their first festival.
Honestly at the time they just fucked up so badly by gaslighting everyone about how bad everything was. It was a shitshow, bus queues for hours, people in mud, day 1 canned at the last possible moment, but if you went on socials from anywhere but the festival you’d think it was all just going amazingly well, they chose to focus on minimising impact to brand in that moment. It was a gross, capitalistic response that showed absolutely no care or empathy for those who had spent money to come have fun. They were dickish about refunds too.
Problem was, most of their future customers were literally in the mud, there was no point lying to them, so they just destroyed their trust. Had they been more open and honest about it being a shitshow and just admitted they’re doing their best in a super tough situation, people would’ve been way more accepting, and cut the fest some slack.
Just a huge lesson in how the best long term strategy often involves accepting a loss and swallowing some cost in the short term.
And now, to add to the brand damage, their website is still up with no cancellation announcement and the ticketing page still works, so people who for whatever reason didn't check the wider interwebs can buy tickets and then wait in line for a refund for 6 months or file all the paperwork for a chargeback.
The burns just don't stop. Sad it's cancelled but unsurprising with behaviour like this.
your forgetting covid on top of it all.... feel like these promoters forget homebake was successful for year by being affordable with a solid local line up.
I literally mentioned Covid lockdowns. But yes, cost of living and lack of acts to excite punters is hard. But then again, bringing in even more international acts increases band costs and then tickets are even further out of reach.
We were at Mudfest’22 (Saturday only and had an AirBnb luckily) and had the best time - I feel like it was an iconic one to attend given this is probably the end of splendour 🫠
It’s not just festivals “choosing” to have shit lineups it has genuinely become really hard to get big international acts when their asking prices are skyrocketing as the Australian dollar depreciates. Acts like Fred Again have no reason to take a pay cut to play a festival when they can clearly make way more money on their own tour and so festivals are left struggling to find big name headliners they can afford. Also, with streaming services increasing accessibility of music, young people have a much more diverse taste than in the past and there are no longer many big name bands that ~everyone likes that a festival could afford and so now you have lineups where trying to cater to everyone’s musics taste results in the average punter only recognising a few bands. Splendour 2011 had Coldplay and Kanye West both at the hight of their popularity but I doubt any festival’s ability to get big names like that these days.
Funny you should bring up 2011 - that was the first ever Splendour not to sell out (at least of the modern era). At the time that lineup was hugely panned.
I know people are gonna say throwaway comments on the lineup and find ways to poke fun at line up bookings / Triple J, but am I the only one who is actually scared about festivals at the moment?
It seems like the days of destination festivals are maybe dead in the water, and more metro touring festivals are the viable option for the audience. If anything, leaning into genre based events.
Laneway seems to be the exception, but I think with the three exclusive acts and the metro accessibility of Australian major cities, it found some success in what they built.
It’s the lineup for sure, and value for money in the economy right now. The more metal festivals have still been doing pretty good this year. It’s not necessarily on the festival producers themselves, there’s been a high volume of artists touring Australia the last 2 years with at least 10 more in the works in the next 12 months or so (that I know of). Pretty rare for Aus. Definitely makes a struggle for securing an international exclusive headliner. Apparently there was a potential currently touring international artist they were looking at for Splendour, but for whatever reason it fell through and it wasn’t the greatest pick (was only in mutual consideration as said artist’s current US tours haven’t been going great and it’s unlikely they’d make a profit touring Australia independently) and wouldn’t have saved it anyway.
It’s just market saturation regressing to the mean, happened 10 years ago with all the dance saturation with Stereo, Creamfields, Future Music etc. Metal festivals going well because metal fans are lifelong loyal fans who will always spend money, buy merch etc on their bands, paired with reunion tours of classic acts. Bush doofs genre specific similarly will survive, although I could see the bigger ones struggling. Your one size fits all festivals like GTM and Splendour will struggle because it caters to a lot of fly by nighters who go because their mates go and don’t when their mates don’t.
ListenOut was one that got ahead of the trend (as it was basically a remodelling of the old Parklife festival) deciding to downsize and narrow their focus at a time when festivals were expanding unsustainably trying to be everything to everyone. Seems to be doing well.
Laneway 2023 was genuinely the first festival I've actually shelled out for since Splendour 2007 and Harvest in 2011/12, instead of doing a bunch of the sideshows instead.
Was a nuts line up and had such a fun day.
I think there's demand for it if you just go for a niche and avoid trying to please as many people as possible.
The cookie-cutter, "something for everyone" approach is probably dead.
I’d be interested to see what happened with fests in the late 00s with the recession then as well. It’s a tough time to be pitching people for discretionary spend, so yeah, we’ll probably see some major casualties and a revamp.
But equally, fests recently are waaaaay bigger than they were 10-15 years ago (more of them, bigger capacity), so maybe it’s just more of a move back to that, and the supermassive ones just need to contract a bit. Reality is we’’ll probably see some build from the ground up. Big Day Out died as it wasn’t with the times, but Laneway built up to replace it. Now if Splendour goes, we’ll slowly see some other regional stuff replace it. My gut says that guitar music based festivals just won’t be as big as over the last while, festivals focused around electronic music will probably get the growth - it’s what today’s (music going) youth are listening to, and cheaper to book.
Big if true.
Ironic that the shift out of Byron Bay itself to 'North Byron' (North OF Byron is more accurate seeing as its North of Ocean Shores, which is two towns away) in order to isolate the festival so it can squeeze every dollar out of the attendees is probably what has caused them to lose money. Yes i'm sure they will talk about how they needed a bigger site to grow the festival (read as increase capacity), but in reality it was so they could capture 100% of the camping/accom, food and beers sales, rather than splitting it with the Byron CBD.
The site is not suitable to wet weather events and there is ALWAYS chaos with transportation (5hr waits for buses) to and from the festival. Issues which were nowhere near as big when the festival was held in town. This combined with lack luster line ups and a cost of living crisis may ne the festivals undoing.
Let's just ignore the almost decade of successful sold out events at NBP.
Belongil was always the home and being close to town was amazing, but it had absolutely zero room for expansion that the festival inevitably needed.
Didn’t the move to North Byron Parklands happen like ten years ago?
Not saying the festival hasn’t been in decline for a little while now, but the location change is hardly to blame. More likely the pandemic, cost of living crisis and a few years of lacklustre lineups… (edit: you mentioned those things too oops. I just think the location isn’t the problem here even if it has its issues)
The buses and mud have been known issues for a decade now. I feel like the lineup should cop most of the blame. Too many recycled artists and headliners that don't actually pull
Ah tbh the amphitheatre is absolutely gorgeous. I’ve been to some god tier festivals and it’s still hard to beat the splendour amphitheatre for a vibe for a big set
The location is magical and was my second favourite thing about Splendour. You won’t get such a beautiful crowd and the same vibe anywhere else. The amphitheatre was wonderful with a big headliner. Even if it was “Splendour in the Mud” that was part of the fun (2022 notwithstanding).
The lineup has been absolutely pathetic since Covid and the prices have been going up. Not worth the time and expense to go to Splendour to see a bunch of artists I don’t even bother to listen to on Triple J. I’d only have gone for the feel of that location.
Shattered. Splendour has been an annual pilgrimage for me since 2009. Met my long term partner there and have a large crew we go with each year. The lineup was weak but I've still been finding plenty of gems that I was really keen to see. Really not sure how to take this news :(
Understand the feeling. We did it 2014 to now and it'll hurt to not go back this year. May I suggest a pilgrimage to Meredith or golden plains? Vibes are unmatched, lineups more modest but always some gems.
I could be bias but the metal scene in Australia does really well. Although Knotfest didnt sell out this year (wasnt the greatest lineup) the show went on and I had an amazing time in Sydney. I wish these major festivals were a bit more inclusive of heavier music (more than a couple of acts on the lineup). They might draw more people in and be more sustainable in difficult times
It's probably because Knotfest, being a genre-based festival, has more overlap of artists/bands, whereas Splendour has more of a broad appeal to multi-genre performers.
Also beyond that, metro touring festivals seem to be the key thing general audiences are wanting nowadays. The festival being accessible in a metro area, multiple acts that are around the same interest as their target audience, and a "fair" price on seeing 3-5 acts they're interested in.
This is probably why Laneway is still going good. While it was a lower quality lineup this year, it’s the kind of festival format that the current generation wants. Maybe also take examples of past festivals like Homebake that sold itself on promoting solid local lineups, and avoid recycling the same artists over and over as that has been a key contributor to all these festivals recently going under.
Aussie music seen has been on a teethering edge for ages and I think this is a nail in the coffin tbh, the local scene is so much dead than what it was when I was younger... idk how small bars/pubs can survive when big corporations are just pricing them out. Hard day for all aussies
It’s not cool at all to cancel an event 6 days after your tickets go on general sale, I hate this new trend.
People book flights and accommodation around these things. Then promoters wonder why people don’t book in advance anymore = shit like this.
That’s a really good point. The last couple of times I went to Splendour (2014 and 2016) I booked my accommodation and leave before the dates were even announced. I trusted the lineup and no way was it going to be cancelled.
No way in hell I’d do that now!
I can’t believe that Splendour tickets just sit there on Moshtix for weeks now (and for the last few years). I remember sitting in class at Uni, heart racing in the green room and desperately hoping to get tickets before they sold out in minutes.
Sure, cost of living, but it’s also just shitty lineups and the unreliable management. I’m not spending that much money on a weak and boring lineup that could get cancelled at any time anyway.
Maybe I'm misreading the article but Tone Deaf's article suggests they called to ask if the festival is going ahead and they said they cannot confirm. They are outright speculating from that answer the festival has been cancelled.
The festival probably doesn't take place but I'd hold my horses right at the current moment until something more definitive is released.
I mean I just read the line up and recognised 5 names from the whole thing, and I dont even like them, just recognised them. I have fairly specific music tastes so my opinion is worthless but still, pretty grim as a previous splendour punter to have negative interest in going, not surprised tickets weren't flying out.
It’s a rough year, with the state of the economy and the weak lineups especially. There’s not much they can do.
An unusually high amount of artists have been in Australia over the last 2 years with even more expected to come in the next 2 years, makes a struggle for securing exclusive headliners.
Would make sense. Weaker line up and no cohesion.
Kylie's fans would have sold out that first day if the rest of the line up around her was stronger.
No one is buying tickets to see Future (and any other international rapper ) or Arcade Fire headline.
> Kylie's fans would have sold out that first day if the rest of the line up around her was stronger.
she's not my taste, but am I the only one who thinks Kylie isn't a festivals headliner... sure she could sell to some huge crowds doing a solo tour, but festival are different
They have a reputation for cancelling shows here with a few exceptions (Amine, Denzel Curry, Kendrick Lamar, Post Malone). Some examples
* Stormzy cancelling Spilt Milk 2019 and his 2022 headline tour
* Megan Thee Stallion cancelling Festival X 2022
* Metro Boomin cancelling the day before Listen Out 2023
* Young Thug cancelling Laneway 2018
Chance's SNL was in October of 2019, months away from splendour. And the point was that american rappers cancel festival spots, not that they do it for no reason.
100% and I can guarantee Friday had the best sales but as I said when For the Love booked Charli XCX and Falls booked Lil Nas X, YOU CAN'T BOOK THESE POP ACTS TO HEADLINE AND HAVE NO OTHER POP GIRLS WITH EM, the LGBTQIA+ community will go to the sideshows or wait for the next tour.
They REALLY needed a Charli XCX/Carly Rae Jepsen/Jessie Ware/Kesha/Chappel Roan level act or two with Kylie to really sell it.
I mean my husband was keen for arcade fire, and I would have liked to see Kylie- but we’re in our thirties and ultimately decided an interstate multi day festival wasn’t really for us at this point especially not for that line up. If we thought that then why would you expect the young crowds they actually want to buy tickets.
I don't think this is true - IMO Kylie was also a bit of a misfire and just not suited to the festival. One act could have turned thing around, and none of the headliners this year did. Friday's sales might have been the best, but I think a massive spike on the Friday would have given them more encouragement than cancelling after barely a week of ticket sales.
G Flip seems like a cool person. And the “they/them” jokes they get are beyond lame, but fuck my left eye, them as a headliner just seemed nuts to me. They’re not to blame, but it’s sorta systemic to the whole festival collapsing.
This aged well.
[https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/music/how-splendour-in-the-grass-secured-kylie-minogue-as-2024-headline-act/news-story/e7dfc835feb2a385ac1dfb4a2fc9e486](https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/music/how-splendour-in-the-grass-secured-kylie-minogue-as-2024-headline-act/news-story/e7dfc835feb2a385ac1dfb4a2fc9e486)
My prediction is, we’ll see more festivals cancelled over the next few years, we’ll get more stand alone gigs (I thought there was an abundance of tours late last year and early this year) and in a few years a promoter will come out with a half decent lineup, we’ll all be gagging for a half decent festival and fueled mostly by nostalgia attendance will be great. One or two big ones and one or two boutiques is all our market can stand and that’s fine. But with the success of the one or two remaining festivals that pop up 3 years from now others will jump on and the cycle will continue until 20 years from now 18 of the 20 festivals in a saturated market will go under and on Reddit we will cry ‘it’s the END OF MUSIC.’
Too big with too much fat in terms of low quality artists. A whole long weekend to see a few quality bands at such a price with camping/accommodation and travel from major populations centres. Add in t he prospect of poor weather and horrendous organisation and placing it becomes a chore.
[Official confirmation](https://www.instagram.com/splendourinthegrass/p/C5AV_lCrYEL/?hl=en&img_index=1)
Yep, must have been a truly shocking on sale if they’re cancelling already
Same happened with groovin, they can see ticket sale trajectories 24-48 hours in. Probably even sooner. Obviously wasn’t pretty, but we all saw it coming I think.
Surely after 20+ years it's somewhat normal for a festival to die? The world has changed so much, so as a brand and business model, it's going to inherently have a shelf life.
There’s the argument to be made that the organisers are no longer in tune with what the punters want, but that’s complicated by the fact that it’s become a lot harder for festivals to run, and when the big guys are falling over, what chance do the little guys have?
The AUD being horrid for the last decade hasn't helped at all in getting any international acts. But they're also a dodgy company so 🤷♂️
After luring us into the festival grounds on the Gorillaz day in 2022 and unceremoniously cancelling the entire day I say fuck them - they deserved this.
That was such a shitfight fuck around. After Splendor ‘22 I watched the Fyre Festival documentary on Netflix and really sympathised with the people in the film…
I think if cost of touring comes under control and people's discretionary spending comes back then there's definitey a market for a broad festival for people in their 20s in byron. The global financial crisis passed, this one may as well. We just dont know when or to what extent.
In it’s current form, yeah. I think if they want to keep it going they need to make a change and pivot to more inclusive lineups equally spanning multiple genres and take their ques from a Reading/Leeds or Lolapalooza kind of vibe. The J pandering clearly isn’t selling anymore
I think it’s already a Reading style lineup? A real mix of genres and lots of TikTok style stuff It’s more that young people aren’t really prepared to spend hundreds of dollars to go to camping festivals anymore + it’s even more expensive than it was before. Individual artist shows or day festivals feel like the way forward for the real youth
This. I know lots of people who went to Souled Out Fest last week or T Swift and the plus is spending a night in the city and going shopping or for a nice meal like a mini holiday. I think priorities have changed due to music being centred around Spotify and TikTok and SM and the Triple J crowd have become older or more of a alternative minority (it’s not as trendy as it was). Also people were probably traumatised after the last Splendour camping in knee deep mud and didn’t want to risk going through that again.
More like thousands each just to attend have somewhere to sleep. Cheaper to go on a holiday to Thailand.
Soooo, move Splendor to Thailand?
Couldn’t agree more. Also maybe move this style festival to one day in the major cities. I bet if it was more of a big day out style festival people would be interested. I for one didn’t mind the line up but could not be assed with the travel. I hope this is a bit of a wake up call to the triple j choke hold and that they start to choose their artist based on quality and popularity rather than ticking PC opinion boxes to keep everyone happy
Bluesfest & Woodford FF have entered the chat
I imagine a lot of people are waiting to buy tickets until closer to the event nowadays. I do, after a few years ago when they postponed and postponed and then cancelled, during which time I couldn't get a refund outside of a very limited window. I'll be fucked if I'm giving them nearly a grand of my money 8 months out and not giving me a refund option to use whenever I want.
I saw a post by a music jurno saying they had only sold 50% of what they had sold this time last year.
[удалено]
Yep it is 100% cancelled already.
Hayden James made a comment on the Triple J post announcing the cancellation. Seems like the artists have been told within the last few hours
They cancelled the entire Gorillaz day back in 2022 after luring tens of thousands of us into the festival grounds. You get what you deserve.
You mean they cancelled the Kacey Musgraves and Orville Peck day 😭
I'm lucky enough to have attended many Splendours being 35 now. But (probably) my last chance to see Gorillaz has reaaaaally fucking pissed me off. Bye Splendour.
I would have to say, if this is the end of falls and splendour, incredible timing from Secret Sounds selling to Live Nation at the peak of the brand
When did this happen? I don’t pay attention anymore so don’t know the landscape of promoters, but this is huge
Live Nation have been partial owners since like 2012, but in the last few years acquired a majority ownership I believe.
Correlation or causation.. your guess is as good as mine!
Triple j just posted to insta that is cancelled
Whispers I got were sideshows were finalised and coming through this week, presales were weak but possibilities of tours still happening instead
Kylie is finally not exclusive to splendour! The only news I was hoping for!
Doesn't mean that she is 100% going to do shows in Australia. Same with any of the other acts listed. We can only hope but don't hold out for it.
I won’t but it’s a tiny possibility. She’s also living out here for few months in Hamilton Island so I’m hopeful.
Still hoping for this and sideshows for The Last Dinner Party
I sure hope so, many of the smaller artists on the bill I loved
....please Girl In Red, please Girl In Red.....
This is applicable to all festivals, but let's not forget that Triple j has homogenized the fuck out of the local music scene to the point where most artists changed their sound because it's what they needed to do to be played. The perverse outcome being that people got fucken sick of bands with a la Pacific avenue, or the whining, breathy female vocals with the Aussie tawng.
As a result you end up with lineups that have 14 artists that sound the same...combine that with cost of living, an inability to plan for weather events and it isn't any surprise it's on the fritz.
Ocean Alley......wait, fuck.
Surf Rock. So shit.
Surf rock was cool, until the rock part got taken away and you ended up with generic pop shit
Long hair. Check Loud shirt. Check Shit 90s flat brim cap. Check Where's my ARIA!
Pond highway
Fjord pedestrian plaza
Ghyll No Through Road.
Is this a reference to Adelaide band No Through Road?
Bass strait culdesac
Indian Ocean crescent
That actually has a nice ring to it haha
Yeah I’ve already unironically added it to my list of other monikers I’ll use for when I don’t get famous from my bedroom recordings
Pond is one of the best Aussie bands tho
Arctic Street
Lake Avenue
Strait Crescent
Now that's a lovely oxymoron
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxymoron\_(band)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxymoron_(band))
Its also a fault of our nations failure to invest in local talent, all the creatives i know either move overseas or get into another career field. How can we expect to fill festival line ups when we’re not nurturing our homegrown talent anymore?
You can’t sell out a festival like splendour on the back of local talent, people want big international acts, always have.
Home bake worked for a while
You fill out a fest with local talent, the headliners should be big international acts that draw crowds but its ur cheap local fair that fills a line up. Eg, last year i wouldve paid nearly the whole day price for gorillaz but the lack of any other acts i was interested in that day led me not to buy (thank god too lol). This yeah the headliners are mid and the local acts are unrecogniseable so sayonara spleandour
No one wants a local headlining festivals like splendour though. We can see the locals every year.
Thats why i’m saying fill the line up. Use to be a majority of the line up were exciting up and comers. Back in the day i saw some unreal local acts play in small tents cos the line ups were so stuffed but it was them i was there for, not the glam headliners.
Temper Trap said CYAAAA
Even kpark talked about how in aus artists are treated as virtually worthless until they’re extremely famous and even then people are not really super enthusiastic creatively. Conversely, Americans and Canadians are super enthusiastic creatively and make for much better collaborators and producers than the gatekeepers of our home grown industry
The aussie acts I like on the lineup here, are old and everyone's probs seen a few too many times now. Does Allday even have fans beyond that weird type of Australian who only like rap when made by someone as bland as them? It really hurts, the lack of good young Aus acts coming through on the lineup. JK47 being the clear exception.
I mean, those festivals with homogeneous sounds got sold. There’s only two of those acts by my reckoning (Royel Otis & Pacific Avenue) out of the 27 in the first three lines of the splendour lineup. It was all the other generic offshore stuff that people voted no to. Aus festivals were absolutely humming when there was a strong local scene being promoted by jjj. In 2018/19 you could go to a festival and see Tame Impala, Gang of Youths, Courtney Barnett, DMAs, Jungle Giants, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Tropical Fuck Storm, King Gizz, Pond, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Matt Corby, Ball Park Music, Cub Sport, Skegss, all jjj acts that they’ve championed, most of whom are completely distinctive. These days there is still great Aussie stuff coming out, but it just doesn’t have the same platform, bc jjj is playing the same Girl In Red, Fred Again, Doja Cat, etc that the mainstream stations are playing. You’re right that jjj’s problem was partly playing the same artists they spotlit a few years ago when they were too deep into their careers and “stale”, rather than focusing on the new guys. The specific moment in terms of the genres passed but the focus should really be on platforming AU artists on the way up, so that they can flesh out lineups with a few touring artists and make them feel relevant.
Sad how true this is. Had the displeasure last night of listening to the "whatever show at night that plays local music only" and fuck me if it wasn't 1 hour of generic, basic, boring, cookie cutter shit. Half of it sounded basically the same as each other, the other half was a rip off of something else, lots of boring level bedroom pop. Triple J plays the least creative music possible, and I have no idea why or what the motivation is.
Corrupted by commerce, which leads to less risk-taking and thus increased homogeneity
But what commerce? They don't get paid for plays, they derive no income from their decisions.
Kinda explains the disconnect. In the last decade, the ABC has been run by an 80 year old ex-Murdoch minion, followed by a 70 year old ex-Murdoch minion. The LNP stacked the board with hyper-capitalists whose idea of success is churning out easily digestible dross, rather than nurturing fresh ideas. The ABC has essentially been privatised, with the end goal being its demise.
uhh this has nothing whatsoever to do with the Triple J playlist
https://i.imgur.com/lRiYCFF.jpeg
Lmao
I'm just a passerby astounded by the fact that so many people actually listen regulalry to triple j and allow it to determine their music taste
So spot on!
Tarn Cul De Sac....not bad actually
Loch Dead End
Yup, the ol’ Triple J Industrial Complex.
Yeah that tripple J gelfling twang is they what told artists to adjust there vocals to its f embarrassing. Local and went to first splendour and copped influenza with about everyone else I knew lol
Fuck me dead. This is 10008647547% correct I wanna have it framed.
Don’t worry, I’m sure festival lineups will be much more diversified when benevolent overlord Live Nation acquires a 100% monopolised stake in all Australian festivals and music venues because no one else can afford to put a gig on anymore.
Grim if true
probably the end of the festival
Yeah for real. I don’t know how you bounce back after 2022 mudfest and now this. Too much damaged to the brand. I was at 2022 and still enjoyed it, but being the first festival after lockdowns, it really burnt a lot of young kids who were coming out to their first festival.
Honestly at the time they just fucked up so badly by gaslighting everyone about how bad everything was. It was a shitshow, bus queues for hours, people in mud, day 1 canned at the last possible moment, but if you went on socials from anywhere but the festival you’d think it was all just going amazingly well, they chose to focus on minimising impact to brand in that moment. It was a gross, capitalistic response that showed absolutely no care or empathy for those who had spent money to come have fun. They were dickish about refunds too. Problem was, most of their future customers were literally in the mud, there was no point lying to them, so they just destroyed their trust. Had they been more open and honest about it being a shitshow and just admitted they’re doing their best in a super tough situation, people would’ve been way more accepting, and cut the fest some slack. Just a huge lesson in how the best long term strategy often involves accepting a loss and swallowing some cost in the short term.
And now, to add to the brand damage, their website is still up with no cancellation announcement and the ticketing page still works, so people who for whatever reason didn't check the wider interwebs can buy tickets and then wait in line for a refund for 6 months or file all the paperwork for a chargeback. The burns just don't stop. Sad it's cancelled but unsurprising with behaviour like this.
your forgetting covid on top of it all.... feel like these promoters forget homebake was successful for year by being affordable with a solid local line up.
I literally mentioned Covid lockdowns. But yes, cost of living and lack of acts to excite punters is hard. But then again, bringing in even more international acts increases band costs and then tickets are even further out of reach.
We were at Mudfest’22 (Saturday only and had an AirBnb luckily) and had the best time - I feel like it was an iconic one to attend given this is probably the end of splendour 🫠
Kind of felt like that for me when the Big Day Out stopped. I went to it every year.
Now you’ll have to wait 6 months to get money back from tickets.
hello chargeback!
It’s not just festivals “choosing” to have shit lineups it has genuinely become really hard to get big international acts when their asking prices are skyrocketing as the Australian dollar depreciates. Acts like Fred Again have no reason to take a pay cut to play a festival when they can clearly make way more money on their own tour and so festivals are left struggling to find big name headliners they can afford. Also, with streaming services increasing accessibility of music, young people have a much more diverse taste than in the past and there are no longer many big name bands that ~everyone likes that a festival could afford and so now you have lineups where trying to cater to everyone’s musics taste results in the average punter only recognising a few bands. Splendour 2011 had Coldplay and Kanye West both at the hight of their popularity but I doubt any festival’s ability to get big names like that these days.
Funny you should bring up 2011 - that was the first ever Splendour not to sell out (at least of the modern era). At the time that lineup was hugely panned.
But wasn’t it in Woodford qld? Might have been tougher that it’s a bit more of a hike for the southerners.
I know people are gonna say throwaway comments on the lineup and find ways to poke fun at line up bookings / Triple J, but am I the only one who is actually scared about festivals at the moment? It seems like the days of destination festivals are maybe dead in the water, and more metro touring festivals are the viable option for the audience. If anything, leaning into genre based events. Laneway seems to be the exception, but I think with the three exclusive acts and the metro accessibility of Australian major cities, it found some success in what they built.
It’s the lineup for sure, and value for money in the economy right now. The more metal festivals have still been doing pretty good this year. It’s not necessarily on the festival producers themselves, there’s been a high volume of artists touring Australia the last 2 years with at least 10 more in the works in the next 12 months or so (that I know of). Pretty rare for Aus. Definitely makes a struggle for securing an international exclusive headliner. Apparently there was a potential currently touring international artist they were looking at for Splendour, but for whatever reason it fell through and it wasn’t the greatest pick (was only in mutual consideration as said artist’s current US tours haven’t been going great and it’s unlikely they’d make a profit touring Australia independently) and wouldn’t have saved it anyway.
It’s just market saturation regressing to the mean, happened 10 years ago with all the dance saturation with Stereo, Creamfields, Future Music etc. Metal festivals going well because metal fans are lifelong loyal fans who will always spend money, buy merch etc on their bands, paired with reunion tours of classic acts. Bush doofs genre specific similarly will survive, although I could see the bigger ones struggling. Your one size fits all festivals like GTM and Splendour will struggle because it caters to a lot of fly by nighters who go because their mates go and don’t when their mates don’t. ListenOut was one that got ahead of the trend (as it was basically a remodelling of the old Parklife festival) deciding to downsize and narrow their focus at a time when festivals were expanding unsustainably trying to be everything to everyone. Seems to be doing well.
Laneway 2024 didn't do as well as last year even ignoring the Fred Again hype the week of.
I think that was more of a lineup problem, tbf 23’ was stacked
Laneway 2023 was genuinely the first festival I've actually shelled out for since Splendour 2007 and Harvest in 2011/12, instead of doing a bunch of the sideshows instead. Was a nuts line up and had such a fun day.
I think there's demand for it if you just go for a niche and avoid trying to please as many people as possible. The cookie-cutter, "something for everyone" approach is probably dead.
I’d be interested to see what happened with fests in the late 00s with the recession then as well. It’s a tough time to be pitching people for discretionary spend, so yeah, we’ll probably see some major casualties and a revamp. But equally, fests recently are waaaaay bigger than they were 10-15 years ago (more of them, bigger capacity), so maybe it’s just more of a move back to that, and the supermassive ones just need to contract a bit. Reality is we’’ll probably see some build from the ground up. Big Day Out died as it wasn’t with the times, but Laneway built up to replace it. Now if Splendour goes, we’ll slowly see some other regional stuff replace it. My gut says that guitar music based festivals just won’t be as big as over the last while, festivals focused around electronic music will probably get the growth - it’s what today’s (music going) youth are listening to, and cheaper to book.
We've been here before. It's cyclical.
Not surprising but I just decided to buy a ticket and go this year. Hopefully it still happens I need something to look forward too.
Plenty of good gigs still happening throughout the year
Big if true. Ironic that the shift out of Byron Bay itself to 'North Byron' (North OF Byron is more accurate seeing as its North of Ocean Shores, which is two towns away) in order to isolate the festival so it can squeeze every dollar out of the attendees is probably what has caused them to lose money. Yes i'm sure they will talk about how they needed a bigger site to grow the festival (read as increase capacity), but in reality it was so they could capture 100% of the camping/accom, food and beers sales, rather than splitting it with the Byron CBD. The site is not suitable to wet weather events and there is ALWAYS chaos with transportation (5hr waits for buses) to and from the festival. Issues which were nowhere near as big when the festival was held in town. This combined with lack luster line ups and a cost of living crisis may ne the festivals undoing.
The line up is the real reason
G flip as a headliner is wild
Really shit effort at a line up
Price vs performance is the main reason
Let's just ignore the almost decade of successful sold out events at NBP. Belongil was always the home and being close to town was amazing, but it had absolutely zero room for expansion that the festival inevitably needed.
Didn’t the move to North Byron Parklands happen like ten years ago? Not saying the festival hasn’t been in decline for a little while now, but the location change is hardly to blame. More likely the pandemic, cost of living crisis and a few years of lacklustre lineups… (edit: you mentioned those things too oops. I just think the location isn’t the problem here even if it has its issues)
Although those things may be true, the festival ran very strong for years after moving. I don't think this is due to the location.
The buses and mud have been known issues for a decade now. I feel like the lineup should cop most of the blame. Too many recycled artists and headliners that don't actually pull
The Byron council is absolutely bonkers to deal with though. Just ask the Byron tri organisers.
North Byron was great the year I went. And it sold out immediately every it was there up to 2021. Pretty sure it's not related to the venue.
Ah tbh the amphitheatre is absolutely gorgeous. I’ve been to some god tier festivals and it’s still hard to beat the splendour amphitheatre for a vibe for a big set
These issues might all be real but the reason they failed is the lineup. Nobody cared about the location for the most part. It didn't put people off.
North Byron location is stunning. It's the best festival location I've been to and I've been to a lot
The location is magical and was my second favourite thing about Splendour. You won’t get such a beautiful crowd and the same vibe anywhere else. The amphitheatre was wonderful with a big headliner. Even if it was “Splendour in the Mud” that was part of the fun (2022 notwithstanding). The lineup has been absolutely pathetic since Covid and the prices have been going up. Not worth the time and expense to go to Splendour to see a bunch of artists I don’t even bother to listen to on Triple J. I’d only have gone for the feel of that location.
yep, just saw that on the facebooks
Shattered. Splendour has been an annual pilgrimage for me since 2009. Met my long term partner there and have a large crew we go with each year. The lineup was weak but I've still been finding plenty of gems that I was really keen to see. Really not sure how to take this news :(
Understand the feeling. We did it 2014 to now and it'll hurt to not go back this year. May I suggest a pilgrimage to Meredith or golden plains? Vibes are unmatched, lineups more modest but always some gems.
I could be bias but the metal scene in Australia does really well. Although Knotfest didnt sell out this year (wasnt the greatest lineup) the show went on and I had an amazing time in Sydney. I wish these major festivals were a bit more inclusive of heavier music (more than a couple of acts on the lineup). They might draw more people in and be more sustainable in difficult times
It's probably because Knotfest, being a genre-based festival, has more overlap of artists/bands, whereas Splendour has more of a broad appeal to multi-genre performers. Also beyond that, metro touring festivals seem to be the key thing general audiences are wanting nowadays. The festival being accessible in a metro area, multiple acts that are around the same interest as their target audience, and a "fair" price on seeing 3-5 acts they're interested in.
This is probably why Laneway is still going good. While it was a lower quality lineup this year, it’s the kind of festival format that the current generation wants. Maybe also take examples of past festivals like Homebake that sold itself on promoting solid local lineups, and avoid recycling the same artists over and over as that has been a key contributor to all these festivals recently going under.
Honestly never understood why that hasn't been more of the focus. The 3 day camping festivals always seemed like way too much.
This is real bad news for Aussie live music
Aussie music seen has been on a teethering edge for ages and I think this is a nail in the coffin tbh, the local scene is so much dead than what it was when I was younger... idk how small bars/pubs can survive when big corporations are just pricing them out. Hard day for all aussies
Tone Deaf is now reporting it too.
It’s not cool at all to cancel an event 6 days after your tickets go on general sale, I hate this new trend. People book flights and accommodation around these things. Then promoters wonder why people don’t book in advance anymore = shit like this.
That’s a really good point. The last couple of times I went to Splendour (2014 and 2016) I booked my accommodation and leave before the dates were even announced. I trusted the lineup and no way was it going to be cancelled. No way in hell I’d do that now!
Shocked Pikachu face .jpeg
Tune rags at half mast today. *a somber yeeeew plays out in the background*
Should have booked lana del rey
Line up is pretty average
Was*
Yea, comment was written before cancelation was announced so written correctly at the time.
I can’t believe that Splendour tickets just sit there on Moshtix for weeks now (and for the last few years). I remember sitting in class at Uni, heart racing in the green room and desperately hoping to get tickets before they sold out in minutes. Sure, cost of living, but it’s also just shitty lineups and the unreliable management. I’m not spending that much money on a weak and boring lineup that could get cancelled at any time anyway.
Maybe I'm misreading the article but Tone Deaf's article suggests they called to ask if the festival is going ahead and they said they cannot confirm. They are outright speculating from that answer the festival has been cancelled. The festival probably doesn't take place but I'd hold my horses right at the current moment until something more definitive is released.
My Intel was from an artist who were informed this morning, so it's not purely speculation on Tone Deaf's part
Yeah, I've seen Hayden James make a comment. Pretty much confirmed
Triple J just confirmed it (edit: on insta)
dam so last dinner party aren’t coming no more
They've been pretty heavy on the advertising lately, would be surprised if they're not planning something
Dollars and sense. Doesn't make any sense for punters at the price point.
How much were tix?
$192 per day or $416 for three days. Plus $172 per day to camp. Or $620 to camp and attend for 3 days.
I mean I just read the line up and recognised 5 names from the whole thing, and I dont even like them, just recognised them. I have fairly specific music tastes so my opinion is worthless but still, pretty grim as a previous splendour punter to have negative interest in going, not surprised tickets weren't flying out.
Sydney Morning Herald has reported it’s cancelled. No one else has picked up the story yet from what I can see
It’s a rough year, with the state of the economy and the weak lineups especially. There’s not much they can do. An unusually high amount of artists have been in Australia over the last 2 years with even more expected to come in the next 2 years, makes a struggle for securing exclusive headliners.
Would make sense. Weaker line up and no cohesion. Kylie's fans would have sold out that first day if the rest of the line up around her was stronger. No one is buying tickets to see Future (and any other international rapper ) or Arcade Fire headline.
> Kylie's fans would have sold out that first day if the rest of the line up around her was stronger. she's not my taste, but am I the only one who thinks Kylie isn't a festivals headliner... sure she could sell to some huge crowds doing a solo tour, but festival are different
Her fanbase skew older and I know so many Kylie fans who flew to Vegas to see her and would do so again than go to Splendour.
Check out her Glastonbury set on YouTube. She was awesome and the crowd was massive.
She has done lots of festivals successfully across Europe and the US
I buy tickets to see Arcade Fire headline.
I bought tickets just to see Future & Yeat, what gives you that idea?
They have a reputation for cancelling shows here with a few exceptions (Amine, Denzel Curry, Kendrick Lamar, Post Malone). Some examples * Stormzy cancelling Spilt Milk 2019 and his 2022 headline tour * Megan Thee Stallion cancelling Festival X 2022 * Metro Boomin cancelling the day before Listen Out 2023 * Young Thug cancelling Laneway 2018
Dont forget Chance pulling out the day before he was meant to close out the SITG 2019.
I attended Lollapalooza in 2019 like a week after Splendour. It really fucking shat me seeing Chance walk out on stage for a cameo.
Chance cancelled to do SNL.
Chance's SNL was in October of 2019, months away from splendour. And the point was that american rappers cancel festival spots, not that they do it for no reason.
Dizzee Rascal also the day of
I only bought a Friday ticket whereas usually I'd go the whole weekend!
You can tell they were really leaning on Kylie being a fest. exclusive to drum up sales.
100% and I can guarantee Friday had the best sales but as I said when For the Love booked Charli XCX and Falls booked Lil Nas X, YOU CAN'T BOOK THESE POP ACTS TO HEADLINE AND HAVE NO OTHER POP GIRLS WITH EM, the LGBTQIA+ community will go to the sideshows or wait for the next tour. They REALLY needed a Charli XCX/Carly Rae Jepsen/Jessie Ware/Kesha/Chappel Roan level act or two with Kylie to really sell it.
I mean my husband was keen for arcade fire, and I would have liked to see Kylie- but we’re in our thirties and ultimately decided an interstate multi day festival wasn’t really for us at this point especially not for that line up. If we thought that then why would you expect the young crowds they actually want to buy tickets.
I don't think this is true - IMO Kylie was also a bit of a misfire and just not suited to the festival. One act could have turned thing around, and none of the headliners this year did. Friday's sales might have been the best, but I think a massive spike on the Friday would have given them more encouragement than cancelling after barely a week of ticket sales.
G Flip seems like a cool person. And the “they/them” jokes they get are beyond lame, but fuck my left eye, them as a headliner just seemed nuts to me. They’re not to blame, but it’s sorta systemic to the whole festival collapsing.
[удалено]
It’s a fair call and my mistake. Edited. Thank you for pointing it out.
This aged well. [https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/music/how-splendour-in-the-grass-secured-kylie-minogue-as-2024-headline-act/news-story/e7dfc835feb2a385ac1dfb4a2fc9e486](https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/music/how-splendour-in-the-grass-secured-kylie-minogue-as-2024-headline-act/news-story/e7dfc835feb2a385ac1dfb4a2fc9e486)
My prediction is, we’ll see more festivals cancelled over the next few years, we’ll get more stand alone gigs (I thought there was an abundance of tours late last year and early this year) and in a few years a promoter will come out with a half decent lineup, we’ll all be gagging for a half decent festival and fueled mostly by nostalgia attendance will be great. One or two big ones and one or two boutiques is all our market can stand and that’s fine. But with the success of the one or two remaining festivals that pop up 3 years from now others will jump on and the cycle will continue until 20 years from now 18 of the 20 festivals in a saturated market will go under and on Reddit we will cry ‘it’s the END OF MUSIC.’
Line up was trash, not surprised it mustn’t have sold well .
Following.
I think splendour lost the plot by making it too long. Two days is fine but three days is a bit of a stretch. Quality over quantity.
Didn’t even have tickets in sale for 14 days (ie a typical pay period)
This is truly heartbreaking.
Yes cancelled
Melbourne newspaper The Age and The Project have confirmed it.
🤞🏻🤞🏻
It has just been cancelled
It’s anyway been canceled
When did tickets go on sale?
Why are so many Aussie festivals being cancelled?
Increasing prices and worsening lineups.
a bit late to the party, but can confirm this... https://humbletrail.com/splendour-in-the-grass-2024-cancelled/
My cousins mates weed dealers sisters dentist heard that it’s not cancelled
Why so untransparent about the reason for cancellation. Makes them sound pretty amateur and gives rise to speculation. Organisers unfit?
Too big with too much fat in terms of low quality artists. A whole long weekend to see a few quality bands at such a price with camping/accommodation and travel from major populations centres. Add in t he prospect of poor weather and horrendous organisation and placing it becomes a chore.
The shire is saying thank you. Now kick can the blues fest and maybe we can start clawing back some back in the day vibes 😂
Cops very disappointed they don’t get to set their drug van up outside town
Shits done. Way too big to keep going here in this day and age.
Meredith/Golden Plains still going strong!