Earlier this month, Soundwave founder AJ Maddah confirmed that this year would be the last time his popular hard rock event is held in Adelaide. The promoter started by issuing a warning to punters in the South Australian capital to pick up ticket sales, but when numbers proved lacklustre, Maddah nixed the event.
Maddah described ticket sales in Adelaide as “pathetic” and claimed that it would be “the last Soundwave in Adelaide unless it picks up in a big way”. The founder later revealed that while ticket sales did improve following his warning, it was “nowhere near enough” to save the festival.
Now, speaking to the Sunday Mail, Maddah has revealed just how scarily low attendance figures were in the city, as well as what a potential future for the festival in the South Australian capital might look like, indicating that all is not lost for Soundwave Adelaide.
“Nothing is working in Adelaide at the moment,” Maddah told the paper. “I think Katy Perry and the Stones have been the only two shows that have really performed here of late.” According to the Sunday Mail‘s report, this year’s ticket sales dropped to a four-year low of just over 12,000.
Considering Bonython Park, the venue that traditionally hosts Soundwave Adelaide, has a reported capacity of around 25,000, the numbers are indeed devastating. “Next year we just can’t take the risk. In 2012 we had 37,000, in 2013 we had 45,000, last year we had 20,000 and this year we’ve got around 12,000,” Maddah said.
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“I can’t ask the other states to subsidise it anymore,” he added. However, Maddah, who called the South Australian leg of the festival his favourite, said that he is “heartbroken” to end the Adelaide event, but hinted that the hard rock festival could continue in some capacity.
“I’m not ruling it out,” he said of the show returning in some form. “We will do the best we can because I genuinely love Adelaide and I’m heartbroken that this is it — but we will monitor the market over the coming year and see what happens.” He said that the city could receive sideshows in lieu of a festival leg.
After the Perth leg of Soundwave had its final event last year, Maddah was asked on Twitter about the possibility of Perth receiving Sidewaves instead of a proper festival instalment. The promoter replied simply, “No”, also ruling out the possibility of rural sideshows, as they wouldn’t be feasible.
Like Perth, Adelaide was not only plagued by low ticket sales, but skirmishes with local councils. Last year, Maddah claimed that the city council was attempting to kill the festival by turning the bureaucratic screws on organisers via the introduction of supposedly draconian noise management protocols.
But Maddah isn’t the only tour promoter to experience trouble in South Australia. Last year, Aussie metal promoters Soundworks Touring issued their own warning to Perth and Adelaide punters, insisting the cities would be pulled from future touring schedules if they don’t receive more support from fans. Indeed, nothing seems to be working in Adelaide.
