As far as Soundwave promoter AJ Maddah is concerned, nothing’s working in Adelaide. As the outspoken touring mogul explained in a recent interview, “Nothing has worked in Adelaide in the recent past aside from the Rolling Stones and Katy Perry.”

With the future of Soundwave in the city uncertain (Maddah has officially omitted the South Australian capital from the event’s tour route, though says Sidewaves may still come to the city), Maddah is despondent about the state of music in Adelaide.

“I’ve had to cut down the club and theatre shows I’ve been putting through Adelaide simply because nothing’s selling,” he said, citing a sluggish economy that has impacted young workers in a big way. But one man disagrees with Maddah’s view.

[include_post id=”437963″]

As Adelaide Now reports, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl recently had a dig at Maddah during the arena rock giants’ performance at Coopers Stadium. During the show, Grohl expressed incredulity at the idea that live music is no longer viable in South Australia.

Following an acoustic performance midway through the Foos’ set, Grohl requested the house lights be turned up. “Looks pretty fucking good to me,” Grohl proclaimed. “This is for all those promoters who think Adelaide doesn’t have a fucking rock scene.”

Maddah has since issued a response via Twitter. After a fan tweeted an image of the Adelaide Foos show, depicting a packed Coopers Stadium, to the promoter, and questioned why the promoter thinks Adelaide is a “lost cause”, Maddah explained why he’s not too impressed with the image.

“Mind you,” Maddah said, “promoter gave away a lot of tickets, sold some at $50 to fill venue and get Dave his bragging rights!” Regardless of where this beef goes, it’s unlikely that it will see Soundwave coming back to Adelaide any time soon.

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine