It’s been barely a week since the Soundwave 2015 whirlwind barrelled through Australia, but festival founder AJ Maddah is already looking towards Soundwave 2016. In fact, the promoter has already locked in his first act – Aussie rock vanguards Violent Soho.

After an eager Twitter follower queried Maddah as to the chances of seeing the Mansfield outfit on the 2016 bill, Maddah indicated that it was all up to them, writing, “If they want on we would be very happy to have them.”

When the band replied with an enthusiastic, “Fuck yeah that rules”, Maddah welcomed to the band to the 2016 instalment of his flagship event. “Sweet. Very proud to have you,” he replied. “Let’s get the specifics sorted out in private :) Welcome to #SW16.”

Despite the fact that we’re a full year away from next year’s event, the Soundwave 2016 rumour mill has already begun churning. According to the promoter, Halestorm have “already promised” to play 2016 and he “fully plans” to book Bullet For My Valentine.

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Regardless of who makes the final lineup, fans can expect the bill to stick to the East Coast this time around. As Tone Deaf recently reported, Maddah has confirmed that this year’s Adelaide was the “last ever” in the city, citing extremely underwhelming ticket sales.

Referring to the ticket sales as “pathetic”, Maddah revealed that with a turnout of just over 12,000 punters, Adelaide sold the least amount of tickets of all the festival stops. Melbourne, he said, came “very close” to selling out, with Brisbane in second place, and Sydney in third.

While last year’s festival accrued what Maddah described to Fairfax as “a modest profit”, the promoter said Adelaide attendance was “8,000 people short” which effectively “wiped out everything we’re making [after costs] in the other three cities, because we work on very small margins”.

“Your average Soundwave bill is somewhere between 10-15 million dollars in artist fees, and it costs between 2-2.5-million dollars to put on each show,” said Maddah. “So when you’re 8,000 seats short at $180 per ticket, then that’s $1.4 million. So essentially I’ve lost the equivalent of the family home in one weekend.”

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