Gary Grant, organiser of popular Australian all-ages music festival Come Together, has shed light on the events that led to the cancellation of last year’s event. Speaking to TheMusic.com.au, Grant cited booking controversial Aussie rapper Kerser as a “mistake”.
Grant first recounts how the festival, which started off as a way to showcase the Big Top at Sydney’s Luna Park as a “a great rock’n’roll venue”, went from booking a diverse array of acts to strictly hip-hop after the promoter saw the crowd’s reaction to Bliss N Eso in 2010.”
“I saw what happened when they came out and the kids went crazy. And I was like, ‘That’s it, I’m going all hip hop.’ And subsequently the next year was Drapht followed by 360 and on and on. And the hip kids and the whole hip hop scene had been fantastic for us,” he explains.
However, his belief that all hip-hop is made alike led to a booking that he says led to the 2014 festival’s cancellation. “Last year I made the mistake of putting Kerser on the bill with other acts and I didn’t realise – as much as I like what Kerser does – how polarised it caused the fans to be,” he says.
“Kerser’s fans hate everyone, and all the other fans hate Kerser – it was oil and water,” he continues. “I just said, ‘It’s all hip hop,’ but subsequently there was a lot of activity, and mostly from fans saying ‘We’re not coming.’ So we pulled the plug last year.”
Other acts slated for the 2014 lineup included Remi, Jackie Onassis, Funkoars, and Citizen Kay, but Grant maintains that Kerser’s singular fan base led to lacklustre ticket sales. “I just think Kerser is a unique artist,” he says.
“When he plays he has a big following, but they’re only into him and nothing else it seems and so it was just the mix of that and other artists, which was a shame because I thought it was a great line-up, but it was just the fans saying ‘I don’t like him’ and ‘we don’t like them’.”
“Anyway, that’s not the first time it’s happened, and it probably won’t be the last for promoters around the place.” Indeed, even Kerser himself acknowledges that his fan base is particularly rabid. So much so that he was forced to move home because fans kept knowing on his door.
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“Anywhere between 25 and 30 people a day used to come by my house [in Campbelltown]. All times of night and day, just seeing what we’re doing or leaning on their horns. Young guys relate to you and think, ‘Fuck, I know where he lives!’ Campbelltown. What else are you going to do?” he told Fairfax.
In the interview, the controversial emcee, who had a much-publicised beef with fellow rapper 360 back in 2013, also touched on some of his disputes with the rest of the Australian hip-hop community. “There are a lot of rappers I get along with,” he began.
“But there’s a lot who, to our face, they’re nice and then you’ll see a nasty status update. And you wonder why they didn’t say that to you two weeks ago.” Meanwhile, Come Together is looking forward to debuting a new format and a top-notch lineup this June.
As Tone Deaf previously reported, the lineup will be split over two days, with one day dedicated to hip-hop and the other to indie, with Seth Sentry, Thundamentals, Horrorshow, Ball Park Music, and The Jungle Giants set to perform.
