Sonisphere Cancelled... TOPIC OPTIONS

[Kemuri]

Ouch:

Rock festival Sonisphere has been cancelled according to the official Queen website.

The event was due to take place at Knebworth Park, Stevenage on 6-8 July.

Queenonline.com issued a statement which read: "It is with very heavy hearts and much regret that we announce the cancellation of Sonisphere Knebworth 2012".

Organisers are yet to confirm the news officially, but hope to have a statement tomorrow.

American Idol winner Adam Lambert was due to headline the Saturday evening with guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor.

Evanescence, Marilyn Manson, Cypress Hill, The Blackout and Faith No More were also on the line-up.

Other acts who were due to perform included The Darkness, Incubus, Refused, Ghost, Flogging Molly and musical comedian Tim Minchin.

Source: BBC

[Hitman]

It is with very heavy hearts

[Kemuri]

Didn't even notice that.

[SparksALot]

Fuck, no wonder it was cancelled with that line-up.

[Kemuri]

Fuck, no wonder it was cancelled with that line-up.

It was fucking awful. Especially when you compare it to the Download line up.

[fatjohn79]

After rumours broke yesterday that Sonisphere were making a huge announcement today, we can officially confirm that Sonisphere Knebworth is cancelled.

Below is the official statement from the festival organisers:

“It is with very heavy hearts and much regret that we announce the cancellation of Sonisphere Knebworth 2012.

Putting the festival together in what is proving to be a very challenging year was more difficult than we anticipated and we have spent the last few months fighting hard to keep Sonisphere in the calendar.

Unfortunately circumstances have dictated that we would be unable to run the festival to a standard that both the artists and that Sonisphere’s audience would rightly expect.

We want to express our deepest regrets to the artists and to thank all the staff, suppliers and contractors who worked so hard with us to try and pull off what has proven to be an impossible task and we know how much they share in our disappointment. We also want to send a huge thanks to the Sonisphere fans who stuck by us and we are so sorry that we can’t fulfil what we set out to do.

Ticket holders will automatically receive a full refund direct from their ticket agents.

Team Sonisphere.”

As far as we are aware, the remaining Sonisphere festivals across Europe will go ahead as planned. Needless to say, we’re all gutted at the prospect of missing out on Sonisphere this year, and when we hear anything on the future of the festival moving forward, you’ll be the first to know.

[EmpiresDawn]

Was MH on that line-up?

[Disposable Hero]

Maybe if it wasn't fucking £90 for a day ticket they might have sold more tickets. I'd have been tempted by the Sunday if it wasn't so fucking expensive.

[fatjohn79]

Was MH on that line-up?

No they're doing Download. Sonisphere headliners were Kiss, Queen with Adam Lambert & Faith No More

Maybe if it wasn't fucking £90 for a day ticket they might have sold more tickets. I'd have been tempted by the Sunday if it wasn't so fucking expensive.

+1. We looked at doing the sunday too but £90 for FNM and MM was stupid

[Guillaume]

Maybe if it wasn't fucking £90 for a day ticket they might have sold more tickets. I'd have been tempted by the Sunday if it wasn't so fucking expensive.

+1. We looked at doing the sunday too but £90 for FNM and MM was stupid

it's 55€ max for one day for the French edition of the Sonisphere and look at that bill :
FAITH NO MORE - MARILYN MANSON - MACHINE HEAD - MESHUGGAH - COMBICHRIST - I KILLED THE PROM QUEEN - DAGOBA - HEADCHARGER

[Col]

American Idol winner Adam Lambert, Evanescence, Marilyn Manson, Cypress Hill, The Blackout and Faith No More, The Darkness, Incubus, Refused, Ghost, Flogging Molly and musical comedian Tim Minchin.


what a fucking horrible line-up for such an over-priced festival. Good riddance.

[Surfinginsanity]

I've always wondered why UK festivals are so much more expensive than their European counterparts? Is it due to the corporatism now rampant in the UK festival scene?

[fatjohn79]

Possibly, Hellfest this year has a much better bill and for a 3 day ticket,4 days camping and travel to and from France it's £280

[DaNk]

No offense intended, especially considering the line-up of bands that I don't care for personally....but £90 seems reasonable for a show of that magnitude. The cost involved has to be at least 80% of that. To book the bands, the riders, the staging, set up, lighting, sound, security, logistics, licenses....all of that stuff adds up quickly.

[Doommantia]

For a day, I wouldn't agree. Especially when you consider the cost of food, beverages and probable travel costs on top of that and then consider that you won't see every band on that day.

I wouldn't pay £90 for a gig with two maybe three support bands, just to see the one band I do want to see. Same principle.

[SparksALot]

The issue is the bands they booked. It's just bad business. There are what? Two? Maybe 3 current artists that aren't nostalgia/reunion acts? And who are those? Adam Lambert? The dude from American Idol? Not exactly a hard rock/metal staple. Then you have Ghost, who is highly regarded and up and coming, but hardly a huge draw. I have no idea who The Blackout are, but I'm assuming they are a recent act. The rest of the lineup though? Kiss? A Freddy Mercury-less Queen and Lambert are you headliners? Name one person under the age of 35 who gives a fuck about Kiss. The rest of the lineup as well. I love FNM but other than when Epic was a hit they have never been a monster draw. Their reunion shows have been doing very well, but they aren't the type of band that can carry a festival. And Cypress Hill? Marylin Manson? Is this 1998? No one has given a shit about those bands for over a decade!

If they had a decent line-up the cost wouldn't be as insane, still pretty damn expensive though. (90 pounds is $143 dollars, that's a lot of fucking money for one day) They basically put together a lot of really high priced artists that do well on their own due to nostalgia's sake and old material, but that doesn't translate well at all in a festival setting.

This post has been edited by SparksALot: Mar 29 2012, 6:32 AM

[Disposable Hero]

No offense intended, especially considering the line-up of bands that I don't care for personally....but £90 seems reasonable for a show of that magnitude. The cost involved has to be at least 80% of that. To book the bands, the riders, the staging, set up, lighting, sound, security, logistics, licenses....all of that stuff adds up quickly.

That's £90 for one day. Bear in mind 10 years ago £90 would get you a full weekend ticket at Glastonbury (a waaaaay bigger festival)

I'm not saying that there aren't significant costs put into running a festival, I'm saying that over the past 10 years or so, the festival scene has grown massively and as a result you have a lot of festivals getting greedy and charging a fucking fortune when they have no right. Glad to see a few getting bit in the ass for it.

[Dislecsyk]

I remember Download 2004 2-day weekend being less than £100 Reading 3 days was only £120 then, with early entry. I think Reading was that price every year from 2003 to 2006. Jeez.

A lot of it has to be to do with scalpers, though. It can't be a coincidence that official prices shot up when scalpers became more prevalent. The organisers must've looked at it and thought "Fuck, if people are willing to pay through their noses, we'll charge more".

[fatjohn79]

No offense intended, especially considering the line-up of bands that I don't care for personally....but £90 seems reasonable for a show of that magnitude. The cost involved has to be at least 80% of that. To book the bands, the riders, the staging, set up, lighting, sound, security, logistics, licenses....all of that stuff adds up quickly.

That's £90 for one day. Bear in mind 10 years ago £90 would get you a full weekend ticket at Glastonbury (a waaaaay bigger festival)

I'm not saying that there aren't significant costs put into running a festival, I'm saying that over the past 10 years or so, the festival scene has grown massively and as a result you have a lot of festivals getting greedy and charging a fucking fortune when they have no right. Glad to see a few getting bit in the ass for it.

Also it's dependant on the number bands that you actually want to see. For me to pay £90 to see Faith No More and Marilyn Manson (who'll be terrible because it's a festival) just isn't worth it even before you add in travel, food etc. We did a day at Download last year for about £80 but got to see Down,Skindred,Alice Cooper,Twisted Sister,Chthonic and Evile which is obviously much better value for money

[Col]

To put all this shitty overpricing in perspective. Back in 2006 myself, Fiaz and a big group of irish guys and girls flew to Rock Am Ring at the Nurburgring race track and over the course of the weekend saw: Metallica (play Master of Puppets in its entirety, Alice In Chains, Tool, Dredg, Deftones, 36 Crazyfists, Opeth, Soulfly, Stone Sour, In Flames, 10 Years, Bullet For My Valentine and Bloodsimple. All for less than £200 (including flights/buses/camping/beers/bbqs). Best festival I've ever been to. (plus I got to briefly meet Steph for the first time)

[Jurkov]

Adam Lambert didn't even win American Idol. He came in second place. And with Lambert as a headliner, Sonisphere came in last place. Barf!

[r1Co]

crap line up, so good riddance indeed. Wacken is getting more expensive every year but still a lot cheaper than those festivals (150 euros this year, for 3 days music, and about a week of camping fun if you get there early )

[informed]

better to cancel now then a week before. maybe some of those bands will rethink their guarantees...doesnt matter if lambert won or lost or came in second or whatever...he sounds killer with queen although...he isnt the only one who can sing like that!

this dude is better than lambert!






This post has been edited by informed: Mar 29 2012, 11:13 PM

[Steph]

To put all this shitty overpricing in perspective. Back in 2006 myself, Fiaz and a big group of irish guys and girls flew to Rock Am Ring at the Nurburgring race track and over the course of the weekend saw: Metallica (play Master of Puppets in its entirety, Alice In Chains, Tool, Dredg, Deftones, 36 Crazyfists, Opeth, Soulfly, Stone Sour, In Flames, 10 Years, Bullet For My Valentine and Bloodsimple. All for less than £200 (including flights/buses/camping/beers/bbqs). Best festival I've ever been to. (plus I got to briefly meet Steph for the first time)

oh I <3 you , Col!
2 months left until ROck am Ring this year - Soundgarden, Tenacious D, MUshy Ned and more!!
oh yeah, 'tallica play the black album in its entirety