Sonisphere cancelled

[ivan]

I just couldn't see Queen working.

The first problem was that it's not actually Queen. Queen with Paul Rodgers made a bit of sense to Brits, but Queen with some American that no one had heard of was something entirely different.

Then there's the fact of who Queen fans actually are; there's two different sets of them, both with different issues towards festivals.

There's the older Queen fans, who love their early stuff, and might be a bit 'alternative' - but are (for a lot of them) probably past the age where they'd be very keen to spend all day in a field, and even less likely to want to do a weekend of it.

Then there's the fans of the later stuff, who are pop music fans, who are never the most likely attendees, and again their age makes that less so.

If other stuff on the line-up was aimed at either of the Queen fan sets, maybe - just maybe - it might have worked. But none of it was, it was aimed much more at youngsters, who couldn't see the appeal in not-Queen.

And so it failed. Whether Galbraith always thought it was hugely risky or he was blinded by his own liking for Queen I don't know, but either way I'm somewhat surprised that someone of his experience made such a major cock-up.

[biffoire]

Well I suppose festivals have just become too expensive.

[jump]

The whole line up was not strong enough for people to want to pay to sit in a field for 3 days !

[eFestivals]

The whole line up was not strong enough for people to want to pay to sit in a field for 3 days !

but that's more the result of the whole line-up not gelling together for anything other than a few music fans.

There's some who liked the headliners but not the undercard, and others who liked the undercard but not the headliners. I doubt there were many who liked both the headliners and the undercard.

[smogo]

I liked the headliner and undercard for the Sunday... but £90 was way too much for one day, especially when compared with what I usually get out of a Wireless day ticket (generally a really strong lineup, 12-14 acts I want to see, all for around £50).

And Lovebox: £29 for a Friday day ticket this year, and an amazing lineup across multiple stages. What were Kili thinking charging £90?

Edited March 29, 2012 by smogo

[Red Day]

Sorry to everyone who booked and now have no festival to look forward to. When I saw the line up announced I did think it was strange group of bands to try and sell over a weekend. Organisers maybe at times cannot see the woods for the trees and don't listen to their public when selecting bands. TITP this year is a bloody joke and Ellis has all but admitted that with his facebook rant

Edited March 29, 2012 by Red Day

[lharris92]

What were Kili thinking charging £90?

Edited March 29, 2012 by lharris92

[Justiceforcedave]

It seemed to me that Sunday has qutie a few people interested. Friday didn't have enough bands or any big enough band to warrant the cost and Saturday seemed a bit all over the place.

[jump]

keeping in line with the other major fests day ticket prices.

[AcademicPistol]

From line-up of the year last year - to crumbling this year what a come down.

To be honest I think the economy has improved slightly since last year but there are plenty of other factors.

[tohellweride]

I'm sad to see Sonisphere bite the dust this year, having attended in 2011 and thinking it was a great festival. But the odds were stacked quite heavily against them this year. They announced far too late after Download and the headliners and undercard just weren't up to scratch. Hopefully it will be back next year.

[thejimbola]

I'm sad to see Sonisphere bite the dust this year, having attended in 2011 and thinking it was a great festival. But the odds were stacked quite heavily against them this year. They announced far too late after Download and the headliners and undercard just weren't up to scratch. Hopefully it will be back next year.

[jump]

http://www.gigwise.com/blog/71821/Why-Sonisphere-loss-is-such-a-big-deal

I see Neil is argueing with Gigwise in the comments section.

[pryce]

i should have booked a sonisphere Madrid ticket.... would have turned out to be a free fest!

[she bangs the drums]

Sonisphere‏@Sonisphere

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Great news for those that took up the Tourist offer in the UK - it will be honoured we are all go.

[biffoire]

"a weekend of non-stop rock and roll."

Seriously.

[jump]

"a weekend of non-stop rock and roll."

Seriously.

[biffoire]

That's where it went wrong, I like rock but I'm not so keen on roll. If it was just a rock festival it would of been fine!

[Justiceforcedave]

...I applied for the tourist offer but never heard anything back from them : (

[kipper64]

...I applied for the tourist offer but never heard anything back from them : (

[Boothy380]

The other major fests have a 2nd stage with bands playing on it tho.

They did have a special guest that was yet to be announced, we will never know who it was now.