ROFLMTO.......You guys are fucking hilarious!! Maybe you should all really be planning this festival?
http://www.rockoutfestivals.com.au now takes you to.... http://suspended-cp2.syra.net.au/suspended.page/index.php?user=rockoutf showing...Error 403 Looks like the webhost has suspended hosting of that domain.
I just had to read this classic thread again. Post-pandemic may be the ideal time to put something on, anything, please... haha. Ideally nothing trying to be bigger than a single day indoor festival at an appropriately-sized hall. I'm very glad I made it to Aussie to finally see Girlschool, but they certainly didn't sell out the 900 capacity Croxton Bandroom, even with 2 other UK bands joining them. Back here in NZ I continued to see plenty of well-known international metal bands, often at venues with capacities of 200 people or so, until the pandemic hit. For some reason none of them ever did headline 3-day festivals at stadiums. Lastly, I've still never camped at a festival and hopefully never will!
Fuck, this thread bump has made me go back through it all too. Well, I've learned that 12 years on, I've gotten far more cranky and far less politically correct in my old age. My field of fucks lay barren. Aston was a delusional cunt who was never going to make this happen, which was obvious to pretty much everyone right from the start. Thankfully the international tours had an upturn (until Covid anyway) despite this monumental pile of steaming shit he tried to lay.
One funny thing is that there was a similarly delusional metal festival that did go ahead in New Zealand in 2006. I didn't go as I was in Wellington, but it was called Metal Day Out and it was at the Supertop, a 12,000 capacity tent that was one of Auckland's Big Day Out stages. The main international headliners were all fairly obscure (Illdisposed, Flatline, Rise to Addiction). It was held on a weekday and would've been lucky to get 150 people. They failed in their attempt to acquire a liquor licence, but punters had a view of band members drinking in the backstage area. One rumour claimed Illdisposed didn't even play due to an argument with the promoter. Naturally the bands didn't get paid. Some years later the promoter died of cancer and the bands didn't mind hearing that. I also have a friend who put on a little DIY festival every year from 2013-2018 and those were great (barely any metal though). 2017 was rained out but they managed to move it to two indoor venues/bars in town at short notice and that was great too. However, he then tried to go just a bit big in 2020 - borrowed an extra paddock, spent up on a larger main stage and a whole row of portaloos. Unfortunately that one also coincided with torrential rain early in the day and not many people came out. I guess the reality of that scene is that many people come to hang out with mates and don't mind what bands they see. The bigger stage just meant a lot of noise complaints and having to cut things a little short due to the sound reaching beyond the rural area to the ever-expanding suburbs. My point being that even a little excess ambition can wreck you financially. Anyway, he put on another great little festival in 2021 using indoor venues again.
Haha came here to do my annual read through of this thread, pleasantly surprised to see it bumped. What a legendary saga.
Wow 23 pages. It's an epic. I should read through it. And here's an archive of the website with the postponement announcement: https://web.archive.org/web/20090330015931/http://www.rockoutfestivals.com.au/
