Promoter AJ Maddah, speaking on Ballarat community radio station The Voice FM last night, confirmed that this Monday’s Soundwave Festival at Arena Joondalup will be the last one held in Perth.
The announcement is a serious blow to live music culture in Perth, following on the heels of the cancellation of the venerable Big Day Out.
Maddah decsribed the circumstances leading up to this as “a perfect shitstorm” and went on to say that he, personally, was “devastated” by the turn of events, blaming intractable WA government bodies.
“It’s the combination of the perfect shitstorm of the Perth governments – both local and state level – being very difficult and making it really clear that they don’t really want to deal with festivals,” said Maddah. “They don’t really care if we don’t go there.”
Maddah also cited the high cost of mounting the festival in Perth as a contributing factor.
