Soundwave promoter AJ Maddah has confirmed the worst for Melbourne’s heavy music fans, claiming there will be “fuck all” Sidewaves — Soundwave sideshows — in Melbourne in 2015.
The promoter laid the blame at the feet of “greedy developer cunts”, “corrupt City Of Melbourne Council scumbags”, and the loss of the Palace Theatre. The city has lost a number of mid-range venues in recent years. Maddah followed up by saying, “A few years ago we had The Palace at ST Kilda, The Metro and QBH in the city. Now there are no 2000 cap rooms in #Melbourne at all.”
The recent loss of the 1850-capacity Palace Theatre has obviously had a marked effect on the ability to host Sidewaves in Melbourne. Fans had been put on notice as early as March last year, after Maddah said that the loss of the Palace Theatre would affect the number of Melbourne Sidewaves “big time“, due to the city losing one of its last mid-sized venues.
Last year, the Palace Theatre hosted headline shows by Soundwave acts Korn & Rob Zombie, Mastodon, Baroness & Gojira, and Alice In Chains, Down & Walking Papers. As FasterLouder points out, comparable venues in Melbourne are now limited to the 1500-capacity Forum Theatre in Melbourne CBD, and St Kilda’s 2896-capacity Palais Theatre, a venue with removable seating not especially suited to rock concerts.
One Soundwave 2015 headliner, Soundgarden, has already locked in a Sidewave at Melbourne’s Festival Hall on 24th February. Maddah also said “we’re using [the Forum] all five nights” between Soundwave weekends, presumably for Sidewaves.
In bittersweet news, Maddah has also said that there will be “some” more Sidewaves announced this week, with more to follow next week. One round is likely to be Marilyn Manson headline shows at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre and Melbourne’s Forum, a promise the promoter has vowed to uphold. Check our Sidewaves details page and Feed for more info.
Fuck you greedy developer cunts & corrupt City Of Melbourne Council scumbags. Melbourne will have fuck all Sidewaves this year 🙁
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) January 4, 2015
A few years ago we had The Palace at ST Kilda, The Metro and QBH in the city. Now there are no 2000 cap rooms in #Melbourne at all 🙁
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) January 4, 2015
