With a few sleeps left till Soundwave, Warped Tour 2013 is beginning to recede from the rear view mirrors of the happy punters left in its wake, but none of that has stopped promoter AJ Maddah from sharing details of Vans Warped Tour Australia 2014, which will differ from the 2013 instalment.
Maddah recently confirmed comments he’d previously made regarding the status of the Coffs Harbour leg of Warped Tour Australia, saying that lacklustre attendance had sealed its fate. He recently told a Twitter follower, “You can’t put on an outdoor show with $90 tickets for 1800 people.”
Back in January, the mogul explained to another follower that Coffs Harbour “was an attendance disaster,” blaming the fact that a majority of the potential market for the event were away on schoolies. The mogul suggested that organisers may move the event to festival hub, Byron Bay.
Other changes include pushing the dates back by a week and moving the event’s Sydney leg from Barangaroo to a new location. The famously transparent promoter has even begun fuelling speculation on who fans might see on the lineup for the 2014 instalment of the festival.
When asked about Orange County punk heroes Social Distortion, Maddah said, “I was thinking Warped this year or SW next year!” while extending an invitation to New York-based pop-punk outfit Patent Pending, and promising a fan that he would ask ska punks Area 7 to join the 2014 bill.
The changes are pending the confirmation of a 2014 instalment for the popular American-bred punk rock festival. Despite Maddah’s apparent optimism, he told one Twitter follower earlier this month that he will “go see the boss [Kevin Lyman] in April and we’ll decide then” if Warped Tour returns.
UPDATE 1:14pm 12/02/14: Maddah has now confirmed that a 2014 instalment of Vans Warped Tour Australia would not return to Canberra. “Sadly the attendance last year was very poor,” explained Maddah via Twitter, “so I’m afraid [we won’t return to Canberra].”
Maddah said that while Warped will not return to Coffs Habour or Canberra, the changes do not necessarily rule out all regional areas of Australia. Maddah told one Twitter follower that it will, however, “rule out places where not many kids turned up!”
@jacobellevsen1 Fuck no! You can't put on an outdoor show with $90 tickets for 1800 people.
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) February 9, 2014
@CurtisHallNZ no. Sadly Coff was an attendance disaster for us as half of Coffs kids were away at schoolies! Maybe we'll go to Byron.
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) January 13, 2014
@JoshBarakat we'd go a week later. Byron instead of Coffs. Different site in Sydney.
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) December 7, 2013
@ThatsItIGuess Yeah. I'll go see the boss in April and we'll decide then
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) February 7, 2014
@CurtisHallNZ I was thinking Warped this year or SW next year!
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) January 13, 2014
@cirelli24 @PTPGOfficial I fucking love those guys! They should come play @warpedAU this year.
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) January 17, 2014
@RedCordial94 Much as I love them, this year's line up is already askewing old school. If we do it again in 2014 we'll ask them.
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) March 10, 2013
@Prosphetics Sadly the attendance last year was very poor, so I'm afraid not.
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) February 11, 2014
@JmS_1981 @Prosphetics not necessarily. But it does rule out places where not many kids turned up!
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) February 11, 2014
