2013/ the future of soni?

[jump]

ya they need 2 big bands, like Maiden and AC?DC 2x

[biffoire]

How can people manage to spell AC/DC wrong?

Edited August 11, 2012 by biffoire

[AcademicPistol]

Theres no lightening bold on my computers keyboard. What can i say.

[biffoire]

How can people spell lightning bolt wrong.

[lharris92]

and here was me getting my hopes up

(https://www.facebook.com/Pantera/posts/10151130693564697)

[Spiral_Low]

I see Iron Maiden being mentioned a few times in this thread. Heard from a media source they are doing Download. Inclined to believe them but who knows people hear all kinds of things.

[kipper64]

Yeah I reckon they'll be doing Download next year in the UK - but the Sonisphere tour in Europe.

[5co77ie]

The UK event is slated to return next year I've heard from their PR.

[kipper64]

Ah that's good news! I imagine they'll want to make a formal announcement about it soonish, so far they've just been leaving hints and saying they're working to bring it back.

[eFestivals]

I'd say they're best off waiting until they've got something to announce - bands.

Anyone can say that they're going to put on event, but to make it happen at the planned scale requires that all the relevant parts are in place. We actually get a lot of "I'm going to start a festival and have The Killers" sorts of emails here, but having the big dreams doesn't get to mean they can pull it off.

And like it or not, as things stand Soni has no reputation to ride off and that's the sort of position that Soni is in until it shows itself as able to do it with the announcement of bands popular enough to make it work.

If Soni sent eFestivals a press release today saying it's happening on whatever dates, and will have great bands (which fest doesn't in its own eyes?) but gave no names, it would get written up from a "Soni hope to be back" angle, and have a "let's wait and see" finish - and that would be independently mirrored by many other music news outlets too.

I don't reckon anything of being written about like that would be good for Soni. They need to show they can do it, not just say they can do it. And so a first announcement should be 3 headliners, and perhaps more too.

[kipper64]

Oh yeah I definitely agree. I believe they basically said on facebook a month or so back they don't plan on committing that the festival will go ahead until they are certain (but they are working on it), and until have the bands booked (or I guess it looks like they have big bands about to sign). So I can't see them making any sort of formal announcement until they do know for certain I guess, which means we might be waiting a while longer. Although at the same time they'll need to be quick-ish about it, especially with Download looking to be announcing in the near future.

What's your take on the PR company stating it's slated for the UK next year, do you think that's just a standard response so as to not appear to be struggling, or do you think the certainty of it happening is looking up?

[eFestivals]

What's your take on the PR company stating it's slated for the UK next year, do you think that's just a standard response so as to not appear to be struggling, or do you think the certainty of it happening is looking up?

I'd say that it's a run of the mill and truthful comment - but that it doesn't mean very much at the end of the day.

It seems pretty clear that they're planning to have a festival, and working on putting it together ... so they've kept on the PR firm they've been using. That PR firm is saying there's going to be a festival next year, because that's the plan and what everyone is working towards.

Everything then bounces back to the reality of whether everything comes together in good enough form.

What we don't know is whether their rep is damaged in the industry enough to spoil things, but hopefully it isn't because Galbraith has had a long and mostly-successful career. And providing there's no repeat of the issues this year there shouldn't be any reason why they won't succeed, cos they've managed to put on successful Soni's before.

What I'm really saying is that there's too many variables to know right now. But a PR person giving PR isn't anything to add any weight anywhere.

[kaosmark2]

I'd say they're best off waiting until they've got something to announce - bands.

Anyone can say that they're going to put on event, but to make it happen at the planned scale requires that all the relevant parts are in place. We actually get a lot of "I'm going to start a festival and have The Killers" sorts of emails here, but having the big dreams doesn't get to mean they can pull it off.

And like it or not, as things stand Soni has no reputation to ride off and that's the sort of position that Soni is in until it shows itself as able to do it with the announcement of bands popular enough to make it work.

If Soni sent eFestivals a press release today saying it's happening on whatever dates, and will have great bands (which fest doesn't in its own eyes?) but gave no names, it would get written up from a "Soni hope to be back" angle, and have a "let's wait and see" finish - and that would be independently mirrored by many other music news outlets too.

I don't reckon anything of being written about like that would be good for Soni. They need to show they can do it, not just say they can do it. And so a first announcement should be 3 headliners, and perhaps more too.

[kipper64]

Fair enough, figured as much!

I think as far as rep damage goes, from a consumer point of view, people will obviously be sceptical, but once bands are announced - and assuming they are generally liked bands, people will buy tickets regardless I think. But obviously they'll probably find it harder to get bands to sign on - I don't think it'll be impossible for them though to bounce back.

[eFestivals]

Surely it has a worse rep than new festivals?

If it has unpaid bills then perhaps, but otherwise I'd guess not.

The people behind Soni at least have the experience of having pulled off their event previously. If this year is looked on kindly it can be viewed as exceptional circumstances that are unlikely to be repeated.

[eFestivals]

I think as far as rep damage goes, from a consumer point of view, people will obviously be sceptical, but once bands are announced - and assuming they are generally liked bands, people will buy tickets regardless I think. But obviously they'll probably find it harder to get bands to sign on - I don't think it'll be impossible for them though to bounce back.

Yep, that's it in a nutshell.

Punters will buy tickets if the bands appeal enough.

There might be some issues with bands signing up, cos they want a booking that'll definitely happen.

It's not impossible for Soni to bounce back.

I think it all comes down to what headliners they can get.

The problem there is that there's limited headline bands in that area, and this year proved what a struggle it can be to find suitable headliners. And then there's LN as a competitor, which by default makes make the job of getting the bands Soni needs all the harder.

[Black_Crow]

Neil, you're literally the only person who could turn something so positive in to something so negative.

Anyone can say that they're going to put on event, but to make it happen at the planned scale requires that all the relevant parts are in place. We actually get a lot of "I'm going to start a festival and have The Killers" sorts of emails here, but having the big dreams doesn't get to mean they can pull it off.

It's not anyone though is it. It's not some random person who's been to their first festival and saying I would love to do that. You're talking about a Premer League organiser. One of the best Promoters in the world, not some teenager.

And like it or not, as things stand Soni has no reputation to ride off and that's the sort of position that Soni is in until it shows itself as able to do it with the announcement of bands popular enough to make it work.

No reputation...no they are only the biggest touring festival in Europe, which has sold well over a million tickets in 4 years.

What I'm really saying is that there's too many variables to know right now. But a PR person giving PR isn't anything to add any weight anywhere.

So Sonisphere sending efestivals some information saying the UK leg will be going ahead, doesn't add any weight, what about Lady Lytton saying everything is on schedule, how about Welwyn Hatfield Times indicating that it's going ahead, what about half a dozen other news outlets saying exactly the same thing including the manager basically confirming it on the forums and othe social networks. When will you agree that it's happening...when they've announced a hundred bands and sold out.

The problem there is that there's limited headline bands in that area, and this year proved what a struggle it can be to find suitable headliners. And then there's LN as a competitor, which by default makes make the job of getting the bands Soni needs all the harder.

What struggle? the trouble Sonisphere had was nothing to do with headlining bands. There will always be bands available to headline, no matter what the circumstances or are you basing this on other festivals like Hop Farm/ Phoenix again, which were dead before they began.

[biffoire]

What struggle? the trouble Sonisphere had was nothing to do with headlining bands. There will always be bands available to headline, no matter what the circumstances or are you basing this on other festivals like Hop Farm/ Phoenix again, which were dead before they began.

[kaosmark2]

Neil, you're literally the only person who could turn something so positive in to something so negative.

Anyone can say that they're going to put on event, but to make it happen at the planned scale requires that all the relevant parts are in place. We actually get a lot of "I'm going to start a festival and have The Killers" sorts of emails here, but having the big dreams doesn't get to mean they can pull it off.

It's not anyone though is it. It's not some random person who's been to their first festival and saying I would love to do that. You're talking about a Premer League organiser. One of the best Promoters in the world, not some teenager.

And like it or not, as things stand Soni has no reputation to ride off and that's the sort of position that Soni is in until it shows itself as able to do it with the announcement of bands popular enough to make it work.

No reputation...no they are only the biggest touring festival in Europe, which has sold well over a million tickets in 4 years.

What I'm really saying is that there's too many variables to know right now. But a PR person giving PR isn't anything to add any weight anywhere.

So Sonisphere sending efestivals some information saying the UK leg will be going ahead, doesn't add any weight, what about Lady Lytton saying everything is on schedule, how about Welwyn Hatfield Times indicating that it's going ahead, what about half a dozen other news outlets saying exactly the same thing including the manager basically confirming it on the forums and othe social networks. When will you agree that it's happening...when they've announced a hundred bands and sold out.

The problem there is that there's limited headline bands in that area, and this year proved what a struggle it can be to find suitable headliners. And then there's LN as a competitor, which by default makes make the job of getting the bands Soni needs all the harder.

What struggle? the trouble Sonisphere had was nothing to do with headlining bands. There will always be bands available to headline, no matter what the circumstances or are you basing this on other festivals like Hop Farm/ Phoenix again, which were dead before they began.

[Black_Crow]

You talk a lot of shit.

[kaosmark2]

You just say so much bollocks defending Soni and its reputation.

Noone here says it's a bad festival, we wouldn't post if we weren't interested in how it does and hoping to enjoy it in future (except maybe the odd person with severe schadenfreude), but we're pretty realistic in that it's a relatively new festival, that's already suffered repeat headliners, a forced cancellation due to low ticket sales, and is targeting a niche audience where there's a limited number of available bands and another more successful fest to compete with.

if it happens, with a good lineup, great, and I expect most people will be pleased (I certainly prefer it to DL in terms of site layout/location), but fanboism is pretty pointless.

[Black_Crow]

we're pretty realistic in that it's a relatively new festival, that's already suffered repeat headliners, a forced cancellation due to low ticket sales, and is targeting a niche audience where there's a limited number of available bands and another more successful fest to compete with.

Edited August 23, 2012 by Black_Crow

[eFestivals]

Neil, you're literally the only person who could turn something so positive in to something so negative.

I actually made a deliberate effort to play up the positives.

It's not anyone though is it. It's not some random person who's been to their first festival and saying I would love to do that. You're talking about a Premer League organiser. One of the best Promoters in the world, not some teenager.

whatever they might be, the imperfections were shown with what happened this year.

No reputation...no they are only the biggest touring festival in Europe, which has sold well over a million tickets in 4 years.

and bombed badly in the one country where it has serious competition.

So Sonisphere sending efestivals some information saying the UK leg will be going ahead, doesn't add any weight, what about Lady Lytton saying everything is on schedule, how about Welwyn Hatfield Times indicating that it's going ahead, what about half a dozen other news outlets saying exactly the same thing including the manager basically confirming it on the forums and othe social networks. When will you agree that it's happening...when they've announced a hundred bands and sold out.

Do you know just how many people work towards putting on a festival every year, but then nothing comes of it for one reason or another?

As they proved this year, trying to put on a festival and putting on a festival don't necessarily get to meet.

What struggle? the trouble Sonisphere had was nothing to do with headlining bands. There will always be bands available to headline, no matter what the circumstances or are you basing this on other festivals like Hop Farm/ Phoenix again, which were dead before they began.

PMSL.

Bands sell tickets. Soni tickets didn't sell. You work it out.

Phoenix is a great example for where Soni is; and Soni is in a worse position than Vince was with trying to relaunch Phoenix. And Vince couldn't do it, because amongst other things there were other players in the festival market who managed to upset those hoped-for plans.

I hope Soni comes back; I want all festivals to be successful.

But, before the recent-ish upturn in the popularity of rock, I had my doubts as to whether Download has a longterm future as a 3-day fest - and those doubts remain because right now its riding a wave. I definitely don't believe there's a longterm future for 2 big rock fests in the UK, and which of the two do you think might be the first to fall?

[kaosmark2]

You're not realistic at all though are you, you slate my posts without actually reading what I wrote, instead the only thing you can say is "you talk a lot of shit".

[AcademicPistol]

Since when was rock music a niche market.