2015 Wishlist

[JBarbour]

Bollocks. They were specifically told it wasn't for the UK.

And you've named 2 potential headliners, ac/dc was never happening. Were they going to have tool headline all 3 nights? I know for a fact It's been dead in the water since October.

Kili Live art director has said they were messed about by AC/DC to be fair. Never a firm yes or no.

Apparently this happened to a number of promoters and festivals to negotiate a decent fee/contract for the band.

How true it is I don't know.

[dentalplan]

According to the Hellfest booker, AC/DC's fees and stage demands ruled them out of festivals (apart from Coachella, for whom the first isn't really an issue and I dunno what's happening with the stage) so I would be surprised if AC/DC were ever realistically in the frame. Sonisphere supposedly operate with a much smaller budget than competitors too. The fella also said back in November that Tool weren't touring this year so Sonisphere are probably just saving face there.

Speculation for this year is immaterial anyway. They just need to get cracking on discovering what area they can expand into for 2016 rather than building another Metallica topped festival and cancelling 2017.

[kipper64]

Bollocks. They were specifically told it wasn't for the UK.

And you've named 2 potential headliners, ac/dc was never happening. Were they going to have tool headline all 3 nights? I know for a fact It's been dead in the water since October.

Except it wasn't cancelled in October. Whatever information or "facts" you've been told are wrong. Talks were with more than just those two, just mentioning them as they are the names that have been thrown out publicly. Edited January 17, 2015 by kipper64

[lightning1000]

Edit- in response to dentalplan

Exactly, I think it's a great festival, I just don't know how they can gain any foothold if they can't but on a fest every year. And if metallica are booked again I'm definitely not going. Just as I didn't last year with 2 of theunimaginative repeat bookings on the circuit.

The first 3 years were decent, you could forgive the first metallica repeat as it was the big 4.

Edited January 17, 2015 by lightning1000

[lightning1000]

Except it wasn't cancelled in October. Whatever information or "facts" you've been told are wrong. Talks were with more than just those two, just mentioning them as they are the names that have been thrown out publicly.

I didn't say cancelled, I said it was dead in the water and they knew it. There was nobody available, they were trying to take a long shot that they knew wasn't going to happen. Instead they should have just been getting acts secured for 2016.

[kipper64]

Again except it wasn't, there was a fair few interested parties at that point. Acdc obviously being the top but there interest proved to be for their own gain.

It'd be near on impossible to book bands for 2016 at this stage, they along with most fests will be talking to bands but most acts won't sign up to any festival 100% at this stage. They'll want to see what offers are out there, or not ready to plan a euro tour that far in advance, just wanting to get an idea of possibilities

[mrtourette]

Who were the others and what lead to them turning a 'fair few interested parties' into nothing?

[the wonderwhy]

Probably Metallica.

[kaosmark2]

Metallica

Placebo

Alice in Chains

Architects.

[lharris92]

if it does come back next year w/metallica then may as well call it Orion UK...

[kipper64]

Placebo have only done it once?

Orion isn't even a thing anymore, and ran less successfully than sonisphere. To be fair though, metallica only play so often because demand is there, hence Glasto booked them last year, Reading and Leeds wanted them for this year etc... If Sonisphere hadn't gone for them last year, I imagine Download would have grabbed them.

I suppose next year will depend on who is about, and my understanding is for this year DEAG didn't want to call any shots for Kili's operations in the UK, but they bought a controlling share in them as they wanted a foot in the UK market, so perhaps they'll want to get more involved, or throw some money at the UK as well. It honestly wouldn't surprise me to see Metallica back though, with the new album being out by then, assuming it tops the charts and puts them back in the limelight or reignites some interest again as Death Magnetic did both Download and Sonisphere would surely be chasing them.

[mrtourette]

Placebo have only done it once?

Orion isn't even a thing anymore, and ran less successfully than sonisphere. To be fair though, metallica only play so often because demand is there, hence Glasto booked them last year, Reading and Leeds wanted them for this year etc... If Sonisphere hadn't gone for them last year, I imagine Download would have grabbed them.

I suppose next year will depend on who is about, and my understanding is for this year DEAG didn't want to call any shots for Kili's operations in the UK, but they bought a controlling share in them as they wanted a foot in the UK market, so perhaps they'll want to get more involved, or throw some money at the UK as well. It honestly wouldn't surprise me to see Metallica back though, with the new album being out by then, assuming it tops the charts and puts them back in the limelight or reignites some interest again as Death Magnetic did both Download and Sonisphere would surely be chasing them.

Who were the others and what lead to them turning a 'fair few interested parties' into nothing?

[justanothername]

Orion isn't even a thing anymore, and ran less successfully than sonisphere. To be fair though, metallica only play so often because demand is there, hence Glasto booked them last year, Reading and Leeds wanted them for this year etc... If Sonisphere hadn't gone for them last year, I imagine Download would have grabbed them.

I know Download does have a bit of a reputation but they wouldn't have gone for Metallica in 2014 based on the fact they played 2 years earlier and they haven't got anything new to bring (unlike Slipknot) to the table. Also it was made clear that Copping wasn't after Metallica this year at all so if they were so desperate to have them last year why not this year?

[Andre91]

Soni only goes ahead when Metallica are free. /end.

[kipper64]

I know Download does have a bit of a reputation but they wouldn't have gone for Metallica in 2014 based on the fact they played 2 years earlier and they haven't got anything new to bring (unlike Slipknot) to the table. Also it was made clear that Copping wasn't after Metallica this year at all so if they were so desperate to have them last year why not this year?

Def leppard in 2013? Linkin Park back yet again last year, aye they may have had some new material coming out, but they were booked to play an album 14 years old. I definitely wouldn't say Download are against repeats, and Andy's record on metallica isn't gospel. He bad mouthed them when they were doing soni 2011, but then booked them the following year with no new material out.

As for this year, Reading and Leeds have them, but I imagine he did talk to them, perhaps decided it'd be better to have them in 2016 off the back of.the new album, or couldn't get them. People might complain about repeats, but they are still one of the biggest bands around, and arguably a better draw than Linkin Park or A7X.

As for who was interested, I don't know the specifics, just knew they had something that looked likely for the 2nd-5th of July. You might remember the tweets about hotels being locked down, and some working stuff came out for the event over that weekend in nov-dec time. However that all fell through. I reckon that betting was mainly off the back of ac/dc saying they were interested, but in the end seemed to only be saying so to drive up their fees for their own shows they ended up announcing for that very same weekend then completely went cold to any other dates at sonisphere, even after being offered their own day with just them and multiple different weekends. Tool, I've already mentioned, SOAD at one point but opted for their own shows. There would have also been Muse and Kiss due to the DEAG link at one point but they obviously opted for Download some months ago.

I imagine there was more they spoke to, dunno how likely any of them ended up being though! As I said like a month ago on here, they were waiting on some final words from certain acts, which obviously inevitably were nopes, if you read the statement they made, it pretty much confirms what I've been saying for the last while.

Edited January 18, 2015 by kipper64

[justanothername]

Def leppard in 2013? Linkin Park back yet again last year, aye they may have had some new material coming out, but they were booked to play an album 14 years old. I definitely wouldn't say Download are against repeats, and Andy's record on metallica isn't gospel. He bad mouthed them when they were doing soni 2011, but then booked them the following year with no new material out.

As for this year, Reading and Leeds have them, but I imagine he did talk to them, perhaps decided it'd be better to have them in 2016 off the back of.the new album, or couldn't get them. People might complain about repeats, but they are still one of the biggest bands around, and arguably a better draw than Linkin Park or A7X.

I don't know if it is true but I think Def Leppard were booked due to the fact that there was no one else left to book (and that was in 2011 mate ) and when Linkin Park returned they had new material each time and didn't have to rely on another gimmie to try and get people to see them again with nothing new. Also with Linkin Park they're one of the biggest bands around and even though used "play a classic album in full" gimmick they could have easily not with the new album being released (and it was a success too) and if Download wants to survive it needs to create new headliners like A7X rather than keep on booking the old until they can't play no more so it wasn't really a weak booking at and Copping probably knew this (but I'm going off a bit of tangent here so....)

[mrtourette]

if you read the statement they made, it pretty much confirms what I've been saying for the last while.

I'm pretty sure you said something similar about Metallica playing Glasto.

[kipper64]

Regardless though, they still aren't above rebooking bands, which was my point. Def Leppard had no new album and were rebooked - even if it was due to a lack of options. Linkin Park are a big band, a solid headliner, but even with a gimmick, new material or not, I'd still reckon Metallica can shift more tickets to the DL crowd. I agree A7X headlining was the right move, by the way, not disputing that, or saying that booking specifically was weak, but I reckon Metallica would have been more solid than Linkin Park - as they usually sell more, and both do festivals a lot. If you put Metallica in place for LP, it would have sold at least as well, if not better imo. He'll always be considering them

In terms of new headliners, has Download done all that? The only bands I can think they have promoted would be A7X and maybe The Prodigy in 2012, over the last few years. Sonisphere boosted Biffy up to headline, which at a far less established festival is surely a bigger risk in the few years it's ran. I suppose you could say Alice Cooper and Rammstein, though that'd be pushing it as Cooper wasn't a full headliner, and Rammstein were already established.

Either way it's all besides the point. I think when Metallica are about, as they are most years, unless Copping has his eye on other bands for specific reasons, he'll always be happy to take Metallica as a solid headliner. As he is always happy with LP as an option, I doubt them playing in 2011 or 2014 had much to do with the new material, other than he needed a solid name to go on the bill. I also doubt most of the people who buy tickets to see them at a festival care or even know about new material, they want the older stuff. This isn't a dig at Copping or Download by the way, don't want to turn this into one vs the other, but both do the same thing a lot of the time, and it's usually for pretty good reason these same bands crop up.

[mrtourette]

The difference is that Download can go ahead without Metallica. Also you don't seem to be able to back up the belief that this years festival was a legitimate possibility until only recently.

[kipper64]

I'm pretty sure you said something similar about Metallica playing Glasto.

I didn't say anything about Metallica and Glasto as far as I remember, when they were announced for that. Feel free to look through my posts, it shouldn't take long as I barely post on here

As for this years, I posted that this was the case over a month ago - from what I had heard. They hadn't made a choice one way or another about it running and something fell through in December, however some of them were still hopeful they'd put something on as were waiting on final word from a few others. They posted stuff to this effect on the official sonisphere forums by the way, and the facebook page, can't be bothered going to find the quotes, someone with more time can do that. The statment put out last week was:

"Unfortunately our last irons in the fire have just been extinguished and it’s clear that we won’t be in a position to run the event this year"

Which backs that up. I'm not here to prove anything anyway, but as I said my posts from a month ago stated that, that's what they've now came out and said. The AC/DC stuff happened in December, there's a quote for that on other forums by one of the kili guys if you wanna have a looksie, I think someone else on here mentioned a similar thing happening to other festivals in Europe with AC/DC, so soni probably wasn't the only one. I was disputing the idea that someone was told in October it wasn't happening, as untrue. Never said it was likely or even possible, just that the decision wasn't made until now, and there was a slight possibility it might run, but they were so tight lipped about it cause they knew there was an equal or greater chance they'd end up with not enough to run the event.

[gary1979666]

I'm curious how many more festivals Metallica can get away with in the UK before the masses get sick of them. I think I've seen them 8 times since 2003 (7 since 2008), and I don't class myself as a massive fan.

I mean we have L/R this year, must be a dead cert at DL/Soni in 2016, then probably the other in 2017, plus their own album shows. Would they lose their appeal as headliner through overexposure?

[mrtourette]

I'm pretty sure you said something similar about Metallica playing Glasto.

I didn't say anything about Metallica and Glasto as far as I remember, when they were announced for that. Feel free to look through my posts, it shouldn't take long as I barely post on here

As for this years, I posted that this was the case over a month ago - from what I had heard. They hadn't made a choice one way or another about it running and something fell through in December, however some of them were still hopeful they'd put something on as were waiting on final word from a few others. They posted stuff to this effect on the official sonisphere forums by the way, and the facebook page, can't be bothered going to find the quotes, someone with more time can do that. The statment put out last week was:

"Unfortunately our last irons in the fire have just been extinguished and it’s clear that we won’t be in a position to run the event this year"

Which backs that up. I'm not here to prove anything anyway, but as I said my posts from a month ago stated that, that's what they've now came out and said. The AC/DC stuff happened in December, there's a quote for that on other forums by one of the kili guys if you wanna have a looksie, I think someone else on here mentioned a similar thing happening to other festivals in Europe with AC/DC, so soni probably wasn't the only one. I was disputing the idea that someone was told in October it wasn't happening, as untrue. Never said it was likely or even possible, just that the decision wasn't made until now, and there was a slight possibility it might run, but they were so tight lipped about it cause they knew there was an equal or greater chance they'd end up with not enough to run the event.

It only backs it up if you believe Soni's PR, which most people don't given how wrong (or evasive) they've been in the past. If your sole explanation as to why lightning is wrong (which was your original point) is that "Soni PR says otherwise" then that isn't exactly steady ground to be launching a claim from, neither is the reliance on something that someone from Kili posted on a forum (again, proven to be not exactly reliable).

It seems perfectly reasonable for Soni to have been 'dead in the water' at the back end of last year, desperately clutching at one headliner in December still qualifies as 'dead in the water'. If you're still trying to pull something together after being let down in December then you're fucked, and you were probably fucked a long time before that point but just didn't realise it.

I have to apologise as it appears I'm wrong about you and Glasto, I think it was one of the other fanboys (probably Black_Crow/metalicbear) who argues that "if Soni say that Metallica aren't playing Glasto then Metallica aren't playing Glasto". What you posted and your ataunch defense of what was officially said just reminded me of that guy.

Edited January 19, 2015 by mrtourette

[kipper64]

It's not really a defense, just passing on what I knew. As usual taken as some sort of defense which is just silly. In October they were fairly confident of an event running, in December it fell apart mainly down to the AC/DC bizzle as they were planning at that stage for an announcement and for the event to run on the 3rd-5th of July but that all fell through and AC/DC's interest was purely to drive up the fees for their own shows it seems.

I admin the official forums, so just passing on what I heard from the organisers over the last few months, in December when things fell apart they were still in talks with some bands, and were still hopeful of running an event. However they were aware it might not run - hence they put out the statement they'd let us all know as soon as they had made a decision (which was dependent on some bands getting back to them over the coming weeks). Which contradicts lightning being told the organisers knew and said it was dead back in October. So just giving my 2 cents. I usually pass on bits and pieces of what I've heard - within reason - if I'm told things in confidence i.e. bands before they are announced on the running years I tend to keep quiet and anything I'vr brrn told privately in the past by them has always been true (it'd be a bit meaningless telling me lies privately )

[dentalplan]

It would be monumentally stupid of them to hinge the festival on AC/DC what with the band's short history of festivals being a bit of a mess organisationally. Pretty much why I struggle to believe that is any more than a lie to save some face. Plus Brian said they were doing Wembley and Hampden back in summer.

Edited January 19, 2015 by dentalplan

[kipper64]

Wouldn't really make sense to lie. Also heard the same for other festivals across Europe (and someone else said they had heard a similar thing too I'm sure). Also wasn't really a public post, Soniphere's art guy posted it on the camp loner facebook page when someone asked him. So it's hardly going to save much face. It wasn't just AC/DC they would have been in talks with anyways, but if AC/DC did say they were interested at one point, even if it is true that that later proved to be false (and I'd hardly put it above a band's agent to play shows/festivals off each other to get the band a better deal...it's common practice and basically their job). I think they'd obviously want to pursue it, a band like that if they played would have ensured a sell out I imagine on their own and clearly there isn't an awful lot of options, certainly nobody even close to better about.

I guess we don't know how much of an interest they showed though, but as I said, after that fell through I had heard directly they were still hopeful of some other bands getting back to them which may mean they could run something, or maybe not, hence they didn't cancel in December. They put something to that effect out on facebook in December publicly. They left it till this month and either didn't get the answers back they were looking for, or not enough to warrant running something I'd guess.