After weeks of confusion and just two weeks out from the tour, new details for the Pandemonium Rocks Festival outlining final dates, venues, ticket info and artists appearing have finally been delivered via a press release.
“Recently pandemonium, it seems, has ensued.” says the release. “Pandemonium Rocks Australia this April for the first time! We have been hard at work ensuring we deliver events that provide fans with the best possible experience and we extend our thanks to those who have patiently waited for our good news.”
“We acknowledge the current state of the Australian economy and the cost of living crisis, of which we’re constantly reminded of by the media. This cost of living crisis has impacted the live music touring industry significantly and forced many other festivals and tours sadly, to cancel. Pandemonium is not one of those and despite aforementioned national issues our festival is moving forward.”
“With slightly altered programming Pandemonium is still headline iconic act heavy!
Fans will rock out at our festival events to:
Alice Cooper
Blondie
Psychedelic Furs
Wheatus
Wolfmother
Palaye Royale
Cosmic Psychos
They’re all ready to rock and take the Pandemonium stage. That’s right, stage, not stages.
Pandemonium is now a one stage festival.”
The release then goes on to address many of the issues punters have been wondering about.
VENUE CHANGES IN QUEENSLAND
The Gold Coast show will be moving from Doug Jennings Park to Broadwater Parklands, ensuring ease of access and egress as well as accessible car parking. Due to popular consumer demand, the Brisbane event will be moving from Sandstone Point Hotel to the more city centric Eatons Hill.
TOUR DATES
Saturday, April 20: Caribbean Gardens, Melbourne
Tuesday, April 23: Alice Cooper, Blondie, Psychedelic Furs, Wolfmother side show
Entertainment Centre, Newcastle*
Thursday, April 25 (Anzac Day): Cathy Freeman Park – Sydney Olympic Park Precinct, Sydney
Saturday, April 27: Broadwater Parklands, Gold Coast (new venue)
Sunday, April 28: Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane (new venue)** Blondie not appearing
*Blondie will now share the stage with Alice Cooper, the Psychedelic Furs and Wolfmother in Newcastle on Tuesday April 23 from 6pm. New tickets will be allocated for Blondie’s Newcastle show (previously Monday, April 22)vand sent by Ticketek for Tuesday April 23.
FANS OF DEEP PURPLE
Deep Purple will not be performing at Pandemonium Festival later this month. Deep Purple are
eager to tour Australia in the future as their schedule permits.
FANS OF PLACEBO
Placebo are very disappointed to announce they will not now be performing at Pandemonium Festival in April in Australia. The band are very sad not to be able to play at this time but instead hope to come to Australia with their own shows at a later date
FANS OF DEAD KENNEDYS & GANG OF FOUR
Dead Kennedys and Gang of Four will not be performing at Pandemonium Festival later this month. Both acts hope to tour Australia in the future as their schedule permits.
PRICING CHANGE
The newly formatted Pandemonium Rocks festival dates will boast new and more affordable general admission ticket pricing of $190 per ticket. (Eatons Hill Hotel now at $165 GA, plus fees).
Existing Full Price General Admission ticket holders
(GA tickets purchased at full price excluding tickets purchased using any offers or promotions)
can choose one of the following three options:
– One complimentary GA ticket per full price ticket purchased to be added to their existing order.
OR
– A partial refund of $70, which is the difference of the initial price to the new price.
OR
– An exclusive Pandemonium hoodie valued at $100, not available at merchandise stands.
Details on our website soon.
All patrons, including VIP ticket holders will soon receive updated ticket information via Oztix with the above details and more.
Our commitment to Wounded Heroes for Veterans Welfare in Sydney and Top Blokes Foundation in aid of Logan’s Legacy and Prevention of Juvenile Your Suicide Prevention remain in place.
Pandemonium Rocks 2024 not only delivers a day of iconic artists who are the soundtrack to our lives but also by proceeding supports our Australian artists, crews and music fans, the importance of supporting the Australian Festival scene right now has never been more important to ensure there is a future.
We truly love the support and understanding of our patrons in these tough economic times and are looking forward to seeing you all at the Pandemonium event of your choice.
Alice, Debbie, The Furs, Andrew, Brendan, The Royale’s and the Psycho’s are ready to rock, performing live and loud……don t miss out!”
Tickets and Information for all events can be found at
www.pandemonium.rocks
So there you have it, artists, dates and venues finally confirmed.
The controversy began when Channel Nine Gold Coast first suggested that the Pandemonium Rock Festival had been cancelled due to low ticket sales. To be fair to the promoter, the festival had not been cancelled and Channel Nine has a lot to answer for by running with the story without confirmation. The original festival was to run in Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle, Gold Coast, and Bribie Island. Listed to appear over 2 stages were: Alice Cooper, Blondie, Placebo, Deep Purple, Wheatus, The Psychedelic Furs, Dead Kennedys, Gang Of Four, Palaye Royale plus Australian acts Wolfmother, Cosmic Psychos, Gyroscope and Thai solo artist Petch.
What ensued from the Channel 9 report was a PR nightmare with ticket holders turning to social media to ask legitimate questions such as: Is the festival going ahead? Are all the bands listed going to play? How can I get my money back if my fave band isn’t playing?
The situation was made worse by some of the overseas bands removing the Pandemonium dates from their own websites. The promoter further inflamed the state of affairs by turning off comments on their social media, suggesting that ticket holders should only accept festival news from the promoter’s website and Facebook and nowhere else. The only problem was that no news was forthcoming. It didn’t help that the promoter already had history with failed music ventures in the past and this fact wasn’t lost on the public. In a climate where Splendour, Groovin the Moo, Falls and Dark Mofo had already been cancelled, punters were merely seeking truth and accountability. Twelve days out from the festival’s first date, the original lineup was still being promoted on www.pandemonium.rocks and the ticket prices had not been revised to reflect a smaller, one stage event. The punter anger was justifiable.
After such an unfortunate saga, we know that the Alice Cooper band, Blondie and the other international acts on the revised lineup are definitely on their way to Australia and it would seem that the festival is going ahead. Again, in their defence, they never said it wouldn’t. We hope that the festival can now move forward and all parties involved can come together and make it an enjoyable event. We also hope that there’s been some lessons learned.
Tickets and Information for all events can be found at
www.pandemonium.rocks
Here’s an interview we did with Blondie’s Clem Burke a month ago.