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Machine Head pull out of Sonisphere
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 9 July 2009
Machine Head have announced that they have decided to pull out of the upcoming UK Sonisphere festival on 2 Aug after Limp Bizkit were placed above them on the bill.
In a statement, the band said: “In a turn of events that has left us absolutely baffled, the promoter of the UK Sonisphere festival recently placed, unbeknownst to us, Limp Bizkit in our third slot on the festival. Seeing as the running order was a significant part of the negotiation and agreement between us and the promoter, and the fact that we had been advertised in that slot since the festival’s announcement, you can imagine our surprise when we were ‘told’ that we would now be playing in the fourth slot, under Limp Bizkit, and bizarrely, it was actually expected that we would quietly move down the bill without issue. We will not”.
They added: “Machine Head turned down the UK’s Download Festival, a festival we are very fond of – which incidentally, had us above Limp Bizkit – to commit to the Knebworth festival, as we felt a closer kinship to the bands performing this year. In an effort to make this situation in Knebworth work, we have spent more than a week striving to resolve this issue in a proper manner. Unfortunately, that did not happen. So we have regrettably been left with no choice but to cancel our appearance rather than stand for the disrespect and indignity offered by a promoter who won’t honour our agreement”.
In response, Sonisphere said: “We have spent close to two weeks talking to Machine Head to try and keep them on the festival including offering them higher billing on the Saturn Stage, so that they would be performing immediately after Limp Bizkit and before Nine Inch Nails. They would also get a longer time slot and were offered an increase in fee. Unfortunately the band did not find this agreeable. We have strived to make Sonisphere a great festival in our debut year with one of the strongest line ups out there. Our main priority is to give the fans a great weekend full of awesome bands and it was only recently that Limp Bizkit became available. In the process Machine Head have been upset, and despite our best efforts, they have made the decision to cancel their appearance”.
In situations like this, there’s only one things to do – decide who’s to blame. Head over to Thrash Hits to cast your vote.
