The music festival originated from a festival in Perth called the Gravity Soundwave festival. The festival began in 2004-2007, by 2008 the festival had broken away from its original background of water and action sports to focus on touring music bands around Australia. The festival tours 5 main cities across Australia. The cities are Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. The annual event is held between the end of February to the start of March each year. The festival specialises in bands from the metal, rock and punk genres.In the beginning Soundwave shows consisted of 5-10 bands per show. Now the festival hosts up to 50 bands per show. The festival is a one day event at each city. Gates open at 10am and close at 10-11pm. To cater to the large range of bands, organisers erect 6 stages where bands of the same genre perform throughout the day/night. Tickets normally retail at $155 general sale however 2013 tickets inflated to $195 due to the the events ten year anniversary.
Each year Soundwave have created themes for the festival. Examples of previous themes are; Egyptian in 2010, Pirates for 2011, Romans for 2012 and this years theme is Native Americans. The theming is introduced in the first announcement of bands. This theme continues into the websites, social media sites associated with the festival, the merchandise sold for the event and the set list and stage list on the day. However on the day of the event the only evidence of the theme is the artwork on the venue map and the stage and set list flyer.
Main Components:
The three main components of a festival is the venue, the lineup and the budget. Without these three things, the event would not be able to run. Once the budget has been specified, the venue is the first major task to be completed before any other tasks can go ahead. The venue must be able to host the expected attendees, have enough room for the allocated stages for the bands to perform and the necessary facilities for a public event such as food, toilets, transportation, shelter and security.
The venue must meet safety standards and assist in noise control. Permission must be granted by the City council if such a large event can run due to the noise pollution and the safety requirements. Security and police must be hired for the events duration to help control such a large amount of people. The festival is an all ages event and sells alcohol on its premises. The event managers need to gain approval prior to the events date from the liquor license division, the department of tourism, sport and racing. Over the 10 years of Soundwave, their concerts have mostly been held at the same venue each year with an exception for a city or two. This is because they meet all standards and requirements for a large scaled event. However permission must be granted each year by all involved. This can be problematic if their was an incident the previous year. If that is the case it may result in finding a new location and venue to hold the festival.
The entertainment have grown each year since the original event in 2008. The owner of the event AJ Muddah takes the Soundwaves fans advice seriously. However this leads to bands playing at the festival repeatedly, on the odd occasion some bands have played a few years in a row. This has the potential to turn the festival stagnant by repeating bands on a regular basis.
Recommendations:
By having a policy put in place that bands can only play once every two years will prevent the festival from becoming stagnant and allow for the talent to be refreshing for fans who attend the festival each year. This will also allow for the fans to request to see emerging bands in the Australian music scene or International bands that may not have had the funding to organise an Australian tour. For a music festival it is highly important that the festival bring artists that best suit the genre and taste of the target audience.
To assist in creating fresh themes and components for the event i think the event should firstly include the theme into the stages the bands play at. Instead of just having names for the stage like "Stage One" why not have names that incorporate the theme like "Runs with daggers" or "Metal Eagle". The event could also use volunteers to run an area that attendees could interact with props. A large background image or physical prop could be in place for photo opportunities with a few scene setters that represent the theme, for example a totem pole or cartoon indians with their face missing for attendees to get photos.A way of coming up with new themes while interacting with their fans is by conducting a competition where they submit their ideal soundwave theme. It would be considered a marketing ploy because it would generate more hype amongst the target audience for the lineup release when the theme is released to the public. This can lead to more fans coming dressed in fancy dress to the festivals which in turn would create a fun atmosphere.
The main focus for AJ Muddah and his event team should be listening to their target audience, find out what they want, what they expect and most importantly what they are interested in seeing. However they also need to find out if the festival or other festivals have had the same lineup of bands or the same theming before. By listening to their fans, they can gather inspiration and creativity to improve on past shows to offer new experiences and memories each year that they won't receive anywhere else.
