News has come in overnight about the apparent demise of yet another Australian festival – Stereosonic. Yesterday, The Daily Telegraph reported that the festival was gone for good, without having received any comments from organisers Totem OneLove Group and parent company SFX Entertainment, but that’s changed over the course of the evening.
“Totem OneLove Group is currently working on bringing Stereosonic fans the best festival experience possible, as part of this, Stereosonic is taking a hiatus during 2016 and will return in 2017 bigger and better than before,” a spokesperson has said. To add to the speculation, inthemix found that their Melbourne office has been listed as up for lease, with photos on realcommercial.com.au showing Stereosonic and Creamfields posters still hanging on the walls. Though it could mean a simple reshuffle or move of the business, it does come after news early this year that SFX – based in the U.S. – had filed for bankruptcy. Totem OneLove initially claimed that “this proceeding is taking place in the United States only; none of the international operating subsidiaries are included or impacted. Totem OneLove is not part of the SFX Chapter 11 [bankruptcy]. Totem OneLove will continue to operate as normal.” Though it sounds confident, it would be no surprise if the legal and economic issues facing their parent company had spilled over into Australia following.
Image: RealCommercial
This news comes just months after Stereosonic 2015, which took place all across the country in late November / early December. It was at the Sydney and Adelaide legs of tragically passed away from an alleged drug overdose or interaction. Again, the debate on policing the use and possession of illicit drugs, particularly at music festivals, became a major topic of discussion in the public forum and in politics.
Over the New Years period, NSW Premier Mike Baird claimed that “if new rules and procedures place additional burdens and costs on organisers, so be it – and we will also examine denying permits to organisers who have not done the right thing in the past.” Stereosonic set an example for other events in taking care of their punters, fully endorsing pill testing at their event. “We would strongly support any policies or initiatives that would minimise harm, reduce drug use and make events a safer environment for patrons,” Totem OneLove said. Speculation continues that perhaps this open-minded drug policy may have lead to this hiatus for the festival. Regardless, for an event setting such an example to end leaves behind a void, not into in the music scene but also in the progression of the privacy, safety and harm minimisation of festival-goers.
Within the electronic music scene itself, Stereosonic was Australia’s largest EDM event. With a lineup last year consisting of Armin van Buuren, Oliver Heldens, Major Lazer, Diplo, DJ Snake, Tchami, Claude VonStroke and many many more, the event was the hub for dance music fans, particularly after Future Music Festival was scrapped after low ticket sales. With over 48,000 in attendance at last year’s Sydney leg, it begs the question – what happens next?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI–VAZ9zLk&nohtml5=False
Though yes, there are still a number of small doofs and boutique festivals popping up every now and then, they don’t have the funds or the rep to pull such huge acts nor numbers or revenue. With lockouts having seriously inhibited Sydney‘s nightlife, with Brisbane soon to follow, it’s not exactly like these acts will come out here for a club tour, and the ticket prices would likely be so high that many punters couldn’t catch a fraction of the acts they could see at a Stereo weekender.
Whether this demise is solely financial, or whether there are darker forces at work here remains to be seen. What needs to be kept in mind however, is the memory of Stereo as an industry leader. Not just in the quality of the acts and the events that they organised, but in striving for the safety and enjoyment of all their fans. Whether you’ve been to a Stereosonic or not, whether you’re a fan of the music or not, no doubt we’ll all feel its absence in one way or another, for better or worse.
Check out our piece on The Reality Of Drugs At Festivals here.
Image: bbmlive.com
Stereosonic Festival has announced their full support of pill testing at their events to keep punters safe and, y’know, not dead. A pill testing scheme at music festivals has, for some, long been seen as a practical and necessary method to help avoid any more unnecessary drug-related deaths, and it’s exciting to finally see some major Australian events publicly announce their endorsements.
Last year we saw not one, but two drug-related deaths at Stereosonic alone, in Sydney and Adelaide. As a whole, at least seven people have died from drug-related deaths at festivals in the past year.
Festival organisers have released a statement explaining their support of the initiative. “In principle, pill testing would have our full support as long as all the key stakeholders sanctioned the initiative to ensure its effectiveness,” a spokesperson from Totem OneLove Group said. “We would strongly support any policies or initiatives that would minimise harm, reduce drug use and make events a safer environment for patrons.”
Read more: We really, really need pill testing at festivals. Here’s why.
Of course, the idea is not without its loud protestors. Earlier this week, premier Mike Baird expectedly shut down the idea of pill testing once again, saying “we are not going to be condoning in any way what illegal drug dealers are doing.” He stuck by this belief this morning on Sunrise, affirming that “taxpayer funded dollars” would not be going towards “supporting illegal drug dealers.”
So, what is his solution instead?
“Don’t do it. That is the best form of safety you can do. Don’t take the pills and you’ll be fine.”
Nice try, Casino Mike, but you know full well that’s not how this works.
It’s really goddamn stupid to suggest that people just shouldn’t use drugs, because that’s not going to happen, it’s just not. Yet this formal, politically motivated stance is the reason Australia is so far behind other countries in terms of drug education, testing, harm reduction and regulatory schemes, and the reason punters will undoubtedly continue to face serious harm
Nonetheless, the privately-funded scheme will take place as a trial – legal or not. The trial will reportedly involve setting up mobile laboratory-grade dog testing facilities at these festivals to ensure the drugs that festival-goers are taking are safe.
One of the experts behind the scheme, Dr David Caldicott said that the trial is necessary, despite what politicians are saying. “We want to run a trial at a place where everyone is using drugs anyway,” he says. “It’s time for our politicians and elected representatives to catch up with what the majority of parents want for their children, which is for them to return home safe.” You can read more from our own interview with Dr Caldicott here,
Read more: A Doctor & A Rapper Call for Drug Testing at Festivals
Read even more: The Reality of Drugs at Festivals
Image: news.com.au
The problems surrounding drug use at music festivals have been well documented by the media over the last few months. Sparked by the deaths of patrons at festivals like Defqon and Dragon Dreaming, the stories have kept coming – including the near fatal overdose of a woman at this year’s Field Day.
In a recent exclusive interview with dance music publication inthemix, Steresonic festival founder Richie McNeill gave his answers to some of the many questions around the issue. Speaking out for organisers and promoters, McNeill gave his views, as based upon his own 25 years long experience in the industry, and dispelled some of the myths that dog this difficult problem.
Both the media and politicians have called for solutions to the problems, but so far this has manifested as proposed new rules from NSW Premier Mike Baird. These new laws would make it harder for organisers to obtain permits, and also make promoters accountable for overdoses that occur at these events. Howl & Echoes previously commented on how the current laws create an extremely difficult situation for festival organisers where prevention of drug use is concerned, and McNeill is eager to explain exactly how tricky this area is for promoters:
“We don’t fucking promote drugs. We don’t have the power to search people thoroughly, we can’t carry weapons, we can’t lock people up. We can knock people back at the gate, which we do, but at the end of the day – even with police dogs there and the support of police – it’s really difficult. So for the papers and NSW Premier to attack [Field Day promoters] Fuzzy and say that they aren’t doing a good enough job is insulting. I think that’s just the typical response from the media and politicians who don’t understand what’s happening.”
Image via Consequence Of Sound
He also commented on the problematic “steroid issue and “gym hulk” mentality” that is prevalent in Australia. Other accusations that have been thrown at festival organisers include allegations that drinking water is not made available for patrons, which would seriously impact an initially worrying scenario involving an irresponsible use of drugs. But as any number of festival goers would confirm, McNeill challenges these calls. “We used to allow people to bring water into festivals, but then GHB happened and people started using syringes to punch stuff into their bottles because we couldn’t test the water. So we had to ban people from bringing their own water in – but what we did is allow punters to bring in an empty bottle and fill it up inside. I don’t know any festival that doesn’t provide free water. They always have.”
McNeill also mentioned the onsite medical assistance available, as part of the promoters best insurance against these tragedies. You can read more about the third party organisations brought in by festivals to further help prevent injury or fatality here.
In answer to questions regarding pill testing and sniffer dogs (both currently contentious issues), McNeill’s responses clearly illustrate the difficult position of the promoter. On the one hand, there is the very real desire to implement methods that would truly help the situation, but on the other, they are bound by laws that prevent festivals from taking precautions that they believe would make these events safer. In reference to pill testing, he states that “If it saves lives it should be allowed.” And on the subject of amnesty bins, McNeill perfectly illustrates how promoters are caught between a rock and a hard place:
“I think festivals should have amnesty bins. But the police say they can’t, because if people put stuff in the bins, they have to arrest them for possession. That’s just the way the law is written. The fact we don’t implement such a simple solution is mind boggling… It’s really fucking simple, they do it at Glastonbury and they do it at most major festivals. If there’s dogs out the front, you’ve got drugs on you and you don’t want to get arrested, you put them in the amnesty bin and go off and have a great day.”
Image via Vice
Acknowledging the difficulties presented by sniffer dogs, and a police presence, McNeill also confirms that in his experience these measures do help prevent drugs from entering festivals. And can also lead back to the manufacturers. Though, like many other, he is aware of the dangers that can be posed by sniffer dogs. Mainly the possibility of punters attempting to consume their entire stash for fear of being caught.
Giving his thoughts on possible solutions, McNeill calls for a national forum of promoters to work together to reduce risks. Citing previous similar organisations like Enlighten Harm Reduction (a Melbourne organisation who ran on site drugs testing until political pressure and lack of support forced their closure in 2007) and the Dance Industry Association. Formed in response to the rise of GHB in the 90’s, McNeill would like to see the return of something like it. “It was a proactive group that worked with the state government to develop policies for self-regulated events in Melbourne. It was a safe code for running dance parties in the 2000s and it worked.We need to bring something like that back on a national level.”
You can read the full interview here, and scroll to the end to vote for whether pill testing should be allowed at Australian festivals.
After we saw the death of a 25-year old woman and the arrest of 70 others at Stereosonic Sydney, another person has died over the weekend at the Adelaide leg. A 19-year-old man, identified as Stefan Woodward lost his life after he was said to have taken a illicit drug.
South Australian policed issued a statement with details of the incident and identified the pills that may be related, saying:
“The initial investigation indicates the 19-year-old man had consumed an illicit drug and was in possession of a number of pills. The pictured red/orange pills with a ‘$’ logo may be related and Police once again warn the public of the risks associated with taking any illicit substance.”
The statement also says that another man was sent to hospital, after he also allegedly took illicit drugs.
According to Yahoo 7, a witness accused Woodward’s friends of calling him “weak” while he stood in the first aid line. Woodward’s mother addressed this claim when she spoke to the The Advertiser.
“I want friends to look after each and make sure it’s never considered weak to ask for help. I want authorities to make sure kids are kept safe with free water. And I want young boys and girls like Stefan to never be too scared to ask for help,” she said.
Peking Duk, who were playing at the festival, have now joined the calls for drug testing. They posted a short message on their Facebook after Woodward’s death was confirmed.
https://www.facebook.com/pekingduk/posts/10153810938489433
This is a week after another performer Illy called for the same thing in a lengthy Facebook post.
https://www.facebook.com/illyal/posts/10153116431706205
Did we need another reminder of the consequences of the lack of drug testing at music festivals? It’s time we looked at the problem and ways we can solve it. What’s being done clearly isn’t working. Tragic events like this lead us to question, how many more people have to lose their life before we start seeing real change that fits in with this current world? The answer is already too high.
Only one weekend in to its national run, Australian music festival Stereosonic has already faced controversy and tragedy. The EDM0centric festival has been at the forefront of exposing just how many people take drugs at festivals and the desperate and risky measures punter will go to take drugs and sneak them into the festival, with two punters arrested ahead of the Sydney event, and the premature death of a one 25-year-old woman.
Dominating headlines has been the death of Sylvia Choi, now believed to be the result of a drug overdose, once again alerting many to the downside of festival season. This was in addition to the two men arrested for allegedly attempting to drill holes into Sydney Olympic Park in order to hide drugs for the event. Then there was the stupidity of the Perth punter bragging about smuggling “100 pingas” past Perth Stereo security.
Police photo of Sylvia Choi.
Police, security and festival organisers are showing signs of increased desperation at attempts to quell drug-related harm. The sheer mass of people attempting to bring drugs in has not been hindered by drug dogs, strip searches and fear-mongering, zero tolerance tactics.
Emergency physician and drug expert Dr David Caldicott is the latest voice to publicly call for pill testing at music festivals in Australia. Dr. Caldicott has told ABC‘s 7:30 program that the Swiss city of Zurich has seen a shipping container of forensic equipment being brought to large raves, allowing punters to have their drugs tested.
“Then in the 20 to 30 minutes they’re waiting for a result, [testers] engage with the consumer, let them know what’s going on… and also look at their habits and how they can stay safer,” Dr Caldicott said. “It’s not so much the contaminants that we’re worried about, we’re worried about purity, we’re worried about the diversity of products.”
Jumping on board Dr. Caldicott call is Melbourne rapper Illy, who also believes that the flat-out ‘don’t use drugs’ approach doesn’t work for people who use recreational drugs at festivals. “They’ve already decided to use drugs and we need to be far more nuanced in our approach to illicit drugs than we currently are,” Dr. Caldicott says.
Illy’s Facebook statement was fairly vocal compared to Dr. Caldicotts:
“If we, and the police, really are that concerned with safety of festival goers,we should be making it easier for people to test the drugs they have, so they can make better decisions,” Illy said in his Facebook post “Telling the public you’re ‘alarmed and disappointed’ because you arrested 70 people out of FORTY EIGHT THOUSAND, after ‘warning about the dangers of drug use’, doesn’t make you sound like you give a fuck about people’s safety. It makes you sound like your head is in the sand to the situation. Having a zero tolerance approach doesn’t stop anyone doing drugs. It never has, it just pushes it to more risky situations.”
In his post, Illy references Ms Choi’s death by saying, “even one death like this is one too many. And IMO there’s a more sensible way to make sure music fans stay safe and enjoy the party.”
Illy spoke to triple j‘s Hack program about his Facebook post, where he said his focus is on the safety of punters, and says he believes that giving them the option to have their drugs tested at festivals should be looked into in Australia.
“You’re talking about recreational drug users at a festival, not addicts, not dealers or criminals, except for the few hours when they have a pinger on them,” Illy said. “There’s an environment at festivals where there are risks… if it’s going to make better informed decisions for these people then I think it’s something that should be encouraged.”
Recreational drug use at music festivals is not a phase, punters start at a young age and only continue from there. Since we are only the beginning of the festival season, Australia needs to look at some immediate solutions before the ‘festival toll’ rolls off the tongue like the ‘road toll.’
Over the weekend, a 25 year old woman, Sylvia Choi, died at the Sydney leg of the Stereosonic Festival tour. Reports have since confirmed that her death was down to a drug overdose, prompting medical professionals to call -not for the first time– for pill testing to be introduced into large-scale music events.
One of the publications reporting on the death was the Daily Telegraph, who yesterday published a photograph of the wrong woman. While it is not known who the woman in the original image is, one thing is certain – she is not Sylvia Choi. The image was replaced after police released a correct photograph. In addition to the print publication the incorrect image also ran on the digital version of the NewsCorp owned paper, at the top of the Daily Telegraph’s e-newsletter and on news.com.au
A photo of the wrong woman, published yesterday by the Daily Telegraph
Police photo of Sylvia Choi.
Following Choi’s death, it has been reported by Sydney Morning Herald that paramedics, hired privately through Event Medical Services to work the event, have been prohibited from speaking to police about their involvement as medical professionals at Stereosonic. When asked to comment on the leaked internal email, which can be seen below, owner of EMS, Mike Hammond said: “They [NSW Police] come to me, I own the company, they don’t talk to anybody at the end of the queue, they call the head of the company…I’m really pissed off that you got that internal document.”
A 25-year-old woman has died and a 22-year-old woman is in a coma following the Sydney leg of Stereosonic Festival, which took place yesterday at Olympic Park. Almost 70 punters were also arrested on drug charges at the event which saw nearly 50 000 attendees, headlined by artists including Carnage, Armin Van Buuren and Major Lazer.
Police were out in full force, with their (often misguided and futile) attempts to quell drug sales and use at the event through increased numbers, added drug dogs and heightened security. 69 people for possession or supply charges and a further 23 were issued a cannabis caution. So it was probably seen as a successful day for the cops.
The 25-year-old woman reportedly felt ill at the event, and was taken to Concord Hospital where she died. A 22-year-old woman is currently in critical condition in Westmead Hospital. The official cause of death is yet to be determined.
Stereosonic was treated as a major police operation, which brought together a myriad officers from the South West Metropolitan Region, the Dog Unit, Mounted Unit, Public Order and Riot Squad, Traffic and Highway Patrol, and Police Transport Command.
“The police operation is about minimising harm and providing a safe and secure environment for revellers to have a good time,”said Frank Mennilli, Assistant Commissioner and commander of the operation. Mennilli went on to express his “disappointment” at the behaviour of many in attendance. “This number is alarming and disappointing, especially after we warned revellers about the dangers of drug use,” he says.
Stereosonic festival organisers Totem Onelove provided the following statement on the official Stereosonic Facebook page: “Totem Onelove conveys our deepest condolences to the friends and family of the patron who tragically passed away on Saturday night at Sydney Stereosonic,” a spokesperson said.
“We appeal to our audience that they stay safe and look out for each other.”
Superintendant David Eardley at Olympic Park yesterday. Photo: Fairfax
The news follows the arrest of two men who were allegedly attempting to hide drugs inside the festival complex last week.
Yesterday was one of the busiest days Olympic Park has seen since wrapping up the 2000 Olympics: as well as Stereosonic was a Taylor Swift concert, the Australian Swimming Championships and the Aus X Open meant that around 150 000 people were estimated to be within the complex.
Look. If police genuinely believe that their behaviour counts as “warning revellers of the dangers of drug use”, and that said warning is going to reduce harm and prevent people form using, buying, selling, or abusing drugs, then nothing’s going to change. Simple as that. Increased police numbers leads to nothing other than increased arrest numbers, and while you may argue that confiscating drugs from those 69 people is saving lives (it may well be), the real issues have still not been addressed. More drug dogs are not the answer, a bigger police presence is not the answer. If anything, these ominous surroundings can serve to increase fear and distrust, which can occasionally lead to tragedy in itself, such as what happened at Defqon in 2013, when a man died as the result of panicking at the sight of drug dogs, and ate his entire stash to avoid detection.
Yesterday’s death serves as a reminder that we need readily available drug testing kits at festivals, to make information more available about safe use and harm reduction.
Read this next: I was strip searched on the way to a music festival
Photos + story: Fairfax
Some people will do anything to get high – even if it involves power tools. On two separate occasions throughout the past week, security have discovered two men allegedly attempting to stash drugs within the Olympic Park complex, where Stereosonic is taking place next weekend.
Police were called to the venue last Friday after security discovered a 21-year-old man allegedly attempting to drill a hole into a wall, with the intention of stashing drugs ahead of the festival. After the man (now identified as Zane Raffie) noticed security, he escaped. Police caught up with him in Green Valley and confiscated ten MDMA pills. He was issued with a notice to attend court on February 2, for charges of malicious damage, trespass and possessing a prohibited plant.
Yep.
On Tuesday, police were again called to the venue after security noticed 24-year-old Ali Ghoneim “acting suspiciously”. Police searched his car and uncovered 95 pills. They are alleging that Ghoneim was planning to stash drugs throughout the venue, so that he could simply collect them during the festival. He too was issued with a court notice. On December 15, he faces charges of drug supply.
The festival hadn’t even begun setting up at the time of these incidents. Inspector Chris Laird, of Flemington local area command, spoke to the Sydney Morning Herald. “They’re going to desperate lengths,” he said, explaining that this is certainly not the first time this has happened. “We know this happens so we’ve been regularly sweeping the area with drugs dogs over the last few days to make sure we find stuff before the park is fully locked down.
“At the end of the day, if you’re planning to take drugs in, you’ll get caught. If you’ve already secreted drugs, we’ve already found them so don’t bother turning up.”
Police have also said that the men will be arrested if they attempt to attend Stereosonic.
Interestingly, this Saturday is supposedly going to be one of the busiest days Olympic Park has seen since the 2000 Olympics. Taylor Swift is performing, and both the Aus-X Open and the Short Course Swimming Championships are taking place as well as Stereosonic, meaning around 150 000 people will be on site.
It seems the days of Stereosonic being a two day music festival are over. Well, for now at least.
The two day festival concept was Stereosonic’s way of celebrating their fifth birthday in 2013, but the party was so darn good that they thought they would do it all over again in 2014. But the party’s over and it’s back to being a single day festival for Stereosonic 2015.
Stereo have already hinted at a “killer line-up” for 2015 although it won’t be released until July. Ticket prices, of course, won’t hurt your wallet as much as they did last year with prices starting at under $130 for all cities.
Venues will be announced after Easter while ticketing details will be announced in July. What you can do in the meantime is mark in your diary what date you’ll be leaving free for Stereosonic 2015:
STEREOSONIC 2015 DATES:
Sat 28 Nov – Sydney
Sun 29 Nov – Perth
Sat 05 Dec – Adelaide
Sat 05 Dec – Melbourne
Sun 06 Dec – Brisbane
From the dates above you can see Melbourne and Adelaide share the same date – don’t worry, these cities won’t miss out on any artists. The artists will be travelling between both cities on the day so they can perform in both Melbourne and Adelaide on the same day.
As for Stereosonic going back to its original one day festival format in 2015 – who knows, maybe they’ll give us two days of partying when they turn 10.
Stereosonic Festival, colloquially known as the annual watering hole for ‘roid-raging beefcakes in tiny shorts, has become the latest arena for testosterone-fuelled violence at last weekend’s Sydney leg. A video has surfaced of a fight taking place at Sydney Olympic Park. The video, which seems to involve about 20 people, surfaced early Thursday morning and has since gone viral.
In the clip, a sparsely populated mosh pit littered with debris soon becomes a game of ‘roid rush as a shirtless festival-goer lunges for another man. Chaos soon ensues and TNs, nipple grazing singlets and fluro board shorts go flying in a colourful blur as the fight escalates.
The heavy background music is punctuated by high-pitched screams of nearby females, as security guards desperately try to break up the seething mass of sweating bodies. Unfortunately it’s too late for some, and one partygoer is king hit, struck down and left seemingly unconscious, surrounded by a wreath of plastic cups and a ring of hungry spectators, some staring at the action, others shuffling to the spastic cadence of the music.
As quickly as it started, the fight dissipates, assailants and spectators melt away, apparently unfazed by the sudden outburst of violence they have just witnessed.
Watch the video: