Where The Action Slowed

Although he’s among the promoters reluctant to blame global woes and bad weather for falling attendance, Luger’s Ola Broquist would have plenty of justification for doing so as Where The Action Is looks to have been clobbered by both.

Last year’s inaugural event pulled a near-capacity 18,000-strong crowd to the Stockholm University campus site, but this year it was extended to two days and didn’t pull that many on either day.

Although it was no longer in a toe-to-toe fight with Hultsfred Festival, which was on the same weekend in 2008 but has shifted to July 8-11 this year, a headline package featuring Neil Young and The Pixies attracted 15,000 fans on the first day. On the second day, when Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Duffy topped the bill, the numbers were down to 12,000.

“The walk-up didn’t exist,” Broquist told Pollstar, disappointed that the continuing bad weather deterred any late ticket buyers.

Weighing up the success of the first year – which Hultsfred chief Per Alexanderson admitted was part of the reason his event moved – and the comparative failure of the second, Broquist said he’ll get together with parent company and co-promoter Live Nation to talk to talk about next year’s format.

“It will be here. It will definitely be happening,” he said, no doubt hoping the global economy and the Nordic weather gods will be kinder next year.

The other acts at Where The Action Is June 12-13 included The Pretenders, Seasick Steve, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Magic Numbers, Moneybrother, and Loney Dear.