Sunset Junction Canceled
By Ben Westhoff, Andrea Domanick and Liz Ohanesian
Timothy Norris
Stay tuned to West Coast Sound for further reaction and updates on the rescheduling of bands at alternate venues.
RELATED: Where's My Damn Sunset Junction Refund?
2:49 p.m. update: Sunset Junction and Live Nation have issued a press release, confirming West Coast Sound's exclusive scoop about the concert promoter's attempted bailout, and airing its grievances with the city. Full press release at the bottom of this post.
2:34 p.m. update: The Sunset Junction website is down.
2:10 p.m update: Nightclub El Cid reports that its scheduled stage at Sunset Junction will stay open, even if the festival is canceled. The reason they can do this is because they never received -- and thus never signed -- an official contract from the festival. They're also opening another stage for displaced bands to play for free at nearby sister club Los Globos.
The blow-by-blow of how it all went down.
West Coast Sound's exclusive scoop about how Live Nation swooped in to try to save the festival.
Our report about how bands were secretly scheduling local shows at alternate venues.
Following the Los Angeles Board of Public Works' second denial of a permit this morning for Sunset Junction, the festival appears to be canceled. "Seriously, we tried our best on raising the huge amount of money -- thanks for all the support. Unfortunately we didn't meet the expectations," reads a tweet on its Twitter page. This is not an yet an official cancellation, however, so stay tuned.
"Were gonna go back and review our options," Sunset Junction lawyer Phillip Tate tells West Coast Sound of the festival's fate. "It's a nonprofit that operates on a shoestring budget. They've been questioning these bills since October. While the board believes that they should've had quick and easy access [to addressing outstanding issues with the city], Los Angeles doesn't work like that. If you've ever read Kafka's The Castle, it's more like that."
Could Sunset Junction now be sued for breaking contracts with bands? "Our firm has not been involved with the contracts of any of the bands or the vendors," Tate continues, "so I don't know the details of those contracts."
Members of local band Vanaprasta attended the hearing, and afterwards expressed deep disappointment at the news. Set to open for popular metal act Helmet on Saturday at the Satellite, they maintained that the opportunity had come at a critical "make-or-break" moment for the band's career, but felt it had now been lost.
"I do feel like we all lose," says Sarah Dale, owner of Pull My Daisy and a member of Silver Lake Neighborhood Council, who offered her thoughts to West Coast Sound throughout the process. "It would be great to have a street fair that worked.
Press release from Sunset Junction and Live Nation below.
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