John Fogerty ‘blindsided’ by cancellation of performance at Country Fest Queensland
The frontman of a wildly successful 60s, 70s American rock band said “sometimes dogs make more sense than people” as he addressed shattered fans expecting to see him in person in Queensland. VIDEO.
Mackay
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One of the world’s biggest rock stars has made a not so subtle jab at the Queensland festival promoters that allegedly cancelled his headliner gig, saying “sometimes the dogs make a lot more sense than people”.
Creedence Clearwater Revival founder and former frontman John Fogerty was to be the star attraction at Country Fest Queensland, a two day festival at Bloomsbury, about an hour’s drive north of Mackay.
The March show was to be Fogerty’s only performance in Australia after not having played down under in 12 years.
But negotiations between the rock legend and the promoters, SFP Events Pty Ltd, have allegedly broken down with the matter now headed to the Supreme Court.
Dittmann Bucking Bulls and NQ Licensed Events on Tuesday morning posted to Facebook saying they were “working hard” to revise the line up but if ticket holders wished to cancel due to the “non-appearance” of Fogerty, Oztix would advise about refund options.
But the musician hit back the next morning posting he felt “blindsided” by the situation before following up with a special message.
“Well sometimes the dogs make a lot more sense than the people,” he began in his video posted to Facebook on Wednesday afternoon.
“This is especially for my Australian fans, there’s a festival up in the northern part of Australia and for some reason, they say I'm not playing there but as far as I know, I’m ready, willing and able to.
“It’s a big disappointment to me what's going on right now, a shock actually, because I was really looking forward to and planning on playing this concert up in Queensland and I'm really sorry for the fans that had looked forward to it and planning on it.
“I don’t know what to say, sometimes things get complicated, beyond my grasp anyway.
“I know I will be in Australia soon and I’ll play for you then, something like this one here,” he said before launching into an acoustic rendition of Bad Moon Rising.
SFP Events Pty Ltd filed an application in the Supreme Court in Brisbane on Monday against John Fogerty’s Little Swamp II Inc and billion-dollar Hollywood talent giant Creative Artists Agency LLC.
SFP Events, which sells the tickets to Country Fest, is based in South Townsville and is owned by event organiser Regan Anderson, 40.
The case is due in court on March 13.
Reactions have been mixed on Facebook with some expressing they would seek a refund while others expressed that Fogerty or no Fogerty, they were keen for the “epic” event at The Bull Pit in Bloomsbury, about an hour’s drive north of Mackay.
“Won’t stop me from boot scooting my way to UNIBAR,” Eryn Gusmeroli said with Dale Cawood commenting last year’s festival was “unreal” and he could not wait for the same this time around.
The line-up for 2024 Country Fest on March 30 and 31 also boasted Morgan Evans, James Johnston, The Wolfe Brothers, Zac Cross Band and many more artists making up Australia’s country music royalty.
Speaking outside court, SFP Events’ lawyer Ben Rooks said the declaration his client was seeking from the court related to whether an agreement was reached with Fogerty and his music agent with SFP submitting that negotiations broke down.