Maryland Deathfest likely to move to Bourbon Street, source says; Deftones status unclear
The Maryland Deathfest is likely to be moved to Bourbon Street Ballroom downtown, a source said.
The heavy-metal festival, which has been held at Sonar for the past six years, was forced to move locations after Sonar abruptly shut down on Wednesday, leaving thousands of fans wondering what would happen to their tickets.
Tickets for the four-day, festival, which begins May 26, start at $40 for daily passes and $132 for the weekend passes.
About 2,000 people had bought tickets already, said Ryan Taylor, a promoter with the festival.
Sonar closed Wednesday afternoon over a business disagreement between McIntosh, his partners and the club’s founder Lonnie Fisher, who is now the executive director of the Baltimore Grand Prix. Its liquor license also expired May 1.
The shutdown left stranded at least 40 shows scheduled through September at the venue, including four, like Maryland Deathfest's first night, that had sold-out.
Deathfest's organizers found out about the club's closing at the same time as everyone else.
"We had no fair warning to prepare," Taylor said. He said organizers had to rush to come up with a back-up plan in the last 24 hours.
"It's a huge headache," he said.
Bourbon Street looked like the most promising venue to take up the festival because of its size. Taylor said organizers would meet with representatives from the club Thursday night, and that while a deal was likely, it had not been finalized. Dave Adams, Bourbon Street's manager could not be reached for comment.
Friday update: "It appears likely it will move" to Bourbon Street, club manager Dave Adams said. The club is able to take in the four-day festival, but it's up to festival organizers to make the final decision. Adams said the organizers would likely send out a confirmation press release at some point Friday.
Kevin Hock, a Bourbon Street promoter, wasn't aware of conversations, but he said it's likely because the reshuffling of shows has happened at a dizzying speed over the last day.
In the aftermath's of Sonar's shutdown, Bourbon Street has already taken up three shows from there, Hock said. The shows are Talib Kweli, who was scheduled for Wednesday; TheNEWDEAL on Friday; and Vains of Jenna on June 3.
Taylor said he didn't want to blame anyone for the club's end.
"We're not pointing fingers. We're just trying to deal with it accordingly. We don't have time for a blame game," he said.
Sonar's booking agents and staff have been updating fans on the status of different shows on twitter. A July 11 show by the band Hate Eternal was moved to Ottobar in Charles Village, and a May 21 show by bands Across Tundras, The Pilgrim, and others, was moved to the Hexagon.
Representatives for the Deftones did not know yet what would happen to the shows scheduled for May 16 and 17.
Already, a show Friday by the band Daytrader was cancelled. Dan McIntosh, Sonar's acting manager, said more cancellations are likely.
"We're holding out some level of hope that we can work out some of the shows and reschedule," he said.
But he noted that fans won't be refunded for shows that have been cancelled.
"Unfortunately, the business has been running in the negative for some time. Truthfully, there's not much money to divvy out at this point," he said. "I would hope the owners put some heavy thought into how they're going to refund not if they're going to refund."
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
