File this one under the “intrigued, yet suspicious” label.
Exceedingly wealthy person, lifelong shunner of ties, and man voted “most likely to resemble what the Paddle Pop Lion would look like in retirement,” Arthur Fortune Sir Richard Branson has never been one to be backwards in going forwards. Preferring the Nick the Greek method of doing business, Branson’s made a name for himself by having as many of his very rich fingers and toes in as many pots around the globe as possible.
And with ever-growing space being created in the Australian Festival circuit, due to Soundwave‘s continued struggles in Adelaide, and the cancellation of the Big Day Out, that sense of opportunism seems to be rising once again.
Australia, traditionally fertile land for Branson, last saw a musical endeavour from his Virgin corporation in 2009, with the last instalment of the travelling V Festival.
In an interview with Triple J‘s Hack, that will be broadcast later this afternoon, the possibility of Branson bringing the V Festival back to antipodean shores was floated, and met with typical Branson enthusiasm.
When prompted about our Festival woes by interviewer Tom Tilley, Branson responded, “Well I think the future of a big music festival should be good because people love live music and I hadn’t realised that Australia had such a setback. Where there’s setbacks in a country, that’s where Virgin loves to tread, so maybe we should try to get the team at the V Festival to have another look at Australia.“
Of course, Virgin is no stranger to striking while the proverbial iron is hot within Australia. Virgin Australia famously benefited greatly from the collapse of Ansett Australia in 2001, swooping on terminal space that allowed them to fast-track their growth into becoming the nation’s second largest air carrier.
When V Festival last appeared in 2009, it brought with it acts such as The Killers, Snow Patrol, Kaiser Chiefs, Madness, Jenny Lewis, Louis XIV, The Temper Trap, Children Collide and Tame Impala, among others.
Whether this means we’ll definitely see the festival returning to our shores remains to be seen. But in Branson’s own words, “Well, why not.“
Fingers crossed.
Photo: Rob Kim via Getty Images.
via ABC News.
