UPDATE: Bluesfest have issued an apology to the questioner. So… um, yay? But no word on how – or if – they’re planning to address the fact that their line up gender balance is still awfully one-sided.
“I have no interest in bringing Bluesfest down,” Genziuk told GOAT, “and I’ve heard that Peter [Noble, Bluesfest founder] is interested in starting a discussion about this issue. That’s what I’m interested in – turning this into a positive.”
(GOAT reached out to Bluesfest’s publicist but hadn’t heard back by press time.)
When the first line up of next year’s annual Bluesfest was made there was a lot of excitement about the line up – Jack Johnson! George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic! Ben Harper & Innocent Criminals! Ray Lamontagne! Arlo Guthrie! Tex Perkins! – but it didn’t take sharp eyed music fans long to notice there was something largely missing: artists who aren’t dudes.
Nice job, @BluesfestByron. You have shown women and NB musicians that they don't deserve a spot at one of Australia’s most powerful festivals. At the very least, that they are not worth being announced first. Where is the platforming of the black women who BUILT this genre? pic.twitter.com/pIt9izt6Um
— LISTEN Australia (@ListenAU) August 1, 2018
With Kasey Chambers the sole female headliner and a mere three other musical artists plus the Julia Zemiro-hosted RocKwiz, it seemed a mite low on dames for a modern festival.
After all, the lack of female representation on festivals has been an increasingly contentious issue over the last few years, most recently with Splendour In The Grass, so it’s hardly a shock that someone thought to message the Bluesfest Facebook page to ask what was up.
So, in an exchange which rapidly did the rounds of Facebook, Simone “Simi” Genziuk did exactly that.
OK, that’s a fair bit of punctuation.
The question was asked as a DM – not on the page, not in public – and the answer was… well, not the usual PR response.
Not even a “Thanks for the question”?
To be clear, the question was about the line up being “a sausage fest”. And thus Simi felt that she needed to clarify that point:
.
That should be “bulls hit”, surely?
The mystery deepens.
.
Whoa. That escalated quickly.
Just to recap: this was a private message on Facebook asking a question about where the female artists were. Sorry, we mean A SCURRILOUS CAMPAIGN OF LIES.
But things were about to get weirder:
Sausage?
Hooo boy…
So there’s been no clarity about the gender disparity, but more importantly: anyone in corporate social media, this is not the greatest way to handle criticism of your event.