#NoGaryNoShip has been trending on Twitter, as it should be from the recent news. Hysteria has broken out as Gary Richards, AKA Destructo, founder of HARD events, has announced his departure from his empire, as Live Nation takes over after Hard Summer this weekend.
Shipfam and artists like Boys Noize have expressed their opinions and disappointment with the end results. Many fans feel scammed by Live Nation for many reasons. One reason being, not announcing the lineup for Holy Ship before announcing Gary’s departure and after payments were finalized.
Holy Ship released a statement and Shipfam isn’t too happy about it. Some say without Gary, artists we’ve grown to love at HARD events, might not support Live Nation, putting the lineup at risk.
“Wait for reals? You are using the community, vibes, and event Gary built to ‘trust’ you on a boat you pushed the creator off after payments were made, based off a Gary curated lineup… Wow. False advertising, lying… If anyone actually thinks the ‘artist shipfam’ lineup is about to stay the same, you are crazy. No Gary, no holy ship. #RIP” – Emily Morin
“You’re no longer shipfam, you’re solely a business now with a name we once knew. To even state that this is “bigger than one person” is hypocrisy at its finest. Hope Pasquale chokes on a shitty corn covered pizza. Shipfam has left, enjoy your “headliners” and the false Plur king that pulls your strings now. – Michael Van Natta
“You guys need to have a lineup produced before the next payment is due. You have all of us standing here blindly not knowing what to do and your policy implies, that no money put into the cabins after July 19th will be refunded no matter the amount – and I don’t believe insurance covers the matter that is currently unfolding. – this is a scam and you’re scamming people who have sailed with you from day one. We deserve to know what we’re paying for at this point. We put so much of our hard earned money into you every year. After all of this, we deserve to know before the next payment is due. – I know Gary is “just one person” to you, but he is everything to us. And he, along with all of the artist he brought along with him, have already began to express they would have never done ship if it wasn’t for Gary, which means there’s a good chance they’re following him out the door. We deserve to know immediately. Please shipfam, those of you who have been sailing for years as have I, tell me I’m not wrong here.” – Melissa Betances
Fans of HARD’s Holy Ship! have started a Change.org petition asking Live Nation to restore Richards. “At the end of the day, if you choose to give Gary the boot, or otherwise force him from Holy Ship!, we pledge to make this hurt, and not physically, but financially,” according to the petition’s introduction.
We’ll have to keep waiting for the Holy Ship lineup and let’s hope it’s authentic as usual. With Gary gone, how will things change? Some say it’s an end of an era, only time will tell.
Until then, celebrate the 10 year anniversary of HARD Summer this weekend at Glen Helen Amphitheater.
Leave a Reply