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Wings Of Desire travel hours with 11-week-old baby to play festival stage that didn’t exist: “We do not appreciate being gaslit”
Wings of Desire, the husband-and-wife duo James Taylor and Chloe Little, have criticised how the music industry treats artists after travelling for hours with their baby to play Valley Fest, only to find the stage they were booked for did not exist. The pair say they were left to wander the site with calls going unanswered before driving two hours home without performing, an experience they compared to going through airport security to wait for a flight that never existed.
The duo had been booked to play the festival's Yard Stage in February, but on arrival with their 11-month-old found it hosting a property development presentation, with its curator saying he had never booked them and the line-up had been fixed for months. Festival founder Luke Hasell apologised, explaining the Yard Stage had been merged with another venue and blaming a "breakdown in communication", but the band say they have received no contact or compensation since and do not "appreciate being gaslit into being told it was a miscommunication", adding they are speaking out on behalf of musicians treated poorly by the live industry.
In short
- Wings of Desire found their booked festival stage didn't exist
- They drove home from Valley Fest without playing, with their baby
- Festival apologised, citing a communication breakdown; band say no compensation given
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Festival operations involve complex logistical coordination across multiple departments and contractors, and venue mergers can create genuine administrative complications that slip through despite good intentions. The founder acknowledged the problem and apologised for what amounts to an honest miscommunication in a system where different parties may not be in perfect sync. Large events inevitably encounter unforeseen scheduling conflicts, and the emphasis should be on recognising the mistake and learning from it rather than characterising a regrettable error as malicious neglect.
The case against
An artist receives a firm booking confirmation, travels considerable distances, arranges childcare for an infant, and arrives only to find their stage occupied by something else entirely, with their calls going unanswered. This represents a breach of professional responsibility that causes concrete harm—wasted time, fuel costs, disrupted logistics—deserving compensation and proper follow-up contact. The vague explanation of miscommunication, without remedial action, dismisses the band's legitimate grievance and exemplifies a broader pattern in the live music industry where artists are treated as dispensable and left without recourse when venues fail to honour commitments.
Explained simply
Wings Of Desire are a husband-and-wife music duo made up of James Taylor and Chloe Little. Valley Fest is a music and arts festival, where performers are booked to play on different stages.
The duo say they were booked to play the festival’s Yard Stage, but arrived to find it was being used for a property presentation. Festival founder Luke Hasell said the stage had been combined with another venue and apologised, describing the problem as a breakdown in communication.
The dispute has drawn attention to how live music bookings are handled and what support artists can expect when plans go wrong. Artists may spend time and money travelling to perform, while festivals and organisers are responsible for communicating changes to schedules and venues.
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