Hot Dub confirms makeup shows as venue responds to Wine Machine festival fiasco

The fallout continues after the NSW Hunter Valley’s Wine Machine finished in chaotic scenes on Saturday, with scores of patrons taking to social media to complain.

The festival was held at Roche Estate and drew a reported 11,000 patrons.

Ticket purchasers accused organisers of poor planning, with drink and food lines stretching out for well over an hour (and some patrons quipping it should be renamed Line Machine).

There were also claims of frozen pizza and no chardonnay.

A severe thunderstorm and lightning strikes cancelled the event before The Presets or the eponymous act Hot Dub Time Machine could take to the stage.

Fans bitterly also complained that afterwards, there was no “duty of care”, with those who tried to take refuge from the storm on-site pushed out by police and security.

Wine Machine organisers issued a statement:

“As those in attendance well know, The Hunter Valley last night experienced an extreme weather system that included torrential rain and a high multitude of lightning strikes within close proximity causing an initial show stop and eventual evacuation of the event.

“This sucked for every single person on site!

“The safety of all patrons, artists, and staff is of absolute priority.

“Evacuations of this nature are never pleasant. If you have feedback on the method by which police and or security managed this please email the WM team at [email protected] and we will come back to you personally.”

Part of the bar congestion was that liquor licensing rules meant that each patron could only buy two drinks at a time.

The event’s external bar operators Prime Collective responded at criticisms there was not enough bar staff:

“Whilst licensing restrictions played a significant role in bar congestion at the Wine Machine NSW event, we must unreservedly apologise for our role in this and take full responsibility.

“Two of our staffing mini-buses carrying 32 staff were reportedly involved in an incident whilst en route from Sydney resulting in bars being understaffed.

“We are currently investigating the circumstances of this and following up on the conditions of those staff involved.

“If you would like further information on this or the licensing restrictions please email us: [email protected] and we will come back to you.”

This morning, Roche Estate parent company Roche Group told TMN:

“Roche Estate are disappointed that patrons didn’t get the experience they were hoping for at the Wine Machine event, held onsite on the 23rd of March.

“When visiting our cellar doors or restaurants or regardless of whichever event you’re coming to see we always want every visitor to Roche Estate to enjoy their time at our venue and understand that for many at this event this wasn’t the case.

“We know the team at Wine Machine are working hard to address the issues and respond to feedback from attendees.”

Promoter confirms two free shows for Hunter Valley ticket holders:

DJ Hot Dub Time Machine is putting on two free shows for NSW Wine Machine ticket holders.

Admitting he was “gutted” over the cancellation, he has confirmed full-length make-up shows at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre on April 11 and Newcastle’s Exhibition Centre on April 12.

Tickets holders will receive an email with registrations details for these shows. These shows are for Wine Machine ticket holders only, and tickets can only be secured by using the same email address that was used for ticket purchasing.

The shows will operate on a first in best dressed basis.

Wine Machine is holding an event at Swan Valley in WA with The Presets headlining and has promised there will be no repeat of Hunter Valley dramas especially since good weather is forecast.

They insisted: “Wine Machine WA has always had the quickest and most efficient bar lines in the country.

“Our bar partner is extremely reliable and also ran the last two successful WA events.”