‘Storm Area 51‘ had to have been the media highlight of the weekend, having drawn widespread media attention since the event page’s creation on Facebook back in June this year. With 2 million people “Going” and another 1.5 million “Interested,” it was the perfect opportunity to create the next big thing.
However, that ambition was quickly put out for ‘Area 51 Basecamp‘ organizer Keith Wright. A low turnout of around 100 ‘alien-hunters’ to the festival’s first show featuring festival-headliner Paul Oakenfold forced Wright to cut losses and cancel the rest of the festival.
Wright had later admitted to media outlets that they hadn’t been sure about how many attendees would show up. Given the responses on Facebook, they had expected something between 20,000 and 50,000. Consequently, it is understandable that Wright “had to make the decision [to cancel the rest of the event] because it costs tens of thousands of dollars to staff each day. It was a gamble financially, we lost.”
Albeit the disappointing turnout, ‘Area 51 Basecamp’ adds to the list of unique locations at which Paul Oakenfold has played. From Stonehenge (with Carl Cox) to the Mount Everest Basecamp, Oakenfold has always been keen on opportunities “to do something challenging, different, unique.” Moreover, he admitted to being “curious” about plans to storm the top-security military base in Nevada.
While we continue looking for a full set video, here is a short snippet from Oakenfold’s hourlong performance.
Grammy-nominated @pauloakenfold is performing for *maybe* 100 people in Lincoln County, Nevada, because he’s curious about aliens. #Area51 pic.twitter.com/wP6u0HXQOP
— Blake Apgar (@blakeapgar) September 21, 2019