The organizers of the Lockn’ Festival (formerly Interlocken Music Festival) scheduled for September 5-8 on the grounds of Oak Ridge Estate in Arrington, VA have confirmed that Neil Young & Crazy Horse, originally scheduled as the headline performance, has cancelled.
According to a press statement, the appearance was cut from the line-up due to a hand injury sustained by Crazy Horse guitarist Poncho Sampredo. Neil Young’s website lists three other cancelled shows in New York and Ontario.
Lockn’ co-founder Dave Frey confirmed the cancellation, and said the festival is working diligently to replace the slot with another high profile act. “We didn’t want to make the announcement until we had a replacement, but someone at Warner Brothers (record label) moved too quickly and pulled the trigger,” he said Wednesday.
Frey said he expects to have news of another big name headliner as soon as today.
In addition to losing the iconic rock act, the festival has curiously shortened its name from Interlocken to Lockn.’
Frey’s partner in the festival, Peter Shapiro, issued the following statement: “The logo has started to take on a life of its own, and the feedback we’ve received is that people really appreciate how the music and all elements of the festival are locked into one another. Given the spirit of an event where we’re encouraging musicians to take chances, we wanted to make the change now. We also wanted to reflect the fact that Lockn’ is such a unique festival that it deserves its own unique name.”
While these changes throw a curve ball into the planning of a major music event that has already come together on a short time table, the remaining line up of talent remains intact, with Further featuring Phil Lesh & Bob Weir as weekend headliners and The String Cheese Incident topping the bill for Thursday’s kick-off. Grace Potter was added to the bill on Monday, with press information touting her collaborations with other artists throughout the festival weekend.
The Lockn’ Festival expects to draw more than 25,000 attendees to Nelson County over four days during the first weekend in September.
