KATSEYE pulled out of Daisy Chain Fields two days before it opened. The group announced on Thursday, August 27 that Megan Skiendiel had sprained her ankle during rehearsals for their upcoming tour and had been told by doctors to stay off it. Stereogum, Rolling Stone, NME and the Los Angeles Times all carried the statement, which the group posted on Weverse and Instagram Stories.
"Megan sprained her ankle yesterday during tour rehearsal," the statement read, adding that resting it was the only way to have her ready for the tour. The group said it broke their hearts to disappoint people who had made plans, and that they had been looking forward to a day built around more than music. Devon Again was added to the bill in their place.
The timing was awkward for a group already running short. Sophia Laforteza stepped back earlier in August to focus on her mental health, and Manon Bannerman has been on hiatus since February, leaving Daniela Avanzini, Yoonchae Jeung, Lara Raj and Skiendiel performing as a quartet.
Daisy Chain Fields was Olivia Rodrigo's first festival, a single day at Great Park in Irvine on Saturday, August 29 with an all-women and female-fronted bill across two stages, the Dandelion and the Marigold, sequenced so that none of the 14 sets overlapped. Rodrigo played, alongside Chappell Roan, Bikini Kill, Doechii, Garbage, Mitski, The Breeders, Santigold, Rachel Chinouriri, Die Spitz, Eli, Not For Radio and Quiet Light, with Karen O, Sarah McLachlan and Stevie Nicks as special guests. It sold out in half an hour.
The artists performed for free. NPR's Jenn Pelly, reviewing the day, reported that the festival raised $20 million for ten organisations, among them FreeFrom, the Center for Reproductive Rights, Baby2Baby, the National Women's Law Center and Planned Parenthood, and that about 45,000 people turned out under 94-degree heat.
Rodrigo announced the festival in June, after her third album, and it follows a pattern she set on the 2024 Guts tour, when she routed $2.5 million from ticket profits and donations to groups working on women's rights. She told the Los Angeles Times that demanding women and girls be safe and have ownership over their own bodies is not a radical idea.
We covered the stage times that kept every set clash-free and Sophia Laforteza's hiatus when it was announced. Festival changes land in the festival tracker, with more on the pop hub.
The facts
- Megan Skiendiel sprained her ankle during tour rehearsal
- Devon Again replaced KATSEYE on the Daisy Chain Fields bill
- The festival ran August 29 at Great Park in Irvine, California
- Two other KATSEYE members were already on hiatus
- The one-day event raised $20 million for ten organisations
- About 45,000 people attended, and tickets sold out in 30 minutes
How this checks out
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