Electric Forest festival threatened by legal dispute between SFX and AEG / Madison House

Music Times reported last week that the Tomorrowland Festival is facing issues thanks to a legal challenge brought by Belgian residents. The odds that Tomorrowland shuts down its second weekend are unlikely however. Now a legal conflict is threatening to derail this year's Electric Forest festival in Rothbury, MI, and it's packs more potential for disruption. The dispute comes down to SFX Entertainment and AEG/Madison House Presents. SFX is one of the major forces behind Tomorrowland, but they're causing the issues behind the Electric Forest drama.

Electric Forest is held annually at the Double JJ Ranch & Golf Resort, a holding of Progressive Resorts. Progressive has come into money problems recently, and in order to keep ownership of the resort, they're required to pay off millions of dollars of debt. SFX stepped up and offered to pay off the debts, in order to acquire usage of the resort and virtually take control of Electric Forest-SFX couldn't take the name legally, but it could stage a similar event on the same property and "steal" regular attendees.

The problem: Progressive Resorts accepted a $60,000 deposit from AEG/Madison House to use the property for Electric Forest. Progressive has now claimed that Madison House's contract, which would have allowed it to host the festival for 20 years at the location, is "void." It seems sketchy, to say the least.

More than 21,000 fans have already bought tickets for this year's event, although a lineup hasn't been announced yet. Potential attendees have to hope that courts side with AEG/Madison House to ensure this year's event happens. However, that legal result could mean Progressive will have to sell off the holding, and a new owner might throw a monkey wrench into the process. Even worse, if SFX does earn rights to use the property, it's doubtful they could throw together their own festival in time for this summer...meaning fans will be left in the cold until 2015.

Stay tuned for a decision.