RACHEL, Nevada (CelebrityAccess) — Matty Roberts, the originator of the “Storm Area 51” internet meme, and later the Alienstock Music Festival, announced that with just over a week before the event is scheduled to start, he’s cutting ties.
In a post to the festival’s website, a spokesperson for Roberts expressed concerns that the festival had every appearance of going pear-shaped in the worst possible way.
“Due to the lack of infrastructure, poor planning, risk management and blatant disregard for the safety of the expected 10,000+ AlienStock attendees, we decided to pull the plug on the festival. The permit holder (Connie West) was given multiple opportunities to provide us with the proof that things expected at this festival were in place. In fact, she refused to provide to us, as agreed upon, contracts, proof of deposits or any paper proof of anything.
“We are officially disconnecting from Connie West, Rachel NV and AlienStock’s affiliation with them. We will no longer offer our logo, social media, website or Matty Roberts likeness or scheduled appearance. In short, the relationship has ended permanently, and AlienStock will be moving to a safe, clean secure area in Downtown Las Vegas as an alternative.
“We are not interested in, nor will we tolerate any involvement in a FYREFEST 2.0. We foresee a possible humanitarian disaster in the works, and we can’t participate in any capacity at this point.
“AlienStock is a brand that stands for unity and concern for like minded people. It’s grown into much more than a location. It’s a phenomenon that can only promise absolute safety and peace, and we need to move the Festival to guarantee that. Stay tuned for more news… it’s BIG!”
The festival started in June when Roberts posted a faux Facebook event calling on people to storm “Area 51” a highly secure government testing facility in Rachel, Nevada, purported to contain aliens.
While intended as a joke, the event took off, leading the Federal government to issue a warning and prompting Roberts to reorient the event to a music festival that would have brought as many as 20,000 people to the tiny town of Rachel, Nevada, with a population of just about 100 people.
Now, Roberts has reoriented again and announced that the event will take place as a free Area 51 Celebration party at the Downtown Las Vegas Event Center on September 19, with a lineup of EDM artist who had been booked for Alienstock.
“You can expect EDM artists and some unique art being displayed for an ‘out of this world’ gathering,” the change in venue announcement said.
