What was meant to be a fun night in Melbourne quickly turned chaotic on Friday night when Amyl and the Sniffers’ free Federation Square show was pulled at the last minute after security fences caved in.
The gig, which drew a massive crowd, was canned just before the band could hit the stage, with Fed Square calling it off “after multiple breaches of the perimeter fences caused a very high risk of crowd crushes”.
In a statement, organisers said: “It was unsafe for the show to continue. We did not take this decision lightly and are deeply sorry for any disappointment caused, however tonight could simply not continue. Our sincere apologies to the band and their fans.”
A representative from Fed Square later addressed the frustrated crowd as boos echoed through the square. “I know what we all want is Amyl, and Amyl’s incredibly disappointed at not playing, and we’re incredibly disappointed at not playing,” they said.
“But we’ve cancelled the gig. Very, very disappointing. And I want to say it’s got nothing to do with anybody who’s in this crowd here… but tonight we’ve had a whole lot of breaches for our fences, repeatedly. And unfortunately, that means we just can’t go on.”
Soon after, frontwoman Amy Taylor took to Instagram to let off some steam — and deliver one hell of an apology on her Stories. “You simply cannot imagine the tantrum I am having,” she said. “We’re backstage, we literally would have loved to play, we’re devastated. The fucking fences got crushed in, too many people, fucking cops shut it down. [We’re] pissed as fuck, pissed off, and we’re just really apologetic and so sorry.”
Victoria Police told PEDESTRIAN.TV that they “were called to Federation Square to assist security about 8.15pm”.
“Officers were told a large group of people were attempting to gain access to an event before it was cancelled,” said VIC Police.
“No offences were detected.”
The band also showed an “ACAB” tattoo on their IG Story, which commonly stands for All Cops Are Bad.
But if there’s one thing that the Grammy nominated Amyl and the Sniffers know how to do, it’s turn chaos into community. Within hours, the band announced they’d dropped $5,000 tabs at seven beloved Melbourne pubs — Last Chance, The Tote, Labour and Vein, Hell’s Kitchen, The Curtain, Cherry Bar, and Old Bar — so fans could “have a drink on us”.
“We did genuinely feel really bad, like from the gut, from everything,” Amy said in an Instagram video. It sucks to not be able to play in our hometown for free… We just can’t have that. We don’t want anyone having a shit time… So we put, ‘Have a drink on us,’ in AC/DC fashion.”
In true Amy style, she ended her posts with a plan to drown her sorrows, saying she’d be getting “blackout drunk somewhere in mourning”.
A disappointing night? Absolutely. But, Amyl and the Sniffers made sure their fans didn’t go home empty-handed.
Lead image: Instagram
The post Amyl & The Sniffers ‘Pissed’ Their Melb Gig Got Axed, But Fans Didn’t Leave Empty-Handed appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
