Amyl and the Sniffers get the drinks in for Melbourne after free show cancelled at last minute

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By ( Louder ) published

Drinks in some Melbourne bars were paid for by Amyl and the Sniffers after police pull plug on free gig on short notice

Amyl and the Sniffers
(Image credit: John Angus Stewart)

Australian rockers Amyl and the Sniffers were left heartbroken when a free gig they were due to perform in their hometown of Melbourne tonight was cancelled at the last minute over safety concerns.

But singer Amy Taylor and her bandmates did their best to soften the blow – by putting $5000 Australian dollars (£2500) behind the bar of a string of the city's drinking holes so disappointed fans could "have a drink on us".

The free gig was due to take place tonight (Friday 14 November) at Melbourne's Fed Square. Thousands of fans turned up and a section of the venue's safety barriers was breached.

Giant screens at the venue displayed the message: "Due to unexpected circumstances the event has been cancelled. Please leave the Square safely and follow the directions of venue staff."

The band said in a statement on their social media accounts: "At Fed Square and fuming – ready to go. We are so sorry the show is cancelled due to the event not organising the proper security and barriers and the barriers being broken in has made them deem it unsafe to play.

"We are fuming and shattered and so so so so so so so so sorry!!! Fuck c**t."

They added that they had put a booze bounty behind a number of Melbourne's bars, which fans duly dealt with.

Taylor said in her own statement: "We’re backstage, we would have loved to play. We’re devastated, the fucking fences got crushed in.

"Too many people. Fucking cops shut it down. Pissed as fuck. We’re just really apologetic and so sorry."

Stef Lach

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022. 

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