Australian rock fans who gathered to see AC/DC’s opening act Amyl and the Sniffers have been left disappointed, with the free concert called off last minute due to “crowd safety concerns”.
The band was due to play Federation Square at 8.30pm on Friday, but as fans rolled in, they were quickly told to turn around.
A huge crowd gathered for the free concern on Friday night.Credit: Simon Schluer
The cancellation was announced on a large screen at 7.40pm – less than an hour before the band was due to come on stage – sparking chants from the crowd estimated to be in the thousands.
Speaking over a crowd full of booing, Melbourne Arts Precinct Corporation chief executive Katrina Sedgwick said a number of security breaches were to blame.
“We’re incredibly disappointed they’re not playing, but we have cancelled the gig,” Sedgwick told the crowd.
“Very, very disappointing. It’s got nothing to do with anybody in this crowd here. You’ve been an amazing crowd, you’ve been respectful, you’ve been safe, and you’ve been part of a great number of amazing gigs that we’ve hosted here.
“But, tonight we had a whole lot of breaches of our fences, repeatedly, and unfortunately that means we just can’t go on.”
Taking to social media after the cancellation, lead vocalist Amy Taylor said the event had been cancelled because “the fences got crushed in and the cops shut it down”.
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