Brisbane-based independent booking agency Interstellar Music has announced the cancellation of a Rancid Eddie show amid controversy surrounding the band.

Rancid Eddie were scheduled to play at Thirsty Chiefs Brewing Company in North Lakes, Brisbane on Friday, 18 February. However, amid the current allegations of misogyny circling the band, Interstellar Music has made the decision to pull the show.

“We have made the very easy decision to cancel the upcoming Rancid Eddie Show in Brisbane on February 18th due to their unacceptable behaviour,” Interstellar Music wrote in a statement shared to Instagram.

“Their actions and words have no place in this world and we will always strive for our gigs to be safe places for women.”

Interstellar confirmed that all ticket buyers will be contacted by Oztix in the coming days to issue refunds.

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Last week, the Mount Waverley five-piece were awarded the coveted top spot for Spotify’s New Music Friday with their single ‘Dry.’

Following the feature, Kira Puru took to Twitter to share screenshots of the lyrics to the song, noting the songs shades of misogyny and writing that the lyrics (I’m always drunk ‘cuz I hate you) could be considered triggering for those who have experienced an abusive relationship.

“It doesn’t matter what the song’s about or whether the band identify as misogynists. The lyric ‘I’m always drunk ‘cuz I hate you’ unapologetically hints at the type of behaviour that anyone who has been in an abusive relo knows well and shouldn’t be normalised let alone promoted,” Puru wrote.

A screen-recorded video of the band performing an acoustic live set on Instagram also incited backlash for the lyrics “I wanna punch some cunt, then fuck some slut, then pass out face down in the rain.”

In the days following, Australian musicians took to social media to criticize the institutions, labels, and streaming services that have platformed the band. ‘Dry’ was premiered on triple j’s Home and Hosed show.

“I’ve heard of a few acts that are runaway successes and untouchable even though they are misogynists or abusers etc…no one can touch them bc they have all the money in the world to litigate & labels that protect them,” wrote Montaigne.

“I’m still always in disbelief that labels protect these guys, bc labels, or radio, or streaming services are still peopled by individuals with the capacity for conscience…is the money machine really so all-powerful that these people forget that platforming these sorts of acts is harmful? perpetuating a sick culture that hurts many?”

Amid the controversy, Rancid Eddie released a statement to Instagram, addressing claims of misogyny. The band maintained that they were not misogynists, rather, they use their music to “explore the dark sides of relationships.”

“We’ve seen some comments online calling us misogynists. We want to be very clear that although we explore the dark sides of relationships in our lyrics (and we understand that these lyrics can be problematic for some), we oppose hatred or violence of any kind against women. Men who abuse women are pathetic and we don’t tolerate it,” the band wrote.

Addressing the controversy surrounding the acoustic set, the band continued, “Earlier this year we posted acoustic live videos of song ideas as we were in the midst of writing to get feedback from our fans. We know that some of those went too far for some people, and we took those videos down.”

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