If you were lucky enough to catch The Smith Street Band play live on any of the 34(!) dates on their recent tour, then it sounds like you might have seen the last headline shows from the band for a while, with the group announcing they’ll be taking a bit of a touring break.
As triple j reports, the group took to their Facebook page last week to announce that the last date of their recent tour would be going ahead, following the cancellation of a show earlier in the week.
“We’re gonna pay our crew and the support bands but the rest of the money will be split between AIME, Minus18, The ASRC and Girls Rock Melbourne,” the group explained. “It’s been a real tough week. Would love to see some friendly faces tonight. This will be our last headline show for a fair while.”
https://www.facebook.com/thesmithstreetband/photos/a.638897029484690.1073741827.121150074592724/2145176012190110/?type=3&theater
This announcement was made only a few days after Wil Wagner took to Facebook to announce that he felt as though he “never want[s] to play a show again” after the news that a female audience member had been groped at a recent under-18s show.
“I’ve been playing shows for about ten years now. Anyone who’s seen me perform a few times over that journey knows how seriously I take this and how much it fucking kills me,” explained Wagner. “In the past I’ve been aggressive, preachy and generally over bearing on stage, coming down too hard on people because of my unending frustration that when you get a lot of people in a room together some of those people are fucking dickheads.”
“I didn’t start writing songs so they could become the soundtrack to people getting groped and people throwing punches,” he continued. “I started writing songs because I wanted to express myself and it feels selfish of me to keep using that desire to express if it comes at the cost of people being hurt.”
“I’m gonna keep making music, nothing is ever gonna stop me doing that, but it might be a while before I feel comfortable on stage again. I know I’m essentially making other people’s trauma about me but this is something I’ve long had need to express. I guess I just need you all to know that I’m angry and I care. And I’m sorry.”
As triple j note, a spokesperson for the band has confirmed this news, stating: “The recent events have had an impact on the band. We all feel it is a very important dialogue that we need to keep having.”
“The band has been in consultation with other festivals, venues and organisations to further improve on the strategies they have already in place in order to create the best possible gigs for their fans.”
At this stage, no further announcements have been made about the future of the band’s live performances, but the news did happen to coincide with the announcement of the Snowtunes festival lineup, which is set to take place at the end of August, and features The Smith Street Band as one of its performers.
While the band did note that they won’t be playing any headline shows for a while, they haven’t said anything about festival spots, so we’ll have to stay tuned and see what happens here.
If you or somebody you care for has experienced sexual assault, contact 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732 to speak to a counsellor.
Check out The Smith Street Band’s ‘Death To The Lads’:
