A number of fans were injured after a section of the ceiling collapsed into the crowd at a Bad Omens concert in Australia.

The US heavy metal band were finishing up their set on the opening night of their sold-out double-header at the Festival Hall in Melbourne on Wednesday (22 January), when the incident occurred.

Wall of Sound reports that a confetti cannon was fired into the air and appeared to dislodge pieces of the ceiling at the 1,741-cap venue, which then fell onto the audience below.

Festival Hall has issued a response, but denies claims reports that anyone lost consciousness as a result of the incident.

We have conducted an immediate review of the special effects vendor and additional safety checks

“Festival Hall want to thank our onsite first aid team who responded quickly,” adds a statement by the venue. “We have conducted an immediate review of the special effects vendor and additional safety checks.”

Bad Omens frontman Noah Sebastian addressed the incident during last night’s second gig, which went ahead as planned, and expressed his sympathy for those injured, requesting a moment of silence for the victims.

“I’m so glad everyone is okay,” he said. “First of all, I didn’t see that happen, okay, I want to make that very clear.
“[I was] in the zone, doing my thing, I was not expecting a ceiling tile to fall. It’s definitely not the way you want to end a concert, ending up in hospital.”

Acts set to play the venue in the coming months include Rudimental, The Flaming Lips, Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter, Cat Power, Neck Deep and Pixies.

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Robbie Williams has performed a free pop-up concert in Melbourne – the city where his new biopic Better Man was filmed.

The British singer played a nine-song set at 5pm local time today (2 January) in Federation Square, hosted by iHeartLIVE and GOLD104.3. The show followed his New Year’s Eve performance outside Sydney Opera House, which was televised by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

The 50-year-old is currently on the promotional trail in Australia following Better Man‘s Boxing Day release. The film, which sees Williams portrayed as a chimpanzee in CGI form, was made by Australian filmmaker Michael Gracey, who directed The Greatest Showman.

Williams is set to embark on a mammoth European stadium tour later this year

Better Man was shot in the state of Victoria in 2022 with financial support from the government-backed Victorian Screen Incentive.

According to the city of Melbourne, the production created 2,920 jobs and generated A$142 million (€86m) for the state’s economy, leading Williams to be awarded the key to the city by the Lord Mayor on stage during today’s 8,000-cap gig.

Williams, who is represented by X-ray Touring’s Ian Huffam, will play three concerts in South Africa later this month before embarking on a mammoth European stadium tour from May to October. The star last toured Australasia in 2022 as part of his XXV outing.

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Untitled Group’s Nick Greco has discussed the “incredible” crossover opportunities for live music and sport after unveiling the lineup for a three-day festival set to take place during the 2025 Australian Open.

The festival will be held at Melbourne’s John Cain Arena from 23-25 January under the tennis tournament’s new entertainment banner AO Live, and will be the only music event to be held at a Grand Slam worldwide.

It will mark the third year in a row that Australia’s largest independent promoter has programmed the Aussie Open’s live entertainment programme. The company has also worked across other sporting showpieces.

“The opportunity for live music around sporting events is huge given Australia has such a deep affinity with sport and music,” says Greco, Untitled’s co-founder and managing partner. “We’ve also got a long history of pairing live music with our biggest sporting events, one that recently continued with Katy Perry performing at the AFL Grand Final and The Kid Laroi at the NRL Grand Final. Pairing live sport with live music connects with audiences on a global level, just look at the Super Bowl in America – and the recent announcement that the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final will have a Super Bowl-style halftime show.”

The first two nights of AO Live will be headlined by Benson Boone and Kaytranada, respectively, while the finale coincides with the Women’s Finals and will feature multiple artists, climaxing with performances from Kesha and Armand Van Helden.

“We’ve been working with the Australian Open for several years now, and it’s so exciting to be able to announce the AO Live lineup for 2025,” adds Greco. “The AO has been one of the most attended Australian sporting events for decades, but in recent years, has become one a must-see music event too.”

“The Victorian government has recognised the incredible opportunity for crossover between music and sports fans”

Any ticket purchased to AO Live automatically includes a ground pass for Australian Open 2025, with tickets starting from A$89 (€55). Praising the support of the local government in helping the festival come to pass, Greco is hopeful other cities will sit up and take notice.

“The Victorian government has recognised the incredible opportunity for crossover between music and sports fans, and been a key supporter, but it would be great to see other state governments and the federal government, all of whom profess to be supporters of live music, include crossover events as part of their future considerations,” he adds.

“As with our other festivals like Beyond The Valley, Pitch Music & Arts and Ability Fest, we’ve seen that brand equity is just as important as a strong lineup, and people are really seeking out experience and community in 2024. We’ll happily claim that we are the only music festival at a Grand Slam globally.”

Untitled’s recent successes include Beyond The Valley, which sold 85% of its tickets during presale and is on track to sell out ahead of its 28 December-1 January return to Barunah Plains in Hesse. In addition, its Wildlands festival (Brisbane, Adelaide Perth) has seen a 30% increase in ticket sales compared to this time last year.

It also reports sellouts shows with the likes of Solomon, Anyma, Ben Böhmer, and I Hate Models, as well as Dom Dolla’s national tour which has seen him sell out large outdoor venues such as Flemington Racecourses in Melbourne and Domain in Sydney.

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World Touring Melbourne (WTM) has won its multi-million dollar claim against the Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC) over the last-minute cancellation of a Robbie Williams concert in 2020.

AGPC has been ordered to pay A$2.84 million (€1.74m) to the promoter for loss of earnings after a judge found it to have provided misleading health advice that prompted the show’s cancellation.

Williams was set to headline the first World Tour Melbourne event at Lakeside Stadium on 14 March 2020 as part of the Formula 1 weekend, but the Grand Prix and surrounding events were called off the day before amid the looming threat of Covid-19.

WTM sued AGPC for breach of contract, seeking $8m in damages, after alleging it had been deceived by the organisation when it compelled the cancellation of the show by citing health advice supposedly mandated by Victoria’s chief medical officer Brett Sutton.

The case went to trial in May, with Justice Clyde Croft delivering his ruling this morning (30 August).

An email sent to promoters by organisers of the Formula 1 race claimed that Dr Sutton had advised Williams’ concert should not go ahead. However, evidence presented during the trial confirmed that no such directive had been issued.

“There was no reason to suppose that a concert of this nature could not otherwise proceed in any other part of Victoria”

According to the North West Star, Dr Sutton had texted AGPC officials to say that while he supported cancelling the gig, it was ultimately a decision for the organisers.

The pandemic state of emergency declaration, which restricted non-essential mass gatherings, did not come into effect until 16 March – two days after the scheduled show – with many other events proceeding as planned across Australia that weekend.

The court found that AGPC unlawfully prevented WTM from proceeding by depriving its access to the event site.

“There was no reason to suppose that a concert of this nature could not otherwise proceed in any other part of Victoria,” said Justice Croft.

Becky Artmonsky, co-CEO of WTM, says the company is “delighted” the case has been resolved in its favour.

“While the cancellation caused massive issues for our business and investors, this outcome clearly demonstrates that we were right to pursue this claim,” she says. “We had spent years and millions developing our partnership with AGPC to bring major talent to Melbourne and the investment we made in our business to support their goals needs repaying.

“We are grateful to the Right Honourable Justice Croft, the court, and our dedicated legal team for their relentless pursuit of justice in this matter.”

“Today’s ruling by Justice Croft affirms that we were treated unfairly, and we are grateful for his careful consideration and diligence”

Richard Beck, director of global touring for World Touring, adds: “We spent over four years planning our event series with AGPC and invested millions of dollars to produce this show, only for it to be wrongfully cancelled. The stage was set, the venue was ready, and Robbie Williams, along with his band, dancers, and crew, were all in town and eager to deliver an unforgettable performance for the Australian public.

“Today’s ruling by Justice Croft affirms that we were treated unfairly, and we are grateful for his careful consideration and diligence. This decision serves as a reminder that those in positions of authority must exercise greater care when making decisions that impact the live music industry and beyond.

“I’d also like to thank our promoter partner in Australia Paul Dainty, whose support throughout was unending and unparalleled. We look forward to returning soon with our global event series to deliver the incredible shows that were meant to be.”

An AGPC spokesperson said it acknowledged the court’s decision and would review the judgment to determine next steps.

WTM is now exploring further legal action against AGPC regarding the frustration of its exclusive five-year contract with the organisation.

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Mushroom Group’s Roundhouse Entertainment is partnering with the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne on a new 5,000-cap live music series.

The lawns of the Observatory Precinct will be utilised as an outdoor concert space for the launch of Live At The Gardens over two weekends this November, with another series of shows to follow in March 2025. Artists will be announced shortly.

“We are thrilled to launch Live At The Gardens, a one-of-a-kind music festival, creating an experience that celebrates music, nature and community,” says Roundhouse Entertainment director Michael Newton. “The team at Roundhouse are honoured to have the opportunity to work with the renowned Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne to stage this new event allowing people to enjoy live music under the stars, in a beautiful garden setting. We look forward to announcing an eclectic mix of performers in the coming weeks.”

Organisers are planning to make Live At The Gardens an annual event.

“We look forward to delivering an amazing series of shows with some very special talent in this stunning location”

“Mushroom Group is focused on bringing unforgettable live music experiences to music fans and there is no better place to do that than in one of Melbourne’s most iconic locations, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne,” says Mushroom Group CEO Matt Gudinski. “We look forward to delivering an amazing series of shows with some very special talent in this stunning location.”

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria acting director and chief executive Chris Russell adds: “We are delighted to partner with industry experts, Roundhouse Entertainment to bring Live At The Gardens to life. This exciting collaboration seamlessly blends the stunning natural beauty of Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne with world-class entertainment, to create an unforgettable concert experience that celebrates music, nature, and the vibrant culture of Melbourne.

“We look forward to welcoming nature and music lovers to what will undoubtedly be one of the year’s most memorable events.”

The Roundhouse team is also behind long-running Australian concerts brand A Day On The Green, which has confirmed gigs with Take That and Roxette for 2024/25.

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Australian Taylor Swift fans have lost in excess of A$260,000 (€157,000) in a fake ticket scam for the star’s upcoming concerts in the country.

Swift will perform seven shows in Australia this month, with three nights at Melbourne Cricket Ground (16-18 February) followed by four dates at Sydney’s Accor Stadium (23-26 February). More than four million users attempted to buy pre-sale tickets for the shows last June.

Victoria Police say they have received at least 250 reports of ticketing scams for The Eras Tour since the dates went on sale, including 40 complaints since 30 January this year.

A common tactic has seen scammers hack social media accounts and then use the profiles to sell fake tickets to the victim’s friends. The scammers advertise their tickets “at cost price”, with a story behind why they can no longer attend, and may rush interested parties into buying the tickets and transferring them money.

“As well as the ticket price, they’ll likely ask you to pay the extra fees to change the name on the ticket,” say detectives from the cybercrime squad. “They will often send what they purport to be a screenshot of the email confirmation of having bought the tickets, making the scam look more legitimate. Then, once you’ve transferred the money… the profile will block you.”

“Keep your side of the street clean and protect yourself. Only buy tickets from an authorised reseller”

Det Sgt John Cheyne of Victoria Police’s cybercrime squad warns Swifties: “We know you’re often too in love to think straight when it comes to nabbing a ticket to the Eras Tour, but please, keep your side of the street clean and protect yourself. Only buy tickets from an authorised reseller.”

Swift wraps up a four-night run at Japan’s Tokyo Dome tomorrow (10 February) on the latest stop of her record-breaking world tour.

In December 2023, Eras officially became the first tour in history to surpass $1 billion in revenue, and is projected to generate another $1bn at the box office this year,

It was revealed earlier this week that The Eras Tour concert film is arriving on Disney + globally on 15 March, with five additional songs. The streaming service will make available ‘Taylor’s Version’ of the film, which includes the performance of ‘Cardigan’ and four acoustic songs that were cut out of the theatrical release.

In January, The Eras Tour concert film became the highest-grossing concert/documentary film in box office history with more than US$261.6 million earned globally.

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Eight people were placed in medically induced comas after suspected MDMA overdoses at Hardmission Festival in Melbourne, Australia over the weekend.

Paramedics at the electronic music festival, held at the Flemington racecourse on Saturday (6 January), transported nine festivalgoers to hospitals across the city.

Ambulance Victoria confirmed eight people were placed in comas with breathing tubes in their throats.

Of the nine admitted patients, three remain in a critical condition, one is in a serious condition, one in a serious but stable condition and one is stable, Guardian Australia reported yesterday. Two have been discharged from hospital.

The Victorian Ambulance Union’s secretary, Danny Hill told the publication that the patients at the festival were “really sick”.

“You had patients with high temperatures – some over 41 degrees and seizure activity. In order to be transported, [paramedics] have to do intervention that is normally left for patients suffering a head injury or a stroke,” he said.

Hill said it was unusual to have a high number of people affected at one event. “I don’t think we’ve seen it for some years, if ever,” he said.

“I don’t think we’ve seen it for some years, if ever”

Hill said he hoped Saturday’s event would prompt a rethink of pill testing in Victoria.

“These drugs are not made in batches of seven or eight tablets,” Hill said. “They’re made in batches of hundreds or thousands so there are many more of these deadly tablets out there.”

The incident has sparked renewed calls to state governments to legalise pill testing, with many saying the scale of the overdoses highlight the urgency of the issue.

The Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA), the social justice non-profit Uniting NSW ACT, plus the Greens, Legalise Cannabis and the Animal Justice parties have all reinforced calls for pill testing.

The ACT (Australia Capital Territory) introduced drug-testing services in 2022 and the Queensland government announced a pill-testing trial last February. However, Victorian government frontbencher Steve Dimopoulos on Monday said the cabinet had no plans to introduce pill testing in their state.

Hardmission Australia featured performances from the likes of Anderex, AniMe, Krowdexx, Miss K8, Riot Shift presents “Dystopia”, Sound Rush, Sephyx and more.

The event was promoted by United Music Events, which has a presence in Europe, Australia and Asia.

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Leading Australian rock promoter Destroy All Lines has announced a new touring festival for alternative rock and punk fans.

New Bloom Fest will hit the East Coast of Australia between 15–17 March 2024, visiting Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane, UNSW Roundhouse in Sydney and Melbourne Pavilion.

The inaugural event, co-presented with triple j and Short.Fast.Loud, will be headlined by US rock band Citizen for what will be their first tour of Australia since 2019.

Other North American acts on the bill include post-hardcore bands Movements and Touché Amoré, pop-punk outfit No Pressure, rock band Fleshwater and Canadian grunge duo Soft Cell.

New Bloom Fest is “a festival overflowing with exceptional fresh talent from the alternative and punk scene at home and abroad”

Domestic acts on the bill include Eat Your Heart Out performing at the Brisbane date, Amends in Sydney, Born Free in Melbourne and more.

Promoters have dubbed New Bloom Fest “a festival overflowing with exceptional fresh talent from the alternative and punk scene at home and abroad”.

Destroy All Lines’ festival portfolio also includes Good Things, currently Australia’s largest alternative and rock music festival, which will be headlined by Fall Out Boy and Limp Bizkit this year.

The independent promoter’s upcoming concerts include All Time Low, Dance Gavin Dance, Mayday Parade, Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls, The Aces, Bloc Party and Interpol.

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A new festival celebrating transgender and non-binary artists in the Australian music industry is launching this year.

The inaugural TRANSGENRE festival will take place at The Red Rattler Theatre in Sydney on 17 December, with Melbourne duo Cry Club topping the bill.

The all-ages event will also feature Perth siblings Josh and Hazel Meyer (aka Those Who Dream), Adelaide pop-punk luminary Nonnie (with frontwoman Lilly Peterson delivering a rare solo performance), Melbourne hyper-pop artist Wolfjay, and some of Sydney’s brightest up-and-coming talents.

Also on the bill is pop-rock gem Blake Williams, punk band Final Girls, hardcore outfit Cherish, hyper-pop dynamo KHAOS EMRLD, emo outfit FVNERAL, experimental rocker enpriestess, post-hardcore favourites Two Knives and alt-pop mastermind NOCTICA.

“We hope this festival encourages people to pay closer attention to the wealth of gender diversity that exists in Australia”

The festival is being produced by music journalist Ellie Robinson and FVNERAL’s Tim Blunt, in partnership with BLUNT magazine, Young Henrys brewery and Cistem Error.

“It’s been a pretty wild year to be trans (to say the very least) and especially now, it’s so important to champion our community as loudly and proudly as possible,” says Robinson.

“We need to be visible, defiant and thriving – and at the core of that is positive representation in all corners of society. Our aim with TRANSGENRE is to offer a bit of that representation to the Australian live music scene, showing that trans and non-binary voices are among some of the strongest and most incisive in the country.

“Personally, we hope this festival encourages people (cis, trans and everyone in-between) to pay closer attention to the wealth of gender diversity that exists in the Australian music industry, and be louder in supporting it. The show is obviously open for everyone to enjoy, but we’re so bloody keen to see a bunch of our fellow trans and gender-diverse people having an incredible day at the first-ever TRANSGENRE, enjoying some of the best live music in Australia, and celebrating their identities as excitedly as they want without having to worry about being judged for it.”

Tickets for the all-day event range between AUS$40-50.

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Live music veteran Paul Dainty has been appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), one of the country’s highest honours which recognises an individual for making a significant impact in society.

The TEG Dainty boss was saluted during a ceremony last Wednesday (13 September) at Melbourne’s Government House for his “distinguished service to the community” — specifically, his efforts in organising the 2020 Fire Fight all-star concert in Sydney, which raised more than A$10 million for bushfire relief efforts.

The UK-born exec established the Dainty Group/Dainty Corporation in Melbourne in the early 1970s and has since sold 50 million tickets. Bee Gees, Diana Ross, Cat Stevens, the Jackson Five and the Rolling Stones were among the company’s first clients.

The UK-born exec established the Dainty Group in Melbourne in the early 1970s and has since sold 50 million tickets

It was Dainty who produced ABBA’s legendary 1977 tour of Australia. Subsequently, ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus entrusted Dainty to tour Mamma Mia! 25 years later. Dainty also has the option to produce the hugely popular ABBA: Voyage in Australia.

“We’re looking at it closely,” he told Billboard. “It’s probably one of the most exciting entertainment events I’ve ever seen.”

Dainty has also produced tours for the likes of Paul McCartney, U2, Guns N’ Roses, Eminem, David Bowie, George Michael, Prince and Britney Spears, and in recent years has expanded the business into international markets, including tours for Eminem and Lionel Richie in South Africa and South East Asia, and pan-Asian dates for Michael Buble. Forthcoming tours include Ms. Lauryn Hill, Il Divo, and Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets.

Since 2016, TEG Dainty has been a part of the TEG Group of Companies. The following year, Dainty was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).

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