King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Cancel Byron Bay Bluesfest 2023 Appearance

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard bowed out of their upcoming appearance at Byron Bay Bluesfest 2023 in their native Australia. The band posted a message on social media announcing their decision to be removed from the lineup for the event taking place April 6 – 10 at Byron Events in New South Wales.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s statement regarding their Bluesfest cancellation read:

As a band and as human beings, we stand against misogyny, racism, transphobia and violence. Surprised and saddened to see Bluesfest commit to presenting content that is in complete opposition to these values.

Given this decision by the festival, we have decided to cancel our appearance at Bluesfest. We are deeply disappointed to be in this position but sometimes you need to be willing to make sacrifices to stand up for your values. This is, unfortunately, one of those moments.

The cancellation announcement came days after fellow Australian band Sticky Fingers was added to the 2023 Bluesfest lineup. The controversial group was added to the lineup last week.

“Sticky Fingers, the bad boys of Australian music, currently on their sell-out UK Tour, will be playing one of their all-too-rare shows in Australia,” said Bluesfest festival director Peter Noble when the group was added to the lineup. “They have only played a handful in the last five years, and Bluesfest is happy to welcome them back.

In 2016, allegations against Sticky Fingers frontman Dylan Frost surfaced accusing him of misogyny and racism in an incident involving indigenous singer Thelma Plum. Further accusations of abusive behavior toward a transgender person and other purported racist statements led to a public apology from Frost and the band going on hiatus. Another incident between Frost and his Sticky Fingers bandmate Paddy Cornwall led Frost to enter rehab for a second time since 2016.

Citing the length of time since the offending incidents, Frost’s bipolar schizophrenia, substance abuse and Māori heritage, Peter Noble responded to King Gizzard’s cancellation, stating:

As is well known, I am and always have been the Director of Bluesfest.

Over the years, Bluesfest has been the promoter of music festivals which allowed diverse artists to exercise their freedom of artistic expression and have afforded the Australian public access to their works.

In the course of doing so, Bluesfest has been proud to give prominence to indigenous artists and to promote diversity in the music industry.

Recently, a band decided to cancel a forthcoming appearance at Bluesfest because Sticky Fingers, particularly its lead singer (who are booked to play at Bluesfest), was involved in an incident with another artist offstage a long time ago.

There has already been a lot of social media traffic about this decision. I think one commentator well reflects my feelings, as previously stated:

“That whole situation happened 7 years ago and the lead singer of Sticky Fingers has been extremely apologetic and open about his bipolar schizophrenia and substance abuse during that time and is also Māori. They’ve done the work to try and make amends and took a long hiatus to fix things.”

I believe an attempt to victimise this man and his band in the circumstances is cruel and unforgiving. This cruelty and lack of compassion are foreign to my values, as is the attempt to suppress the band’s artistic expression. I was and remain proud to give the band a chance at rehabilitation.

Bluesfest hopes that the public will understand, respect, and hopefully, on reflection, agree with the position my company and I have taken. Forgiveness is critical to helping people with mental health challenges continue functioning in society.

It has been suggested that because of the listing of Sticky Fingers, Bluesfest and I endorsed the lead singer’s ancient troubled behaviour. That suggestion is deplorable, untrue, and actionable as being defamatory.

The Byron Bay Bluesfest 2023 lineup includes Buddy Guy, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Bonnie Raitt, The Doobie Brothers, Paolo Nutini, Gang Of Youths, Tash Sultana, Jackson Browne, Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, Joe Bonamassa, Elvis Costello & The Imposters, and others.