Placebo have criticised tennis veteran Margaret Court over her recent homophobic comments, ahead of their show at Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena next month.
Speaking with Music Feeds contributor Riley Fitzgerald about the band’s upcoming Australian tour, Placebo bassist Stefan Olsdal says he “can’t tolerate” Court’s views, and says the band are still considering how they’ll respond when they play in Melbourne in only a few weeks’ time.
“To come out and basically demonise children because of the way they’re born — which is essentially what this woman has done — it’s pretty outrageous, and I think it’s offensive. I can’t really tolerate it, to be honest,” Olsdal says.
“I know perfectly well that we’re playing a venue with her name to it — and she was an amazing tennis player, there’s no taking away from that — but I’m still thinking about exactly what we’re going to do about it.”
Olsdal’s comments come after Icelandic post-rockers Sigur Rós made a powerful call for marriage equality when they performed at Margaret Court Arena last month.
“I know Sigur Rós played there recently and they raised funds for marriage equality in Australia,” Olsdal says.
“And what I do every night — I’ve got a rainbow-coloured bass that I had sprayed for when we played Russia, because Russia’s got some pretty backwards views about LGBT rights as well. So every night I’m up there standing for what I believe in, and Australia’s going to be no different.
“As a country it’s amazingly accepting and very welcoming, and it’s very open-minded in that sense, so politically I think it’s going to follow suit very quickly, because I think most people in Australia do want equal rights for everyone… sometimes legislation just takes a while.
“I’m still working on the best way to send out our response to playing at that venue in Melbourne.”
Aside from Placebo and Sigur Rós, Margaret Court has also been called out by LCD Soundsystem, Grinspoon and Ryan Adams, who all recently played at the arena which carries her name.
Placebo will celebrate their 20-plus years as a band with shows in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Newcastle and Canberra next month.
Stay tuned for Music Feeds‘ full interview with Stefan Olsdal, coming soon.
