Architects‘ Australian tour kicked off in Adelaide last Friday night (17th February). Early in the show, a man rushed the stage, verbally harassed the band and attempted to attack guitarist Josh Middleton, bringing the show to a pause and sparking condemnation from frontman Sam Carter. The man reportedly jumped onstage as the band were performing 2012 track ‘These Colours Don’t Run’.
According to concertgoers on social media, he attempted to assault Middleton and yelled vulgarities into the microphone before being reprimanded by security and forcefully escorted from the venue. It came after he had reportedly heckled Carter earlier in the set, telling the band to perform old material as a show of “respect” for guitarist Tom Searle, who passed away in 2016.
The incident took place on the first date of Architects’ Australian tour
Following the altercation, Architects left the stage for approximately five minutes. Upon their return, Carter addressed the incident.
“In all my fucking years of being in this fucking band, giving our fucking energy and our fucking lives and working so fucking hard, to turn around and see someone fucking run on stage and fucking run at Josh, and fucking grab the mic and start shouting whatever the fuck he was shouting. That is fucking insane,” Carter said.
“This isn’t a fucking game. This is our fucking lives. I don’t know who the fuck that person thinks they are, to come up onstage and fucking try and assault Josh or fucking do whatever they were [doing].”
“We respect Tom every single fucking day of our lives,” he added.
“To turn around and think that my fucking best friend is being fucking attacked by somebody? Get the fuck out of here,” Carter said regarding the attempted assault on Middleton. “This is the thing that people need to understand. This shit that goes on the internet, the way that people fucking talk to each other, it can’t fucking carry on like this. It’s just fucking music. We’re just up here doing our fucking best. There’s no need for violence. There’s no need to run up onstage and do this shit. It’s 20-fucking-23.”
Later, Carter said, “Look, life goes on. Life really, really does go on, and let me tell you, life is very fucking fleeting. We do not know how long we are on this fucking Earth for. So I am not gonna let some fucking piece of shit ruin my night, everyone on stage’s night, and everyone in this room that has spent their hard-earned fucking money to come and see a band be fucking ruined by that.”
After Carter’s speech, the show proceeded without incident. Architects’ Australian tour continued the following evening at Melbourne’s Festival Hall and the Sydney show took place last night at Hordern Pavilion. The tour will conclude Wednesday night (22nd February) at Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane. Tickets are available here.
Further Reading
Bring Me The Horizon, Architects, ’68 – Hordern Pavilion, Sydney – 17/09/16
Brisbane Architects Fan Moves Dan Searle To Tears With Heartfelt Tribute To His Late Brother
Architects Say They’d Love To Team Up With Hayley Williams Or Phoebe Bridgers
