It appears there may be more to the tale of why Garbage didn’t perform at Sydney’s Soundwave yesterday afternoon. What at first appeared to be an unfortunate result of a truck being caught up in the rain soon became a much deeper issue when Soundwave promoter AJ Maddah revealed that Garbage had apparently “refused” to change their set times to accommodate the delay. Now, though, it appears that the band thinks we still haven’t heard the full story.
6 or so hours after announcing to fans that they won’t be performing, Garbage revealed that “tomorrow the REAL facts will emerge” and followed up with a tweet this morning confirming that “what went down yesterday will be addressed later today”. They also assured their fans that “all remaining garbage shows WILL go ahead as scheduled”.
It’s not too clear what the statement is going to reveal – we presume the band will explain why they “refused” to perform on another stage or at a different time, or if they refused at all. Stay tuned for more.
UPDATE:
It seems that “the real facts” have emerged. In a series of atypically formal Tweets, AJ has now shed more light on the situation. In response to any allegations of bad blood, AJ explained that Garbage “were very sweet and gracious even when it became apparent that the show could not happen”. Apparently the band was offered the later slot but “refused the option to have yet another stage run over time”.
Paramore was chosen out of the two bands to perform, again on account of that band’s gear arriving before 8pm, “after which there wouldn’t be enough time to set up”. Maybe Garbage and Maddah spoke on the phone before an all-out Twitter war on the issue, or maybe once again there was some miscommunication.
UPDATE: 26/02/13
Shirley Manson has apologised to her Sydney fans during last night’s Garbage show. Check it out below.
Watch: Shirley Manson apologises to Sydney fans for Garbage’s Soundwave cancellation
There seems to be a lot of confusion with the circumstances of @garbage not performing at SW in Sydney. My vagueness has probably not helped
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) February 25, 2013
As most of you are aware, we had issues with Pacific Highway flooding and a couple of AWOL trucks yesterday. #Garbage
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) February 25, 2013
This meant that @garbage could not get their equipment in time to play their scheduled set. We tried shuffling times, stages, etc
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) February 25, 2013
And @garbage worked with us every step of the way, were very sweet and gracious even when it became apparent that the show could not haoppen
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) February 25, 2013
We offered to have the band play a late set as per @paramore but we were refused the option to have yet another stage run over time.
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) February 25, 2013
It was a tough decision but we had to go with the one of the 2 bands. I made the decision based on a number of factors, including…
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) February 25, 2013
Which band’s gear was definitely arriving by the 8pm cut off after which there wouldn’t be enough time to set up…
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) February 25, 2013
All remaining garbage shows WILL go ahead as scheduled. What went down yesterday will be addressed later today. Our condolences to the fans.
— Garbage (@garbage) February 24, 2013
Tomorrow the REAL facts will emerge. Love to all who came to see us at Soundwave. No one more bummed out about how this went down than us.
— Garbage (@garbage) February 24, 2013
@aaronnnx @ikiriki we offered. They refused.
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) February 24, 2013
Our gear has failed to make it for the show tonight at Soundwave in Sydney. Our truck got held up by a flood. So sad we can’t play.
— Garbage (@garbage) February 24, 2013