King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard narrowly escaped injury during their performance at the Secret Garden Festival in Sydney over the weekend. Organisers believe a section of the Garden Stage roof became dislodged due to heavy rains that pounded down on festival day, leading to collapse.
“To anyone who was at secret garden over the weekend: We are very sorry we were only able to play for 8 minutes – the stage roof collapsed and almost chopped cavs head off. Staff were super helpful and dealt with the situation well. Sorry sydney!” read a statement issued by the band.
Festival organisers closed the stage early in the day as a result of the harsh weather conditions. Secret Garden programmer Adam Lewis told theMusic.com.au that there were no injuries and “we closed the stage immediately – safety obviously being the number one priority for us.”
Lewis also commented on the understanding and general conduct of festival goers, saying, “[the] behaviour of the audience was fantastic, people really rallied together and helped each other out in the rain, and the response from punters since the festival has been really positive.”
There were however a few exceptions, with NSW Police confirming earlier today that 10 arrests were made over the weekend as a result of a sniffer dog operation targeting punters attempting to bring illegal drugs into the event. MDMA, cannabis, and cocaine were among the substances seized.
“As far as arrests go, we advised our punters in advance that there would be police there and that we did not condone the use of drugs whatsoever, and we’re glad that the overwhelming majority took our advice and enjoyed the festival in a safe and responsible manner,” said Lewis.
