Limp Bizkit dedicated their entire Soundwave set tonight to Jessica Michalik, and they even bought a massive ‘Jessica’ banner (pictured above) with them on stage. Jessica Michalik was crushed during Limp Bizkit’s Big Day Out set 11 years ago; she died as a result of asphyxiation five days later, aged 16.
Fred Durst has also invited Jessica’s father along to watch their set at Soundwave in Sydney tomorrow. Speaking with the Herald Sun today, Jessica’s father George said:
[Dursts invitation] was very nice and touching, especially in contrast to what the Big Day Out did not do for her.
In a recent interview, Durst spoke of the heartache caused by the tragedy as the years went by:
We are coming back to Australia with our hearts on our sleeve…We want to connect with our fans and do these shows in honour of Jessica…You can never erase that scar, that loss. It was very heavy for us and really hurtful for a lot…It’s tragic and unfortunate. We can never replace her. It hangs heavy on the head and in the heart.
In an interview with the Herald Sun earlier this month, Durst reiterated his claims that the Big Day Out promoters ‘spun the tragedy and poisoned Limp Bizkit’s name’, Durst said:
It was manipulated by the promoter in their favour because everybody needed a scapegoat. After that, the offers to come to Australia weren’t exactly pouring in. For a while, it felt wrong, and we needed to step away.
It didn’t just happen out of the blue…We were fighting with promoters the whole time.
During the inquest the BDO promoters blamed Limp Bizkit and Fred Durst for the crowd crush. However, Coroner Jacqueline Milledge said BDO promoters did not put adequate safety arrangements into place to prevent crowd crushing. She also stated that Fred Durst should have ‘acted more responsibly’ during the rescue process.
Limp Bizit and The Soundwave Festival will head to Sydney tomorrow, February 26th.
Watch: Limp Bizkit’s Tribute To Jessica
