Placebo are in the midst of their Australian tour right now, which, despite a rocky start that resulted in the band cancelling their Perth show, saw them become the latest group to lead an offensive against Margaret Court.
When Placebo’s Australian tour was announced back in May, it was revealed they were set to play at Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena. Last month, Placebo spoke to Music Feeds about their intentions of protesting the statements made by Margaret Court, who went on a tirade back in May in which she made her anti-marriage equality stance known.
“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,” bassist Stefan Olsdal told Music Feeds
“I know Sigur Rós played there recently and they raised funds for marriage equality in Australia,” he continued.
“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.”
Of course, last night saw Placebo’s gig at Margaret Court arena go down, and as promised, the band made a stand against Margaret Court’s attitudes. As Music Feeds reports, Stefan Olsdal took some time out of their gig to lead a chant against the venue’s namesake.
“I need your participation for this, I need something from you guys,” said Olsdal, holding his bass above his head. “I’m gonna say a name, and I want you guys to say ‘fuck you.’ Can you guys do that for me?” Soon enough, once Olsdal uttered the name ‘Margaret Court’, the entire crowd joined in chanting “fuck you.”
As indicated by Stefan’s interview, this wasn’t the first time that acts have spoken out against Margaret Court’s comments. Sigur Rós sold shirts ahead of their performance at the venue to help raise money for Australian marriage equality efforts, Grinspoon also sold merchandise promoting marriage equality at their performance, and even LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy expressed his distaste at Court’s comments during his band’s gig.
Placebo are currently at the halfway point of their ’20 years Of Placebo’ tour, and will hit up Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena tonight. Check out the band’s tour dates below, as well as their classic hit ‘Pure Morning’.
’20 Years Of Placebo’ 2017 Australian tour dates
Supported by Deaf Havana
Monday, 4th September
Perth Arena, Perth
Wednesday 6th September
Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre, Adelaide
Friday 8th September
Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne
Saturday 9th September
Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney
Monday 11th September
Brisbane Convention Centre, Brisbane
Tuesday 12th September
Newcastle Entertainment Centre, Newcastle
Thursday 14th September
AIS Arena, Canberra
