Police Almost Shut Down Billie Eilish’s Brisbane Gig Over Crowd Safety Concerns
Before Eilish even took to the stage, things were getting ugly.
Two days ago, the Brisbane stop of the Australian Billie Eilish tour almost ended in disaster, with police taking to the stage in order to try and calm an out of control mosh pit.
The ‘Bad Guy’ singer took to Brisbane’s Riverstage theatre in order to play songs off her new record, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? But before the show had even begun, the all-ages mosh pit began to become dangerous.
According to those in the crowd, after support act Finneas was done playing but before Eilish took to the stage, the mosh became a mess of punching, scratching and elbowing punters. Some have claimed that they were unable to breathe, and one fan called it “the worst night” of her life.
“My daughter and some of her friends were crushed at the Billie Eilish concert last night,” Facebook user Jo Roggeveen wrote on the Riverstage theatre page. “The girls were so frightened they were in tears.”
My daughter and some of her friends were crushed at the billie eilish concert last night. The girls were so frightened…
Posted by Jo Roggeveen on Tuesday, 7 May 2019
According to Roggeveen, security staff attempted to pull those trapped at the front of the mosh out of the throng, but were unable to fully pick them up.
“Once they were out they were told to ‘just keep walking’,” Roggeveen writes. “No security or first aiders followed up on them.”
It is a complaint that has been echoed by other mums on Facebook — one, Anne-Marie Walsh, has written that her daughter was pulled out with “no care” from security, and not instructed where she might go for medical attention.
The @billieeilish concert in Brisbane has gone crazy, those in the mosh don’t have enough room to life their arms up and those behind them refuse to give them space. This is insane! #BillieEilish #BillieEilishtour
— getsharked (@CharlotteWala) May 7, 2019
As The Music have reported, the crowd got so bad that police and security came on stage and instructed punters to take two steps backwards. Police even threatened to shut down the show if audience members didn’t comply.
Chugg Entertainment have been contacted for further comment.
Photo: Mikki Gomez