Police say they were left with no choice but to shut down a free gig from band Amyl & The Sniffers, after it became apparent the event was a legally ambiguous ‘music performance’ rather than the more protected category ‘full-blown extremist gathering’.
A spokesperson said the shut-down could have been avoided if the band had advertised the concert as a swastika-adjacent meet-and-greet.
“Look, if they’d just slapped ‘Nazi Rally’ on the poster in bold letters, everything would’ve been fine,” a police spokesperson said.
“We have strict protocols: music gig or stop-killing-Palestinians rally? Shut it down. Fringe extremist movement? Escort them to the venue and provide traffic management.
“Unfortunately this event fell into the former category. We reviewed the footage and determined it was a bunch of fans wearing shorts, not paramilitary uniforms. At that point we had no choice but to pull the pin.
“My advice to the band is this. If they want their next gig to go ahead uninterrupted, they’ll need at least two neo-Nazi keynote speakers and a banner that makes the community deeply uncomfortable but is somehow still legal”.
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Headline by Anthony Bell
