Richard Ashcroft pulled out of his Splendour In The Grass festival appearance in Queensland, Australia after just one song last night (August 1).
The former Verve singer is currently on his first tour of the country with new outfit the United Nations Of Sound, and he walked offstage during opening track ‘Are You Ready?’.
Some reports from fans online that the former Verve frontman was annoyed at the low turnout for his set, with Fasterlouder.com reporting that after Ashcroft had walked offstage the crowd began to chant “wanker” repeatedly. His 10pm (EST) performance saw him go up against Empire Of The Sun and Pixies on the bill.
A statement from Ashcroft‘s management posted on Richardashcroft.co.uk blamed the cancellation on his voice giving out. “After three gigs in two days, including a two-hour show in Sydney on Saturday night, we knew Richard would have to look after his voice for the Splendour In The Grass set so we cancelled all promotional activity for Sunday,” the statement said.
It continued: “It wasn’t until he got on stage on Sunday night at Splendour that he realised his voice wouldn’t make it through the set.”
Ashcroft has now reportedly been “ordered not to speak or sing for 72 hours” by a doctor.
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