Peach Fur, Saint Lane, Friends of Friends, Noizeuy, Mercer and El Grand Monk DJs set’s were all affected by Spilt Milk mishap

A Gold Coast rapper says a recent festival left majority of local artists ‘devastated’ after they canned their performances last minute. See what happened

A shocking photo has emerged, laying bare the “logistic disaster” that disrupted the start of a new Gold Coast music festival at the weekend, leaving punters furious.

More than 35,000 people packed into Doug Jennings Park at The Spit on Sunday for the event, which featured headline acts local DJ Fisher and electronic star Flume.

Hundreds of people waiting to get through the gates at Spilt Milk. Picture: Gage Wintle

However, things got off to a rocky start with “safety concerns” blamed for a delay in opening the gates, leaving hundreds of fans waiting for over an hour.

Also due to the one road in to the festival, traffic was backed up to Sea World and shuttle buses were held-up arriving at the event.

In a startling photo taken during the traffic jam, a woman who was stuck on the road next to Sea World can be seen crouching down and appears to urinate between cars.

Photo of a girl urinating on the road while waiting in traffic to get to Spilt Milk.

Spilt Milk addressed the concerns about the gate delays through a Facebook post on the day, in which they said: “Hey everyone, we are slightly delayed in opening the gates this morning but we’ll be open no later than 12pm.

“If you’ve been on the Gold Coast this last week, you’ve probably experienced the hectic wind. It caused a few minor delays on site to make sure everything is ready for you.”

At 12.45 they updated the post saying “the gates are now open”.

They thanked everyone for their patience and understood many were disappointed.

“Your safety and the safety of our artists and staff is paramount,” the post said.

When the Bulletin contacted Spilt Milk organisers yesterday they declined to elaborate on the safety concerns or the delays to traffic.

However, the logistical hold ups did not just impact the fans.

The first artists who played at 11am, local act Peach Fur, had to perform with no audience.

The Gold Coast band won Triple J’s unearthed competition in 2022 to be named a special act at Spilt Milk.

Peach Fur won Live Act of the Year at the Gold Coast Music Awards. Pic: Cameron Fox

Festival-goer and Gold Coast local Brandon Cunningham said the whole experience was “pain staking” and that he was crushed to miss his friends’ band Peach Fur.

“With Australian music month just passing and the industry finally on the road to recovery from Covid, it was quite upsetting to see patrons come to support the music scene and the livelihoods of bands all to be thrown around at the mercy of a logistic disaster,” he said.

Lane Muir, also known as Saint Lane, was one of the original acts announced in the line-up and one of the five artists who were cancelled due to the schedule delay.

Friends of Friends, Noizeuy, Mercer and El Grand Monk DJs were the other local artists who had their sets pulled.

Local rapper Saint Lane was ready to perform for a home crowd at the coasts newest festival. Picture Glenn Hampson

“It was so brutal,” Mr Muir said.

“I was really upset because I’ve had months of preparation for this gig.

“Nobody told me directly that my set was cancelled I heard from a stage hand that all local acts were being cancelled and then later an artist relations person confirmed.”

He said the artists could see the Spilt Milk crew were trying their best to sort the problems out.

“I think the wind and lack of security was a massive problem for them,” Mr Muir said.

Saint Lane and Peach Fur recently released a single called ‘Bloom’, and Mr Muir was able to perform the song on stage with the band despite having no audience.

“I am devastated for Peach (Fur), I think Triple J should give them another festival slot,” he said.

Fans at Spilt Milk

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Originally published as Peach Fur, Saint Lane, Friends of Friends, Noizeuy, Mercer and El Grand Monk DJs set’s were all affected by Spilt Milk mishap