Crowded House pulls out of AFL Grand Final gig

The band had been booked to play before the game for months but pulled the pin last week, leaving the league scrambling to find a replacement.

Aussie rock band Crowded House has sensationally pulled out of playing at the AFL Grand Final, leaving the league just 54 days to find another act.

A household favourite nationwide, Crowded House was rumoured to have been locked in for the pre-game performance months ago and was confirmed to have bailed on the coveted slot on Monday.

The AFL has now been left with less than two months to lock in another act as impressive and widely loved as their first choice, with the “Don’t Dream It’s Over” band last playing a show in Melbourne in November 2022.

AFL spokesperson Jay Allen said “the pre-match entertainment for the 2023 AFL Grand FInal will be announced in September”.

Aussie rock group Crowded House had been booked to play the event for months. Picture: Craig Hebrert

One of the most famous acts to emerge from Melbourne, Crowded House formed in 1985 and was responsible for Victorian anthem “Four Seasons in One Day”.

The last time the AFL was left in the lurch when trying to find a Grand Final act was in 2010, the infamous year of the double Grand Final match.

Michael Gudinski miraculously managed to organise Lionel Richie to perform at the rematch, after INXS — fronted by JD Fortune — played at the first game.

Gudinski had a relationship with Richie, who had been playing a show in Hong Kong before the second Grand Final.

Gudinski told the Herald Sun at the time he thought Richie was the “consummate performer, the ultimate pro”.

“The AFL wanted to go hard,” Gudinski said.

“They wanted to take it to an international level. I started to see if there were any international acts in the region who were performing.

“Finding Lionel was on tour in Asia was like pulling a rabbit out of the hat.

“As soon as I had a sniff that they could possibly do it the AFL were keen.”