Metal Anarchy

During Bad Omens’ January 22 show at Festival Hall in Melbourne, Australia, several fans were injured after ceiling tiles fell on the audience. The incident appeared to have been triggered by the band’s confetti canons.

One fan named Sarah told Wall Of Sound that she suffered soft tissue damage on her hand:

“I was recording on Snapchat when it happened and my video cut as I got hit and my phone flung a meter away from me as I dropped to the ground, I was covered in blood from the girl next to me and she was very out of it, seems as if she was looking at the confetti and it’s [the debris] bounced off my hand and got her straight in the face.

Hospital gave me a medical certificate to cover a few days off and see how it heals up, venue people seemed to care very little but the paramedics on scene were amazing. [The venue staff] were very quick to get rid of the evidence.“

Another fan named Skye Ryan added:

“[I] got a small scratch up my arm but the girl behind me [suffered a] huge head injury.

[I] was watching the show to the left of the stage when the confetti cannons went off. I felt something hard hit but thought it may have been the cap from the cannon, shrugged it off until people a row or two back started yelling for help and security. We all made room for them to jump over the barrier as this was maybe 3 rows from barricade.

When I turned around to see what was happening there was a girl on the ground clearly dazed, with blood running down her face. They had trouble getting her up as I’m not sure if she was passing out. Medics jumped in and escorted her out of the pit. The band had walked off stage at this point.

Security checked if people were ok & another young girl with blood on her chin was taken out of the pit. Show resumed a few minutes later so I’m not sure if the band knew what was happening. Large pieces of the roof were left on the floor just behind me & there was a clear void where it had fallen.“

Notably, the band have since addressed the situation during a second show at the venue Frontman Noah Sebastian told the audience the following:

“A moment of silence for the victims of the ceiling panels [crowd screams.] I said a moment of silence. Not a joke… shut up. No, that was serious. for real. and I’m so glad everyone is okay. That was… first of all, I didn’t see that happen, okay? I want to make that very clear. In the zone, doing my thing… was not expecting a ceiling tile to fall but, uh, I’m glad that everybody’s okay.

But! I also heard they are all here tonight: Everyone that was hit by the ceiling tile. If you were… Where my tile guys at? Was that you? Who else? Don’t start lying to get attention. You? Are you okay? [The] news it said someone was knocked unconscious, is that true? That’s true? Your friend? They’re not here?”

The venue commented as well:

“Regarding last night’s Bad Omens show, Festival Hall want to thank our onsite first aid team who responded quickly. We have conducted an immediate review of the special effects vendor and additional safety checks before tonight’s show. We look forward to seeing you tonight!”