Canberra Band Call Out 'Buffoons' At Shows, Create Safe Signal For Punters

Canberra indie rockers Moaning Lisa have taken to Facebook to speak out on the ongoing issue of harassment at live shows, after an incident at their show on Saturday night.

In a video statement, the band's Hayley and Charlie explain, "Unfortunately a fair few — what would we call them — buffoons slipped through the cracks somehow and just ruined the night for everybody else."

The pair describe some punters as "invasive of other people's space" and state, "We're really sick of the excuse of just shrugging it off as drunken behaviour and 'oh they're just having a good time, don't worry about it. Boys will be boys.' Fuck." 

The band have put forward a fantastic little idea to create a safe signal for punters feeling unsafe in the pit, by holding up three fingers. 

"Our priority is your safety and priority above all, so if someone is hassling you or you feel unsafe or uncomfortable at one of our shows, we want everyone to put up a signal which we're gonna say is gonna be a 'three'. We understand it's fucking hard to go out and ask for help, or to approach a security guard or confront someone, and we know we have a lot of power being up on stage with a microphone.

"If we can see you from up on stage, we will do something about it. You don't have to worry about that."

The incident follows a number of similar incidents this year at Luca Brasi and High Tension, and was addressed by the latter's Karina Utomo at Face The Music's Creating Safe And Inclusive Spaces panel recently.

"We're not gonna put up with this shit anymore," the band finish.