Weddings Parties Anything To Break Up Again

Mick Thomas, frontman of legendary Australian band Weddings Parties Anything, has today announced on Facebook that the band will once again be splitting up after their performance at the EG Awards in Melbourne, where they will be inducted into The Age EG Steve Waldon Hall of Fame.

In typically magnificent fashion, Thomas levels with his fans about why the band has continued after originally splitting up back in 1998 and why they are once again looking to retire the name and the band for at least a good period of time.

“I was at great pains to sensitively word the fact this event has an air of finality about it for us,” he says, referencing a mail out sent to the band's fans yesterday. “I didn't make any grand statement but quietly, in small print, finished with the thought this would be our last show for a while. I think after going through the whole fanfare of a big publicly announced and promoted break up back in 1998 I just didn't fancy putting everyone through it again.”

The band first reformed in 2005 to perform at the Community Cup football match in Melbourne and got back together again in 2006 for a slot at the Queenscliff Music Festival. In 2008 they hit the road for the ten year reunion of their break-up and the past three years have seen the group perform Grand Final Eve shows in Melbourne as well as play the odd show here and there for a special ocassion.

The reunion show has become an increasingly common event throughout the world of music in the past decade or so and Thomas says the band are keen to step away from associating themselves with these often cynical arrangements.

“I get the feeling that people are really tired of the cynicism that can infect these affairs and that's something we all really want to stay away from.

He goes on to mention that dignity is at the crux of what he wants for the band and its legacy and he feels that Tuesday's induction is the perfectly dignified way to go out.

“There's no accepted hard and fast rule about how you go about these things. There's no handbook that tells you how to exploit your musical legacy in a meaningful and dignified fashion. But I think it's the word dignity that always is the sticking point for me. It's just got to feel right. It feels right that Dave Steel will be playing Scorn of the Women with us on Tuesday night and that Pete Lawler is going to get up for a song, that Support Act are going to accept an award on behalf of Janine Hall and that she and Jen Anderson are the first two women in the Hall of Fame. It feels right that this is going to be the last Weddings show – if not forever – then for a good long period of time.”

He finishes by saying that perhaps the band aren't as universally adored as some of their fans may expect and that any attempt for the group to build on what they have already achieved might spoil what is already there.

“Of course it is a fantastic legacy, providing it is just that – a legacy. So Hall of Fame here we come. See you Tuesday night.”