When Amyl and the Sniffers’ free gig at Federation Square was cancelled on Friday night, Amy Taylor, lead singer of the Grammy-nominated Melbourne band, left no doubt how she felt.

“F---ing. C---s,” she posted in an Instagram story soon after the plug was pulled at 8.15pm. Organisers had decided that multiple breaches of the security fences, in the largest of which about 1000 people flooded into a site that was already at capacity, posed a serious risk to public safety.

Amyl and the Sniffers’ free gig at Federation Square on Friday night was cancelled over safety concerns.Credit: John Angus Stewart

A short while later, now fully apprised of the reasons behind the decision, the band posted an update with the fury dialled down.

Though Taylor and her bandmates were still “so f---ing sorry that we couldn’t play”, they had decided to ease frustrations by donating their fee for the show, putting $5000 on the bar at each of seven iconic Melbourne rock pubs.

As responses go, it was perfect. Without playing a note, the band’s status as hometown legends of rock was assured.

The status of Federation Square as a venue for free concerts, though, is less certain.

Almost immediately, the calls came to put a stop to the free, all-ages public music events that have become a hallmark of the venue over the past two summers (though they have been happening for years, the programming has stepped up enormously since 2024).

The crowd at Friday........

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