“Bass player, Patrick Matthews, walked out on the band after an on stage argument after the 1st song and refused to come back.  Lead singer, Craig Nicholls then abused their fans, calling them 'cu*ts' and 'sheep' for being there. 

“Later in the performance, minus the bass player - Nicholls allegedly had altercations with a fan and a photographer that was covering the event. 

“There was a discussion overheard backstage that the band are breaking up.  Could this be the end of the Vines?  Full updated details of this event will” reportedly be available soon. 

Update: The band canceled their show in Sydney on Friday night (May 28). A press release from EMI's press office reads, It is with great regret and disappointment that The Vines announce the cancellation of their Metro show in Sydney tonight. 

The show will no longer take place as planned due to illness.  The band sincerely apologise for any disappointment caused. 

Full refunds for the show are available from the point of purchase. 

FULL REFUNDS AVAILABLE: CALL METRO BOX OFFICE ON 9287 2000
FOR MORE DETAILS GO TO: www.metrotheatre.com.au

Meanwhile, there is an initiative by angry listeners at Triple M radio to have the stations pull songs from the group from their play list. 

Update 5-29: at update time, antiMUSIC had not heard back from Capitol Records for comment on this story.  However, Triple M Radio issued the following statement about the chaotic show. 

Five minutes into Thursday nights’ Triple M Garage Session performance, The Vines guitarist Patrick walked off stage and joined the crowd, adding fuel to the rumour the Vines are on the brink of break up.

A police report has been filed by a Sydney newspaper photographer who says she was kicked during the gig, destroying her camera.

The band stopped half way through many songs with the lead singer screaming at the audience calling them a pack of sheep and telling them to shut up or get out.  The intimate crowd of 400 were shocked when asked by the lead singer to “baa” like sheep .

Triple M has held hugely successful Garage Sessions in the past with bands such as The Darkness, The Living End and most recently Jet. It was hoped that the Vines would put on an equally successful show for Triple M listeners.

The station has been inundated by calls and emails from unhappy listeners disappointed by The Vines performance and attitude on the night.

As a result of listener feedback  Triple M have dropped all The Vines tracks on their stations’ play lists and are awaiting an apology from the band and their management.

Triple M Program Director, Mike Fitzpatrick said of the incident;
In my opinion it's unprofessional and disrespectful to their fans. I've invited the guys to Triple M to apologise or at least explain their actions on air, but they haven’t called me back. We've supported the Vines until now, but our listeners have made it clear, after the Garage Session performance, they don't want to hear the band on Triple M. I can assure you they will never have another song played on Triple M. Whether they care about that or not, I don't know, but I'll be sure to mention it to Craig the next time he asks me “do you want fries with that?”.
 

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