Organisers of the Byron Bay Bluesfest have responded to backlash regarding their decision to book Sticky Fingers for the 2023 edition of the festival.
As revealed earlier this morning (February 15), Sticky Fingers will perform at this year’s Bluesfest in April, having been included in the festival’s sixth line-up announcement. Other acts announced today include Sampa The Great, Fools, Jerome Williams, and a tribute to the late Uncle Archie Roach organised in association with the Archie Roach Foundation.
In a statement shared alongside the announcement, festival director Peter Noble called Sticky Fingers “the bad boys of Australian music” and said Bluesfest was “happy to welcome them back” to perform at this year’s event.
Now, the festival has defended their decision to book the band, who were mired in controversy in late 2016, when frontman Dylan Frost was accused of physically threatening Gamilaraay singer-songwriter Thelma Plum at a pub in Sydney. The same year, Frost denied an allegation he had made racist comments during a performance by the band Dispossessed.
In the fallout, the band announced they were going on an indefinite hiatus. Frost posted a statement on their Facebook page apologising to those affected by his “behaviour”, disclosing an alcohol addiction and diagnoses for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and announcing he would be undergoing rehabilitation and therapy.
Following Sticky Fingers’ announcement on the Bluesfest bill, the festival has faced criticism on social media. “Bluesfest go fuck yourself,” wrote Camp Cope drummer Sarah Thompson on Twitter.
Jaguar Jonze also spoke out about the booking, writing in a tweet of her own that it’s “disgusting and sickening to see abusive and violent behaviour glamorised into a bad boy image”.
bluesfest go fuck yourself challenge https://t.co/Yxrv4jy6pL
— Sarah Thompson (@slthomthom) February 14, 2023
Disgusting and sickening to see abusive and violent behaviour glamorised into a bad boy image https://t.co/MTx7lsm37B
— JAGUAR JONZE (@JaguarJonze) February 14, 2023
One comment on Bluesfest’s Instagram post announcing the new line-up additions asked if the Archie Roach Foundation were aware they were going to be announced at the same time as a band who allegedly “verbally abused Thelma Plum”.
The Bluesfest account replied directly: “The singer from the band had an incident for which he apologised. He is a diagnosed Bipolar Schizophrenic. After almost 7 years… [without] a recurrence. Isn’t it time to forgive, and let him get on with his life.” Comments have since been limited on the post.
After their self-imposed hiatus, Sticky Fingers returned in March 2018, playing their first show back as part of Marrickville’s Bad Friday festival. They were slammed upon their return for an interview they gave on triple j’s Hack program, where Frost said he had “gotten [himself] into situations under the influence” and said that he was “sorry for making people feel that way”.
Frost was also criticised for a comment he made in relation to his alleged behaviour that “boys will be boys”. When pressed for clarification from then-Hack host Tom Tilley, Frost replied: “Shit happens, man.”
Then, in May of 2018, Frost was accused of verbally harassing and threatening to fight a transgender woman in a Sydney pub. After receiving backlash for that incident, the band posted to social media: “To all the haters; we are better than you. NEVER FORGET.”
The band also issued a statement to The Australian, per Vice, that denied the woman’s account of events and claimed that Frost was “verbally attacked by a stranger and called a racist”. The statement continued: “Dylan said it was bull shit and to leave him alone. She continued to harass him, and her friend then joined in and threatened him and Dylan told him to fuck off. The manager noticed there was tension and asked them to leave, which Dylan did.”
Since then, Sticky Fingers have released two more albums – 2019’s ‘Yours To Keep’ and last year’s ‘Lekkerboy’. They have toured heavily overseas in that time, as well as in Australia in support of both albums. Last year, while touring behind ‘Lekkerboy’ in Australia, the band played multiple dates at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion and Melbourne’s Festival Hall, as well as Brisbane’s Riverstage.
In 2021, Frost entered a rehabilitation facility after a court case relating to a 2019 altercation between him and bandmate Paddy Cornwall. Cornwall received an 18-month prison sentence – served in the community – after the court heard he punched Frost over 30 times during an altercation in Marrickville, after the bandmates were ejected from a licensed venue.