Skegss bassist Toby Cregan played his final song with the band at Splendour in the Grass 2023 on Saturday (July 22). In a moving farewell, the band tore into ‘New York California’, from their 2016 album ‘Everyone Is Good At Something’, with the crowd in full support.
“For anyone who’s confused why I’m getting gassed up so much, it’s my last ever concert with the band today… I’ve spent a third of my life playing in this band. It has been real crazy and fun,” said Cregan, his voice cracking with emotion.
“I’m overwhelmed, thanks everyone, I fuckin’ love you so much,” said Cregan as he called up Dune Rats’ Brett Jansch to take over on bass. A beaming Cregan then left the stage to meet screaming fans in the front row. He then cracked a beer and embraced his bandmates before leaving the stage to the cheers of the crowd.
The band have yet to announce Cregan’s replacement. They announced his departure in April with a message on social media saying: “We want to thank him endlessly for the pivotal role he played in the creation of Skegss, and the band as a whole in the last 10 years. We could never have done it without him and love him heaps. The tours and memories are endless, not to mention the friendship we’ve had in all that time.”
Skeggs also recently played Groovin’ The Moo in what NME’s David James Young described as a “rambunctious but bittersweet set”.
Cregan co-founded Skegss in nearby Byron Bay in 2014 with the band’s current members Johnny Lani and Ben Reed, and former guitarist Noa Deane. The band first played Splendour in the Grass in 2015 after winning Triple J Unearthed, the prize for which included opening the festival’s main stage that year.
This was when we got to play Splendour in the Grass 2015.Still one of the most memorable gigs of our lives.We Played first and they don't open the gate until you start, we didn't know if anyone was going to show up.As soon as we started playing everyone started running down the hill! Still the best feeling has on stage. having all our day one mates there was amazing XXXXXX Very happy to announce that we are playing again this year. Splendour in the Grass
Posted by Skegss on Tuesday, April 10, 2018
The band were NME Australia’s cover stars in March 2021, which coincided with the release of their album ‘Rehearsal’. Speaking of the band, NME’s Mikey Cahill said: “Their live shows cause mass singalongs, scream-alongs, fainting, the works.”
The band last released new music in February 2022 with the singles ‘Stranger Days’ and ‘December’.
