Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst has announced that the band will be dedicating their upcoming Australian tour to the memory of Jessica Michalik, the girl who died following a crowd crush at the Big Day Out in 2001. Limp Bizkit are touring Australia on the Soundwave Festival line-up and it will be their first visit to Australia since the tragedy. Speaking with the Herald Sun, Durst said:
We are coming back to Australia with our hearts on our sleeve…We want to connect with our fans and do these shows in honour of Jessica…You can never erase that scar, that loss. It was very heavy for us and really hurtful for a lot…It’s tragic and unfortunate. We can never replace her. It hangs heavy on the head and in the heart.
According to the Herald Sun, Fred Durst claims that the Big Day Out promoters ‘spun the tragedy and poisoned Limp Bizkit’s name’, Durst said:
It was manipulated by the promoter in their favour because everybody needed a scapegoat. After that, the offers to come to Australia weren’t exactly pouring in. For a while, it felt wrong, and we needed to step away.
Durst has also reenforced claims he made during the inquest stating that security at the BDO 2001 event was inadequate.
It didn’t just happen out of the blue…We were fighting with promoters the whole time.
During the inquest the BDO promoters blamed Limp Bizkit and Fred Durst for the crowd crush. However, Coroner Jacqueline Milledge said BDO promoters did not put adequate safety arrangements into place to prevent crowd crushing. She also stated that Fred Durst should have ‘acted more responsibly’ during the rescue process.
Limp Bizkit will be touring Australia later this month for the Soundwave 2012 Festival.
