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Nick Cave dished out a hefty rant after Brisbane’s music curfew forced his band to shut down a gig early

Hours before receiving the Order of Australia medal, Nick Cave made a nasty jab at music laws in Brisbane.

During a live gig at Riverstage in Brisbane, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds were forced to cut short their encore from five songs down to two in order to comply with the council’s strict 10pm curfew.

Photo credit @nickcaveandthebadseeds
Photo credit @nickcaveandthebadseeds

On the night before a public holiday, Australia newest Order of Australia recipient Nick Cave was furious to be playing his last song before 10pm.

“There’s some fucking absurd curfew in this place,” Cave said following his first encore song Mermaids before encouraging the crowd to “write to your city council.”

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk has supported his council and the regulations which aim to benefit surrounding residents from noise pollution.

“The open-air layout and location of Riverstage means noise generated by concerts can travel across the river and to nearby suburban areas,” Quirk said according to Brisbane Times.

Cave wasn’t done after his first song: “they fine you. They fine you per minute. Thousands (of dollars) per minute.”

Quirk shifted the blame onto the State government for failing to approve the construction of a 17,000 seat arena that would’ve replaced the old Festival Hall – a music venue which has hosted the likes of The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Ramones and Nirvana during its 44 year lifespan.