The comments follow allegations made against the former Black Midi singer ahead of his Vancouver show on October 8th, which he addressed on stage. A man ahead of the show was seen handing out fliers accusing the singer of sexual assault with the flyers stating that “Geordie Greep a Rapist” as well as “You know what you did this morning Oct 8th.”

People at the Geordie Greep concert in Vancouver are posting that a guy was walking around passing out these fliers. Meanwhile the show was supposed to start at 8PM and he only just started playing 2 hours later. None of his bandmates are out with him either https://t.co/vGsYdBwfby

— NINE-UP (@NINEUP5) October 9, 2026

Greep took the stage on his own that night, stating that the whole situation had been a “misunderstanding” that had occurred at a house party the night before, and that the accusations were untrue. He offered fans the option to leave the show if they felt uncomfortable with an option for a refund, and later cancelled the remaining shows of his US tour.

Following the alleged incident both the alleged victim as well as Greep’s keyboardist Cameron Campbell have spoken to Paste about the details of the situation.

The woman, referred to with the pseudonym “Laura” claims that she and two other women had met Greep and Campbell at a house party the night before the gig, where she had made it clear that she was in an exclusive relationship. She recalled walking with Greep back to a friend’s apartment where he had made comments about homeless people which made her uncomfortable and described it as “Weird behaviour, but nothing alarming or dangerous.”

She further claimed that later that night after falling asleep on her friend’s couch, she was woken by Greep kissing her. “I don’t know for how long because I was passed out, but I think I woke up fairly quickly. His lips were on my lips, trying to make out with me, and then I pushed him off.” 

Campbell corroborated that whilst he was not in the room when the alleged incident occurred, he heard Laura yelling at Greep to “get off” and ran into the room to check on her. He further stated that after Greep was kicked out of the apartment he had returned to find his phone only to be kicked out again. He then spoke to Greep who allegedly was still waiting in the corridor, describing how “He tried to start downplaying it then and there, saying that he only tried to give her a kiss on the cheek – which, again, if she’s asleep, that doesn’t really make it okay either way.” Campbell confirmed to Paste that “After that I knew I was gonna quit.”

Laura also told the outlet that the flyers were handed out by someone else without her consent and that she is accusing Greep of sexual assault, not rape. In her statement she said that “Those flyers were handed out without my consent or knowledge. I am very disappointed in the person who decided my story was theirs to twist and tell the world… When I realized what was happening I pushed him off of me and called him out on what he was doing. If I’d had a couple more drinks and didn’t wake up when I did, I don’t know what would’ve happened. But the matter of fact is I was not raped. I don’t know his full intentions, and either way, his behaviour was disgusting. But he did not rape me and I would never claim otherwise.”

In response to the Paste article, Greep shared another statement online, sharing his recollection of that night. He stated that he was unaware that Laura was asleep at the time, and that he “apologised and stepped away” when she told him to stop. Greep further stated that “I want to unreservedly apologise to her for what I did and for the distress and hurt I caused that night. It was a huge mistake. I feel awful about it and I am very sorry. I got it all wrong that night and I accept that. I understand the impact of my actions and take full accountability. I’m not trying to minimise what happened in any way and, again, all I can say is how sorry I am.”

 

 

 

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Following Greep’s statement members of his tour band have confirmed their exit. Greep’s drummer David, bassist Dave Strawn and Guitarist Eden Marsh have all voiced their support for Laura and commended Campbell confirming their exit from the tour.

As per Rolling Stone, the lawsuit filed by Mattie Music Group, the publisher behind Withers’ catalogue claims that the similarities between the two songs are “obvious and inescapable.” The publisher further claims that they hired a musicologist who reviewed both songs and found “substantial similarities” and repeated copying of “a distinctively protectable melody”.

The publisher further claims in the lawsuit that “The number, character, and arrangement of the shared musical features are so striking that they support an inference that the similarities did not result from coincidence, independent creation, or reliance on common musical elements.”

The lawsuit names Universal Music Group, Capitol Records and Dean’s publishing companies as the defendants; whilst Dean and her co-writers Bastian Langebaak and Max Wolfgang are not named. Mattie Music Group also shared that they attempted to reach out to the defendants on August 17th but they allegedly continued with “the song’s distribution, licensing and commercial exploitation.”

Speaking to W Magazine last year, Dean said the song was written after “I’d had a lot of red wine.” She further stated that “When I heard it back for the first time, I burst into tears. It felt like the loveliest note to end on. Whether it’s within your friends, your family, or just the love that exists in the strangers around you, it’s there, and it’s inside of you, too.” 

This lawsuit is not the first of its nature from the Bill Withers estate, as US rapper Kendrick Lamar was previously sued in 2016 over alleged similarities between his song ‘I Do This’ and Withers 1975 song ‘Don’t You Want To Stay’. The lawsuit was later settled outside of court with details of the terms being kept between both parties.

Since its release as part of Olivia Dean’s smash hit and award winning record ‘The Art of Loving’, ‘I’ve Seen It’ has racked up nearly 250 million streams on Spotify alone. Since the albums release Dean’s growth has been exponential from winning Best New Artist at the 2026 Grammys, to breaking UK chart record history with her collaboration with fellow UK artist Sam Fender on ‘Rein Me In.’

The tour commemorates La Roux’s fourth studio album ‘Old Flames’ which is set to release on November 6th. La Roux (real name Elly Jackson) took to social media to share her excitement for the tour exclaiming that she “can’t wait to get back on stage and bring the world of ‘Old Flames’ to you guys.”

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The tour will kick off in Toronto on January 31st before Jackson heads to a plethora of stops throughout North America. Taking her from Boston through to San Francisco with the US leg of the tour concluding in Mexico City on the 25th of February. From there Jackson will start the European leg of the tour in early march with stops at Berlin, Cologne, Amsterdam and Paris.

Jackson will then conclude the tour with a stretch of UK shows in Glasgow, Manchester and Bristol before ending with a homecoming performance at Electric Brixton in London on the 24th of March.

UK and European tickets will go on general sale on Friday October 2nd at 10am local time and will be available here.

This tour comes off the back of a successful global support tour with Hillary Duff and marks the first headline La Roux tour with dates in the UK since her ‘Trouble In Paradise’ tour in 2014. Jackson recently took to Tiktok to open up her struggles with mental health and how she had a “nervous breakdown and disappeared for 10 years”. The clip shows Jackson drinking from a mug whilst a remix of her hit song ‘Bulletproof’ plays in the breakdown. With accompanying text reading “You think you can hurt me? I literally wrote and sung this song, lost my voice, had a nervous breakdown and disappeared for 10 years x”

La Roux’s headline ‘Old Flames’ tour dates: 

North America:
31/1 – Danforth Music Hall – Toronto, Canada
2/2 – Paradise Rock Club – Boston, MA, US 
3/2 – 9:30 Club –  Washington DC, US
5/2 – Brooklyn Steel –  Brooklyn, NY, US
9/2 – Thalia Hall – Chicago, IL, US 
10/2 – Fine Line – Minneapolis, MN, US
12/2 – Gothic Theatre – Englewood, CO, US
13/2 – The Depot –  Salt Lake City, UT, US
15/2 – Showbox – Seattle, WA, US 
16/2 – Crystal Ballroom – Portland, OR, US 
19/2 – The Belasco –  Los Angeles, CA, US
20/2 – The Castro – San Francisco, CA, US 
25/2 – Pabellón Oeste – Mexico City, Mexico

Europe:
5/3 – Huxleys Neue Welt- Berlin, Germany
6/3 – Live Music Hall – Cologne, Germany
8/3 – Melkweg OZ – Amsterdam, Netherlands
9/3 – Le Trianon – Paris, France
19/3 – SWG3 TV Studio – Glasgow, UK
20/3 – Academy 2 – Manchester, UK
23/3 – Trinity Centre – Bristol, UK
24/3 – Electric Brixton – London, UK

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In 2021, DistroKid claimed over 40% of new music was being distributed through their platform, as users were originally drawn in by the low cost and fluid ability to independently release new music. The large share of the market that DistroKid holds causes potential for huge issues when situations like these arise as it allows for the platform to avoid accountability or provide bare minimum compensation to those affected. As demonstrated by DistroKid avoiding signing IFPI’s (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) new anti-fraud standards. Current signees include industry titans like Universal Music Group (UMG), Sony and DistroKid’s rival CD Baby. The ‘Streaming Integrity Initiative’ sets out five baseline practices that distributors should adopt to counter fraud:

1. “Verify rights ownership and customer identities through robust rights verification and Know Your Customer (KYC) processes;
2. Vet content using effective tools and processes to identify infringement, fraudulent activity and AI-related risks;
3. Act by detecting, investigating and mitigating suspected fraud, including acting against repeat offenders;
4. Share intelligence, where legally permissible, to help prevent bad actors from moving across services and platforms; and
5. Measure and continuously strengthen anti-fraud systems to address evolving threats.”

A platform that holds such a large share of the independent distribution market not signing on poses a huge potential risk to independent musicians and bands like POLAT; who are trying to establish themselves amongst a rising of sea of AI generated music that floods playlists and other avenues of discoverability that are vital to growing a fanbase.

DistroKid is also under legal pressure as UMG is reportedly suing the platform over alleged deceptive trade practices and infringing on the label’s copyright by pumping out “AI-generated ‘slop’ that siphons revenue and listeners from the legitimate artists and rightsholders.” In court documents obtained by Billboard, UMG’s lawyers argue that “Plaintiffs bring this action to stop DistroKid’s market-disorienting practices that mislead for its own gain at plaintiffs’ expense, and to remedy DistroKid’s massive infringement and continued efforts to build its business on the backs of Plaintiffs and their recording artists.” Further arguing that whilst DistroKid promotes itself as a distributor for independent music it has in recent years become a platform of AI generated songs, which only serve to hurt real artists and overwhelm listeners. The current lack of regulation on AI generated music is the basis for a wave of policy changes and lawsuits such as this from music companies and digital platforms as they attempt to grapple with a wildly developing industry. Though most importantly, the influx of AI generated music has wildly altered the landscape of small independent musicians like POLAT who have to compete with fake acts that clog up discovery channels. Such as the case highlighted in the lawsuit by UMG of an artist called “Lofi Chill” who had “released 4,562 tracks over a year” which is “the equivalent of 20-30 full-length albums every month, a pace no human musician could achieve.” Platforms are implementing changes that will hopefully alleviate some of these issues for real independent artists like POLAT: Spotify has stated that it plans to add labels to AI-generated artists whilst Apple has said it will start to label any songs that were “materially generated using AI.”

Whilst these widespread issues are plaguing the independent music scene; thankfully in POLAT’s case their distribution issue has seemingly been resolved as ‘POV’ has finally been released onto streaming platforms. Though cynically it isn’t unlikely that the band’s viral post had a hand in expediting the resolution. Check it out below:

“Crock of Hits“ will startle you. Hold you as you tremble. And gently force you to succumb to its aural splendour. A “best of” curated by us, so you can be certain it’s the bestest of the bestiest. Suck it up, people…”

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The announcement of the show comes at a shaky time for the iconic London venue Moth Club, which is in an ongoing battle to survive amid multiple plans from Hackney Council for flats next to the venue. Whilst the venue received outpouring support from the local community with over 27,000 emails of objection being sent to the local council, there is no guarantee of the future of Moth Club. In a statement to NME, Music Venue Trust stated that “its potential closure poses an existential threat to all grass root venues.”

The show is set to be an incredible experience that is poetically important for the venue and the Darkness as despite having a large cult following, both have seen difficulty in convincing a wider commercial audience of their staying power and importance to the UK music scene. As demonstrated by band member Dan Hawkins in an interview to NME where he states: “We had quite a tough challenge convincing people that we were going to be around for a while…” He further stated that “We’re operating on pretty much a cult fanbase. The transient pop fans that came and screamed at the early gigs and then left when they realised we were actually a rock band went quite early doors, then we split up.”

You will also be able to catch The Darkness during their UK arena tour kicking off in December this year.

8/12 – OVO Hydro – Glasgow, UK

9/12 – FD Arena – Leeds, UK

11/12 – AO Arena – Manchester, UK

12/12 – Utilitia Arena – Birmingham, UK

13/12 – Utilitia Arena – Cardiff, UK

15/12 – Brighton Centre – Brighton, UK

16/12 – The O2 – London, UK

The announcement also comes off the back of Cage The Elephant supporting the Oasis US tour in 2025, spanning across the States with over a million total attendees. Which reinvigorated the band and allowed them to build upon their years of experience and famously raucous live shows; to bring on a 15 date run kicking off at the Tempodrom in Berlin and culminating with an undoubtedly explosive finish at London’s Alexandra Palace on March 1st. Speaking of the tour, in a press release frontman Matt Schultz said “We’re so excited to return to Europe and the UK on this tour. The audiences over there have always embraced us, and we can’t wait to come back and play the new songs!”

General release for tickets begins on Friday September 11th at 10am local time. And can be found here 

Dying In Reverse Tour Poster

The band returned last month with their new single ‘Beaches In Tennessee,’ which was made in collaboration with producers Justin Raisen and Sadpony; who boast impressive credits including Charlie XCX and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The single arrived at a pivotal time for Cage The Elephant, who returned from the Oasis Live ‘25 tour and went straight back to the studio. “The Oasis tour really reignited our fire to dream and continue to dream,” says Matt Shultz in a press release. “I think we realised there’s still room to evolve and push ourselves, especially in the live realm. That tour added to our overall passion and desire to see this thing through. When it was over, we decided not to take a break. We pretty much went straight into the studio to start making music.”

‘Beaches In Tennessee’  Music Video directed by Matt Shultz

Cage The Elephant’s 2027 UK & EU Dates:

8/2 – Tempodrom – Berlin, DE

9/2 – Studio – Krakow, PL

11/2 – Sporthalle – Hamburg, DE

12/2 – Mitsubishi Electric – Dusseldorf, DE

13/2 – De Roma – Antwerp, BE

15/2 – AFAS Live – Amsterdam, NL

17/2 – Fabrique – Milan, IT

18/2 – Les Docks – Lausanne, CH

20/2 – Zenith – Paris, FR

23/2 – O2 Academy – Leeds, UK

25/2 – O2 Academy – Glasgow, UK

26/2 – O2 Academy – Birmingham, UK

28/2 – Victoria Warehouse – Manchester, UK

1/3 – Alexandra Palace – London, UK

The excitement for these shows was palpable, with flurries of posts in the months leading up of fans asking for spare tickets or desperately looking to score cheap tickets as resale prices racked up to over 10x the original face value. Fans poured into Stepney from all over the world to see the sold out shows, with some travelling from Europe and others even as far as Australia and Taiwan. A perfect example of the fan excitement and commitment was one fan, who appears as @maarcjan on Instagram, who designed and gave out posters to the first 100 in line for the show. Whom at the end of night two was rightfully personally thanked by Geese bassist Dominic DiGesu and was handed the set-list of the show.

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Night one of the two-show stint featured a standard setlist for Geese at this point of their tour, with a bonus of the rare feature of ‘Undoer’ from their previous project ‘3D Country’. Frontman Cameron Winter played the Oasis cover of ‘Help’ by the Beatles through his phone during ‘2122’ which has evolved into a staple portion of the show; often dedicated to a short cover of a track before devolving back into the chaotic chorus of the song. Check out the full set-list for the night below:

‘Husbands’
‘2122’ (Featuring Oasis’ cover of ‘Help’ by the Beatles)
‘100 Horses’
‘Getting Killed’
‘Half Real’
‘Undoer’
‘Crusades’
‘Gravity Blues’
‘Cobra’
‘Cowboy Nudes’
‘I See Myself’
‘Bow Down’
‘Au Pays du Cocaine’
‘Taxes’
Encore: ‘Trinidad’

On the contrary night two featured a wildly different set-list, a great bonus for those fortunate enough to catch both nights. Skipping out on usual mainstays ‘Husbands’ and ‘Half Real’ from the tour’s namesake album ‘Getting Killed’ in favour of ‘Rain Dance’ and ‘Disco’ from their debut album ‘Projector’. Both of which had only been played once before on this year of the tour in Glasgow. As well as the infrequently featured ‘Space Race’ from their 2023 EP ‘4D Country’. They also performed a fragment of ‘Up The Junction’ by legendary east London local band Squeeze during their breakdown in the middle of ‘2122’. Check out the full set-list for the night below:

‘Long Island City Here I Come’
‘Getting Killed’
‘Islands of Men’
‘Space Race’
‘2122’ (Featuring a fragment of ‘Up the Junction’ by Squeeze)
‘Crusades’
‘Cowboy Nudes’
‘100 Horses’
‘Rain Dance’
‘Disco’
‘Cobra’
‘Bow Down’
‘Au Pays du Cocaine’
‘Taxes’
Encore: ‘Trinidad’

These nights followed a plethora of shows and huge festival  appearances, such as Reading and Leeds, from Geese throughout the UK. Marking the last stops of the UK and EU tour before they finished the leg as the secret headliner for End of Road festival on the 3rd of September

The UK tour will feature support from legendary North London rapper and actress Little Simz as well as the Swedish post-punk band Viagra Boys. It will take place in five outdoor venues and stadiums across the UK. Kicking off on June 29th in Blackweir Fields in Cardiff, Fontaines DC will then head on to Newcastle’s St James’ Park, Manchester’s Heaton Park, Glasgow Green and finish at London Stadium.

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Presale for tickets to the shows go on sale at 10am BST on September 8th for those who have registered here by 9pm BST September 7th. General sale will be available from 10am BST September 10th .

This new tour announcement comes off the back of Fontaines DC’s incredible headline festival shows at Reading, Leeds and Electric Picnic; as well as a sold out Autumn 2026 UK and 2027 EU tour including a huge homecoming stop at iconic Irish venue Slane Castle with support from Hayley Williams, Damien Dempsey as well as up and coming Irish band Madra Salach. Making history as Fontaines DC become the third ever Irish act to headline the venue and the first in 25 years, after Thin Lizzy in 1981 and U2 in 2001. Keen-eyed fans have also noticed that whilst the two shows fall during the Glastonbury weekend (26th and 27th of June), there is still space in Fontaines DC’s schedule for Friday June 25th; meaning there’s still a chance for an appearance at the UK’s most legendary festival.

These five headline shows mark Fontaines DC’s biggest shows so far and are announced in anticipation for their upcoming album ‘Dopamine Chamber.’ Which is set to release on October 16th via XL Records and is produced by James Ford who the band previously worked with on their UK platinum certified record ‘Romance’. With the lead single ‘Marianne’ being released on all platforms as a further two songs ‘Six Shot Morning’ and ‘Happy, For You’ having both debuted live exclusively.

Fontaines DC’s 2027 UK outdoor and stadium tour date:

29/6 – Blackweir Fields – Cardiff, UK

1/7 – St James’ Park – Newcastle, UK

3/7 – Heaton Park – Manchester, UK

6/7 – Glasgow Green – Glasgow, UK

9/7 – London Stadium – London, UK

Florence, an expert performer at this stage of her career, plays incredibly into this energy as showcased during ‘Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up).’ In which she requested sacrificial offerings to be lifted up on another’s shoulders. Throughout the show she played hits from throughout her expansive catalogue, from her original hits such as ‘Shake It Out’ to new found fan favourites like ‘One of the Greats.’

A particularly moving moment of the show was during ‘Sympathy Magic’ as Florence approached the front row she sang “come on, give me everything you’ve got, what else?” An incredibly powerful, hopeful mantra to fight onward after being through so much. Something that clearly connected with the crowd, as their sobs could be heard lightly through the microphone as Florence walked through giving an embrace to those in need.

Her sense of humour also shone through as she lamented how popular ‘Buckle’ had become with the fans and that she thought she was “too old to be writing songs about people not texting me back any more.” Jokingly blaming the audience for connecting so heavily with the song forcing her to perform it for the rest of her life.

Though it was during the explosive final song performance of ‘Dog Days are Over’ that Florence’s star power and command of the crowd really shone. As she heeded the crowd to put their phones down, stating that “Filming this song will stop you from experiencing this song… and is that not why you came?” With the crowd dutifully following through, creating an electric atmosphere as everyone was able to fully witness a legendary performer in her element and be present in the moment for an incredible show.