Buskers Damaged Equipment by Violent Mob Attack

Today, while performing music on the streets, my band partner Konstantin and I were violently attacked while simply trying to do our job. After completing three shows, we began our fourth performance when we were unexpectedly surrounded by a group of protesters with large speakers, microphones, and a loud atmosphere. At the time of being surrounded by the group of protesters, we were performing a show to an audience and we were playing Canon in D.

This protest, which has been occurring every Sunday for the past few months in Melbourne, has become a familiar sight to us. We have always ensured to keep ourselves and equipment out of the way as these protests often have a large police presence and this is something we do not want to be involved or in the middle of. However, we did not anticipate the violence that followed our decision to pause our show and wait for the protest to pass.

We made sure to check the instagram page for the protestors, which usually shows the path the protests would take. They had stated they would start at the state library and go to Flinders station and the post showed a map of the path they would take. We booked a spot on Bourke street with the council thinking we would not be in the path the protesters would take, that way we could work and not be caught in the middle of the protest.

When we stopped our performance and started packing up, a protester began chanting into a microphone. We tried to communicate with him, saying, "We don’t have a problem with your cause; just let us move our equipment." In response, another protester (pictured in the video circulating online) mocked us, gestured rudely, and swore at us. As this individual attempted to step on Cam’s pedal board, Cam, in self-defence of his expensive equipment—which he relies on for his livelihood—moved the protester away. This action triggered an aggressive reaction from the protest group.

A mob of protesters then violently attacked Konstantin and me, an incident captured on camera by Konstantin. Cam was struck in the face with a steel flagpole, shattering his glasses and narrowly missing his eye. During the chaos, the police intervened, but our equipment was severely damaged—crushed and kicked around, as shown in the video footage.

As street performers, we are accustomed to accommodating protests and do so by moving our equipment and ensuring our safety. We support the right to free speech and always do our best to move or wait until the protests pass. We purposely chose a location where we thought we would not be in the path of the protestors. Despite our efforts today, we were attacked, and a significant amount of our equipment was damaged. We are still assessing the full extent of the damage and will need to inspect our gear to determine if it is functioning as it should.

Carbon Fibre Violin Bow Full Size (VALUE - $150 each - Total Damage $300)

Violin Bow - Stauffer Brazilwood, Octagonal, Nickel, Parisian Eye (VALUE - 370)

Bam Hightech Slim Violin Case - Navy Blue (VALUE - $899-$1,000)

White Violin Case - (VALUE - approx. $300-$400)

RayBan Clubmaster Classic - (VALUE - $304)

Rockboard QUAD 4.3 Flight Case - (VALUE - $350)

Sennheiser XSW-D XS Wireless Digital XLR Base Set (VALUE - $429)

Cygnett ChargeUp Reserve 2nd Gen 20k Power Bank (Black) (VALUE - $119.95)

At this stage this is all we can identify by examining our equipment and we will be able to identify if anything else is damaged or not working correctly when we next perform. Due to the fact these pieces of equipment are fragile, until we know for sure if anything is internally damaged we will only post the things we know are 100% damaged as a result of today’s attack.