From the Archives, 1993: Pest control called in to save Elton John concert | CPT PPP Coverage

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First published in The Age on February 21, 1993

Elton bugged, but pests get the flick

Pest control experts were called in to the National Tennis Centre yesterday to ensure that Elton John would not have to compete for stage space with a swarm of crickets at last night’s concert.

The rock star found Melbourne’s freak wave of crickets so irritating on Friday night that he cut his performance short, refusing to give fans an encore.

Mr Ken Witham, the operations manager for the fumigation company Adams Pest Control, said that he had received many calls from people on Friday complaining about crickets. He said breeding conditions for Melbourne’s common black field cricket had been perfect this summer, with a wet start followed by hot and windy weather that animated the crickets.

Mr Witham said that crickets and beetles homed in on Elton John because the stage was well lit. He said fumigation program would kill any remaining crickets, but Friday’s infestation had occurred because of the peculiar weather that night.

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A spokeswoman for the National Tennis Centre, Ms Susan Molloy, said she could empathise with John’s annoyance as, being a solo performer, he needed to be able to concentrate.

John’s publicist, Patti Mostyn, said she was surprised that the singer had stayed on stage for two hours. “You try working at your desk covered in insects. I think this is out of perspective. He is one of the world’s major performers and he came to Australia to do a concert. He doesn’t just walk off for the hell of it.”

Mr John disappointed more fans when he cancelled a planned social game of cricket at Melbourne Grammar’s oval yesterday afternoon. He and his entourage were to play a team consisting of Mushroom Records staff.

The game was called off, possibly be-cause of rain earlier in the day. Of course, it may just have been because of an aversion to mention of the word “cricket”.