Phil Jamieson has cancelled his PJ Air solo tour of Australia after fracturing his L1 in an onstage fall in Victoria, turning a one-night mishap into a full stop for the run of shows. He said he slipped on stage, hit his spine on the drum riser and was taken by ambulance to Latrobe Hospital when he could not continue the gig at The Deck Traralgon.
The cancellation matters now because the injury happened on Friday, Aug. 7, and the tour had been set to keep moving through Sept. 12, with Ricky Albeck and Nici Ward on the bill. Fans who bought tickets now face refunds, and the dates Jamieson had planned to play are no longer going ahead.
Jamieson, 49, said he spent most of Friday in emergency getting different tests before the fracture was confirmed by 4am. He said he had been given bed rest and a long road to recovery, which means he is out of action for more than a bruised weekend. That is the hard fact behind the disappointment: he said he cannot stand up, let alone play a gig, and no one, in his words, is more bummed about the cancellation than he is.
The friction in his statement is clear. The solo tour is off, yet the release of 10Charlie was still due on Friday, Aug. 14, leaving him to push ahead with the album even as he pulled the plug on the launch party. He told fans that if they feel like wrapping their earholes around it, he would be grateful, because a lot of work went into the record and he loves it.
Jamieson’s injury lands at a moment when his solo material had been ready to travel, and the tour had been the clearest way to put it in front of fans across Australia. He has fronted Grinspoon since 1995, the band released eight albums to date, and Whatever, Whatever arrived in 2024 after a 30th anniversary tour last year, but this setback puts his solo work on hold before it could finish the circuit. His official site had already been scrubbed of the tour dates, and venues and ticketing agencies are expected to contact fans about refunds.
What remains unresolved is when he will be well enough to return to the road. For now, the answer is simple: the cancelled shows are gone, the album still stands, and Jamieson is recovering from a broken back that ended the tour before it reached its final stop in Queensland.
