THUNDER BAY – Hedley’s concert Friday night at the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium went off without a hitch, despite the threat of protests greeting the popular Canadian band's presence in the city.
About half-a-dozen sign-toting demonstrators marched quietly outside the venue, warning concertgoers not to go on the tour bus with the band and that women deserve to be heard.
The band, and lead singer Jacob Hoggard, have come under fire in recent weeks, after several women came forward with accusations of sexual misconduct.
An Ottawa woman accused Hoggard of sexually assaulting her and several others said band members have a history of groping women inappropriately, including some who claim they were as young as 14 when the alleged incidents occurred.
On Friday, Toronto police revealed to several media outlets that Hoggard is being investigated by their sex crimes unit, but that no charges have been laid.
Sherrie-Leigh Petrie was among the protesters, and said the band and its members have been accused of exhibiting unacceptable behaviour toward women over the course of their career, and she just wanted those attending the Thunder Bay concert to be fully aware of the accusations being made.
“They’ve been accused of a number of things that fall under sexual violence. They’ve been accused of doing a lot of things without consent, doing a lot of things while people are intoxicated and if someone’s intoxicated, they cannot give consent,” Petrie said.
“We’re just trying to maybe educate some concertgoers that consent is something that’s important and sexual violence is a problem and that we have a banner right now that says we believe survivors.”
Local fans of the band seemed impervious to the controversy, lining up more than two hours before the show kicked off to secure their seats at the Auditorium, after losing out on guaranteed seats when Hedley, citing technical issues with the venue, moved the show across town from its originally scheduled location at Fort William Gardens.
Earlier in the day, when tbnewswatch.com confirmed the protests, several fans defended Hoggard and Hedley.
“I personally still listen to their music. I'm a fan of the band itself. They put on amazing live shows as well!! The whole situation is really just upsetting. I believe in innocent until proven guilty though. We literally know nothing about the situation as outsiders,” said one Facebook user named Ashley Belleri.
Hoggard in February denied any claims of sexual misconduct, but did admit Hedley has lived the rock and roll lifestyle and not treated women with the type of respect they deserve.
“I understand the significant harm that is caused not only to the women I interacted with, but to all women who are degraded by this type of behaviour,” he said. “I have been careless and indifferent and I have no excuse. For that I am truly sorry.”
Hedley, who had a concert cancelled in Windsor and were booted from a planned Juno performance after the allegations arose, have said they plan to take an indefinite hiatus following the current Cageless Tour, scheduled to end March 23 in Kelowna, B.C.
About 1,000 people attended Friday's show.
None of the allegations have resulted in charges being laid.
