At the close of their performance at the Meredith Music Festival this weekend, frontman Nick Cave dramatically announced that Grinderman were "over."



Despite being a long sought after booking proposal for festival organisers, Cave had never appeared at the annual boutique event. And so when the singer's bawdy "Bad Seeds side project" Grinderman was confirmed to headline the festival back in July, fans and organisers alike dared to hope for a momentous occasion that might mark this year's twenty-first birthday celebrations. On that point Grinderman delivered in fine form late last night, although the celebration will now also be remembered as a wake.



Following a powerful, physical set from the hirsute four-piece, one that seemed as much about gleefully goading the audience as it was to entertain, Cave declared as the last notes rang out, "That's it for Grinderman. It's over." He then added, "See you all in another ten years when we'll be even older and uglier." The band then departed without fanfare, leaving many of the 12,000 strong festival crowd, wondering if they had in fact understood the singer correctly.



Cave began Grinderman in 2006 along with three members of the Bad Seeds -- multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis, bassist Martyn Casey and drummer Jim Sclavunos. The quartet released two albums -- a self-titled debut in 2007 and a follow up, Grinderman 2, in 2010. Meredith was the last stop on their recent Australian tour, one which also saw them headline last week's Homebake festival in Sydney.



Stay tuned for further word from the Grinderman camp regarding the dissolution.

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Grinderman, at Homebake in Sydney.

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