"Pain killers and a wee drop of whiskey" L.A.B. frontman Joel Shadbolt sings after crash

By: Annemarie Quill

A motorbike accident on his new Harley, which left him with a dislocated shoulder and a high-speed visit to the hospital, did not stop L.A.B. frontman Joel Shadbolt from playing.

Halfway through a summer tour, Bay of Plenty-based mixed-genre supergroup L.A.B. opened for Fat Freddy's Drop in Tauranga's Wharepai Domain yesterday.

But a motorbike accident involving the band's lead vocalist and guitarist the day before nearly stopped play.

Shadbolt was on his way to get his haircut when he came off his Harley, hitting the grass and injuring his left shoulder.

"I knew it was bad, I thought it was broken it was a lot of pain, but no tears," Shadbolt said.

After being transported to Tauranga Hospital and having seven stitches in his forearm, Shadbolt was told by doctors he had dislocated his shoulder and would not be able to play for at least two weeks.

The first person Shadbolt called was his mum - and then he called his manager "Mikey" to break the news.

For a brief moment, the band discussed reshuffling their set without their frontman - but Shadbolt decided it was nothing "some pain killers and a wee drop of Whiskey" couldn't fix.

Once on stage, Shadbolt said it was the fans who kept him going.

"It's a home project we love playing to our home crowd and the music itself will be healing," he said.

"The crowd was with me every step of the way... the fans worked better than painkillers."

Although he joked the only thing else that might need painkillers was his new Harley motorcycle.

NASA of Hammerhead Tattoos, who visited Shadbolt in hospital, said the singer almost broke his foot in the incident too.

"Luckily he is very fit otherwise [it] could have been much worse," he said.

"No one stops L.A.B. The crowd went crazy for them. He [Shadbolt] is not going to let a little ding on a Harley stop him."

The Mount gig is not the end of the road for L.A.B. as they continue their tour with their leading man.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission