Christopher BarrettShambala Festival has announced that controversial rap-punk duo Bob Vylan will return to perform at the event next year.
Since the BBC live broadcast the band’s performance in June on Glastonbury Festival’s West Holts Stage that saw frontman Bobby Vylan chant “death, death to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]”, Bob Vylan has been the subject of an ongoing backlash. The band were dropped from festivals, their agents UTA turned their back on them, and a US tour was cancelled after their visas were revoked.
The issue of booking politically outspoken artists, and the ability to handle the potential backlashes, has become a major concern for festival operators. LIVE CEO Jon Collins says that the organisation is currently working on a guidance document for festivals and venues that will be made available early next year.
“The challenge on this topic is that we’re trying to bring calm, dispassionate, nuanced analysis to an area where all those things can go out the window very quickly in a national and social media back and forth,” he said. “We’re very conscious of the environment that exists beyond the control of festivals, venues, promoters, agents, managers and artists.
“Our industry has a proud history of giving voices to the voiceless from the stage, amplifying causes, and amplifying messages. The guidance document will help outline if it’s safe and legal for an artist to do that. Once you know it’s going to be legal, what are the safety considerations? Once that is handled, then it should become business as usual.”
Shambala festival co-founder Chris Johnson said, “The point of Shambala festival is to stand for what we believe in, but when looking to make a controversial booking, such as Kneecap or Bob Vylan, it does feel daunting.
“We saw the significant fallout from Glastonbury’s booking of Kneecap – the ‘secret letters’, and the political pressure, and how they stood firm. We’re also aware of the social media campaigns and verbal and legal attacks from organised yet amorphous groups targeting music venues across Europe that have booked Kneecap. So as an independent festival, with a small team, it can feel daunting to make a booking like this, to be prepared for the come-back.
“We need to have this conversation as an industry to create some resilience and operate as a community of festivals, and artists, to support each other in enabling free expression.”
Among the other artists booked for the 27-30 August event are Emma-Jean Thackray, Goat, Penguin Cafe, Night Tapes and Joshua Idehen.