Radar Festival says it was ‘forced’ to drop Bob Vylan – suggests Kneecap should replace them
Event organiser Catherine Jackson-Smith reveals discussion about Irish group – with member facing terror charge – performing “secret set” to “make a statement”
Kneecap were suggested as a replacement for Bob Vylan by organisers of a festival who dropped the punk duo after Glastonbury.
Bob Vylan’s performance at Radar festival in Manchester was cancelled after singer Bobby Vylan, whose real name is reportedly Pascal Robinson-Foster, 34, led crowds in chants of “death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)” during their Saturday afternoon set at Glastonbury.
Speaking on the 2 Promoters, 1 Pod podcast, Radar organiser Catherine Jackson-Smith said the festival was “forced into a position” they did not want to take in dropping the band from their upcoming headline slot this Saturday.
On acts that could replace Bob Vylan, Ms Jackson-Smith said her colleague Joe had suggested a Kneecap “secret set” in order to “make a statement”.
“You can say nothing publicly but if you go and book, and as I did mention, Joe’s first response was, ‘What if we did Kneecap as a secret set?’ because that makes a statement, and it makes a statement without having to make a statement and that is what we wanted to do so we are going through options,” she said.
“We might end up with somebody that has no discernible political opinion in any manner at this point because if they’re free and they could play on Saturday, maybe that is the criteria that we’re looking for at this stage.”
Irish rap trio Kneecap, whose member Liam Og O hAnnaidh, also known as Mo Chara, appeared in court in June charged with a terror offence, performed on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury after Bob Vylan.
As of Friday afternoon, Radar has not announced a replacement for Bob Vylan and the festival’s website lists the Saturday line up as “headliner TBA (to be announced)”.
Of the conversation Radar organisers had with Bob Vylan, Ms Jackson-Smith said it was “one of the most horrendous professional discussions” she has ever had.
”I cannot express clearly enough that I wanted Bob Vylan to perform at our festival,” she said.
“Bob Vylan know that we wanted to book them. Why else would we have booked them?” she added.
“And Bob Vylan also know that we didn’t want to pull them, because we tried our hardest not to do that… but ultimately, it still ends at the same point the headlines will be ‘Radar festival pulled Bob Vylan’.”
Bob Vylan issued a statement on Tuesday claiming they were being “targeted for speaking up”.
It has emerged that Bob Vylan were already under investigation by police for comments made at a performance one month before Glastonbury.
Video footage appears to show Bobby Vylan at Alexandra Palace telling crowds: “Death to every single IDF soldier out there as an agent of terror for Israel. Death to the IDF.”
The duo have had their US visas revoked before their tour later this year and have been pulled from an upcoming performance at a German music festival, following their appearance at Glastonbury.
They are currently expected to perform at the Boardmasters surfing and music festival in Newquay, Cornwall, in August.
The group was formed in Ipswich in 2017, and are known for addressing political issues in their albums including racism, masculinity and class.
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