Music / News
Bob Vylan come to Bristol
On Friday night fans of punk rap duo Bob Vylan were surprised to see a sudden announcement from the band on X: “We play Bristol tonight at Thekla.”
The surprise gig, announced on both X and Instagram, came after weeks of controversy for the band whose music regularly addresses hot button issues like race, masculinity and identity.
On June 30 Avon & Somerset Police announced the launch of a criminal investigation into the performance Bob Vylan gave at Glastonbury on June 28.
is needed now More than ever
During the performance the lead singer of the band said led chants of “death, death to the IDF”, referencing the Israel Defense Forces and their actions during the ongoing Israel/Hamas conflict.
These chants drew significant criticism worldwide, leading to the band losing their US visas, ahead of their planned US tour later this year, being dropped from Manchester’s Radar Festival and reportedly being dropped by their agents at United Talent Agency.
The BBC also received criticism for broadcasting Bob Vylan’s performances live, including the IDF chants.
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The BBC later published a statement expressing their deep “regret that such offensive and deplorable behaviour appeared on the BBC.”
On July 3 culture secretary Lisa Nandy told the House of Commons: “Given the seriousness of what happened, and particularly we heard in the House the absolute shocking stories of the impact this has had on the Jewish community in this country – given the seriousness of this, I would expect there to be accountability at the highest levels.”
The performance at Thekla, which sold-out, came after another surprise sold-out gig at London’s 100 Club on Wednesday.
Per reporting from the Guardian, some members of the crowd tied to revive the “death, death to the IDF” chants but frontman Bob Vylan (both the band and the frontman are called Bob Vylan) shut the chants down, saying: “you are going to get me in trouble, apparently every other chant is fine but yous [sic] will get me in trouble.”
He then led chants of “free, free Palestine”.
Despite the controversy, the band have also received considerable support on social media since their Glastonbury set.
Their album, Humble As The Sun, is currently number four on the Official Album Downloads Chart.
Main photo: Bob Vylan
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