Music / News
Jewish band claim Bristol gig cancelled due to ‘pressure from activist groups’
Founded in 2000, Oi Va Voi are one of the most popular klezmer bands in the UK.
Klezmer is a type of folk music that first originated among Jewish communities in Eastern Europe.
Oi Va Voi are currently on a European tour and were due to perform at Strange Brew on Wednesday night.
is needed now More than ever
However, hours before they were due to go on, the band released a statement on Instagram claiming their concert “was cancelled by the venue due to pressure it received from activist groups who contacted the venue making untrue or misguided claims about ourselves and Oi Va Voi’s music”.
The Jewish Chronicle has identified the main “activist group” in question as the Bristol Palestine Alliance.
In their statement, Oi Va Voi suggested activist groups had spoken out against them because some members of the band are Israeli. They said: “The groups applying pressure have clearly not listened to our output, or seen us perform.
“They are taking one fact, the ethnicity of some of our members, and using it as evidence for damning accusations about our beliefs and our right to perform in our home country.
“We believe this is a clear case of discrimination, and the tactics of intimidation are identical to those used by far-right groups across the world.”
Towards the end of their statement, Oi Va Voi added: “Johnny Greenwood’s concert with Israeli musician Dudu Tessa was recently cancelled in Bristol and London due to similar pressures.
“Drafting new legislation would help to protect venues from intimidation from pressure groups, so we can all continue to live in a free and pluralistic society”.
On Thursday morning Strange Brew released a statement in response to Oi Va Voi’s statement.
In their statement, posted to their Instagram page, Strange Brew said: “We would like to make a statement in response to our decision to cancel the gig scheduled on 21st May.
“We have noted the band’s statement also.
“Up until Monday the gig was going ahead as planned. However, on that day we received contact from campaign groups and members of the public asking for it to be cancelled.
“A meeting was held on Tuesday between our venue, a member of the band and the promoter. There we advised that we would be cancelling the show due to some album artwork from 2024 we had been presented with, which was a solo project of one of the performers in the band.
“We were of the view it could be interpreted as politically offensive, given the ongoing and worsening situation in Gaza, and it had already been interpreted as such by the groups who contacted us.
“The artwork appears to make use of politically loaded symbolism related to the people of Palestine. As with any artwork, we acknowledge the meaning of it is open to interpretation, based on individual understanding and perspectives.
“At our meeting the band representative explained that the artist had stated that the image was intended as a comment on the relationship between femininity and nature. We acknowledge this.
“However we concluded that, regardless of the intended meaning, the use of politically loaded symbolism in this way – by anyone of any background – is ambiguous and could therefore come across as politically insensitive and/or offensive to the people of Palestine and by our audiences.
“For this reason we could not be confident that platforming the artist at our venue was consistent with our ethical values.
“This is not to say we believe the artist (or the band) hold views that do not align with our ethics. It is merely stating that the artwork we were presented with risks being read in this way due to its ambiguity and left us unable to proceed with the show.
“To be absolutely clear, we have never and would never exclude anyone – artists or customers – on the basis of their ethnicity, religion or nationality.
“We trust this clarifies the matter.”
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The contested album artwork appears to be that used by Zohara, an Israeli singer who was due to accompany Oi Va Voi on Wednesday, for her 2024 album Welcoming the Golden Age.
The artwork for this solo album features Zohara naked in a field holding a wheelbarrow and surrounded by watermelons.
Images of watermelons are widely used as symbols of Palestinian solidarity.
Main photo: Andy Lopo
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