The performance of the controversial English rap group Bob Vylan on Sunday, October 19 in Poppodium 013 in Tilburg is canceled. The duo would be supported by the American punk band Gogol Bordello. This band announced on Monday that Bob Vylan is no longer involved in their tour due to ‘logistics complications’.
The frontman of Bob Vylan called at Glastonbury Festival ‘Death at the Israeli Army’ at the end of June during a performance. This comment fell down the wrong way for many. The boss of Glastonbury Festival distanced himself from the statements and soon the group was removed from the agenda in many places.
The rap group would perform in Tilburg in October. The director of 013 said earlier that there was no reason to cancel them. “There is no reason for us to cancel them nor to see them as a scapegoat. Of course we see the commotion around Bob Vylan. We also see very clearly in the statement that they did not literally mean that people should die.
Now the performance is canceled and that is not the choice of 013, but from Gogol Bordello. “We have evaluated the situation and decided to remove Bob Vylan from the Tour,” says the band. “We worked hard together with our friends Bob Vylan on a solution, but in the end it didn’t happen.”
Bob Vylan would also perform in Paradiso in Amsterdam on 12 September with Gogol Bordello, but that is canceled either. Paradiso says that scrapping Bob Vylan has not been a choice of the room. The concert hall was threatened anonymously by the planned performance. Last week a banner was shown with the text ‘If Bob Vylan Plays That Night, Amsterdam Will Stand and Fight’ (If Bob Vylan plays that evening, Amsterdam will get up and fight).