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Bands cancel shows following Israel's flotilla raid

JoeDiddly by Luke Slater [Edit this content] ▾ 7 comments 12:10 June 8th, 2010

Several high-profile bands have cancelled shows due to take place in Israel, following the Israeli military's raid on the Gaza flotilla on Monday May 31, the Associated Press reports. A bad time to be an Israeli indie music fan, it seems.

First up Pixies cancelled their show in Tel Aviv, after being due to play as part of the Pic.Nic festival on June 9. The band released a statement, which said:

"The decision was not reached easily. We all know well the Israeli fans have been waiting for this visit for far too long. We'd like to extend our deepest apologies to the fans but events beyond all our control have conspired against us."

According to The Guardian, Shuki Weiss, the promoter of Pic.Nic has asked the Israeli authorities to aid the situation and to "fight against those who are doing everything they can to prevent artists from performing in Israel." She added: "We can only hope for better days, in which we will finally present the long-awaited visit of the Pixies in Israel".

Elsewhere, Gorillaz and Klaxons also cancelled appearances at the festival, but didn't give any reason as to why, though one can make an educated guess at the very least, and that is indeed what AP report as the reason. Other British bands such as Placebo did continue their scheduled shows, and Editors plan to do similar.

Elvis Costello, however, pulled out of shows before this happened, stating the following reasons:

"There are occasions when merely having your name added to a concert schedule may be interpreted as a political act that resonates more than anything that might be sung and it may be assumed that one has no mind for the suffering of the innocent... It is a matter of instinct and conscience."

DiScuss: A good act and high time it happened? Would performing in Israel be tantamount to tacit consent of the regime's actions? What has changed now - was there not enough wrongdoing beforehand to warrant not playing in Israel a la Costello? Will and should this sort of thing continue?

 

Photo by Minh Le

Pixies Gorillaz Elvis Costello Placebo Klaxons

I think this is the right time

all though there would be justification previously there is always a line and they do need to be able to justify to fans in the country.

Great quote from Elvis Costello too.

The_Living_Year | 8 Jun '10, 12:21 | X | Reply

I think considering his political track record

it'd be pretty hypocritical of Damon Albarn to play a gig in Israel at the moment, so fair play. Interesting how oblique the Pixies statement is, it's definitely a complex area. I guess if the reason for their withdrawl is conscience-based and they're choosing not to make a big political song and dance about it then fair enough.

lukowski | 8 Jun '10, 12:35 | X | Reply

Jesus Christ, guys...

...we the fans are not idiots. I'm not going to go burn all my Pixies CDs if they play in Israel. Yes, the raid on the aid flotilla was abhorrent, and the Israeli government/military is definitely up there in the list of global bad guys, but come on, it's just a gig. The raids weren't perpetrated by a single audience member, and if social trends in the West are anything to go by, kids who listen to indie music aren't fans of their government.

AJRussell | 8 Jun '10, 16:37 | X | Reply

The fans aren't really the point thought, are they?

Israel has been up to some pretty shitty stuff of late, and you can see why going out there would sit uncomfortably with some musicians, they can't pretend the festival is happening in another country. All in all a cancellation paired with a dignified silence is a pretty reasonable way of backing out of this.

lukowski @AJRussell | 8 Jun '10, 16:56 | X | Reply

Does playing a gig in a country

imply support for decisions made by that country's government? Just wondering. Cos if I was a Pixies fan in Israel, and I'd been waiting all my life to see them play live, I'd be pretty disappointed that they've decided to put politics before their art.

ben6984 | 9 Jun '10, 15:02 | X | Reply

well, that was Queen's approach to apartheid, wunnit?

at the end of the day studied apoliticism is a political act, one that would seem to contradict the ideological standpoint of some of the artists. I don't think it's a simple case that people shouldn't play gigs in Israel, but if you're somebody like Damon Albarn, who has done a lot of stuff for Amnesty and the like, then I can see how popping over there to breezily entertain an audience made of past and future soldiers (military service is compulsory) the, y'know...

lukowski @ben6984 | 9 Jun '10, 17:15 | X | Reply

Agreed

So why did Albarn book a gig in the first place? So that he could then make a political statement by withdrawing?

ben6984 @lukowski | 15 Jun '10, 10:01 | X | Reply

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