While performing at Glastonbury last month, the London punk-rap duo led the crowd in a chant of "death, death, death to the IDF." Since then, the group has been pilloried in the UK press, and they've been subjected to a number of career setbacks. The US state department revoked their visas, making a planned American tour impossible. Festivals dropped them. Now, they've also been dropped from Gogol Bordello's upcoming European tour.
Bob Vylan were announced as openers on Gogol Bordellos tour back in March. In an Instagram statement today, Bob Vylan wrote that they "decided not to join" Gogol Bordello on that tour:
Due to logistical complications, we have decided not to join our friends Gogol Bordello on their upcoming European tour.
However, we will be heading to Europe in the coming months for both festivals and headlining shows.
In their own Instagram statement, Gogol Bordello offer a few more details on how this happened, confirming that it's because of Bob Vylan's Glastonbury performance:
Following Bob Vylan's Glastonbury performance, their shows with Gogol Bordello were cancelled by the promoter and venues in Germany. The decision to remove them from the bill was not our decision and beyond our control. In the aftermath, we needed to evaluate the situation, and we decided to remove BV from the tour until we could fully comprehend the situation. After Bob Vylan posted a more in-depth explanation, a conversation was re-opened to explore their ability to be on other tour dates. Unfortunately, it is logistically impossible for BV to participate in the tour give the circumstances. We worked diligently together with our friends Bob Vylan to find a solution but in the end it didn't work out. Gogol Bordello is comprised of members from various nationalities and celebrates international understanding consequentially, we value freedom of speech from all perspectives.
Last week, Bob Vylan played their first show since Glastonbury, and they jokingly shut down the crowd's "death to the IDF" chant.
