Bob Vylan reschedule two upcoming shows citing “political pressure”
Punk duo Bob Vylan have announced that they have been forced to reschedule two upcoming shows in Leeds and Manchester, which they say is due to “political pressure”.
Bob Vylan announced the news on social media, writing, “Due to political pressure from the likes of Bridget Phillipson and groups in the Northwest of England, we have had to reschedule our Leeds and Manchester shows.”
They reassured fans, “All tickets remain valid and all other shows are continuing as planned. Bristol sold out, last few tickets left for London.” The Leeds and Manchester shows will now take place in February.
This comes after several MPs backed a letter from the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester calling for their Manchester Academy show originally slated for November 5th to be cancelled.
The letter quoted BBC’s director general Tim Davie, who labelled their performance at Glastonbury an “antisemitic broadcast”. Bob Vylan refuted Davie’s claims, writing on X, “Tim Davie is a spineless puppet. There was nothing antisemitic or criminal about anything I said at Glastonbury.”
Bridget Phillipson, who the band called out explicitly in their statement, is the UK Education Secretary and Minister For Women And Equalities. She has previously explained that she had been “deeply troubled” by Bob Vylan.
In September, Bob Vylan faced another concert cancellation, this time in the Netherlands. This followed comments made by their frontman at a show in Amsterdam after Charlie Kirk’s death: “I want to dedicate this next one to an absolute piece of shit of a human being.”
Their frontman, Bobby Vylan, was the latest guest on The Louis Theroux Podcast, where he spoke publicly about their Glastonbury chant, “Death, death to the IDF.” A criminal investigation was opened into the set, which also led to their US visas being revoked.
Vylan said he was not regretful of the chant at all, telling Theroux, “If I was to go on Glastonbury again tomorrow, yes I would do it again. I’m not regretful of it. I’d do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays. I’m not regretful of it at all, like the subsequent backlash that I’ve faced. It’s minimal. It’s minimal compared to what people in Palestine are going through.”
Bob Vylan’s UK tour, titled the We Won’t Go Quietly Tour, is now set to begin on November 6th in Glasgow. The pair will stop at London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town, after which they will play two sold-out shows in Bristol and Dublin.
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