Grandson says London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town banned Bob Vylan from guest spot appearance
Grandson, real name Jordan Benjamin, has claimed that London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town banned him from bringing out Bob Vylan on stage during a recent show.
Grandson appeared at the North London venue on March 2nd as part of his Inertia tour. The musician had planned to bring out the Bob Vylan frontman as a “surprise guest,” but allegedly faced resistance from the venue.
Grandson took to his Instagram to share the news, revealing, “As we got ready to rock the O2 Forum Kentish Town tonight, we were informed right before the show that our surprise guest Bobby Vylan would not be allowed in the venue or onstage.”
Grandson was set to take the punk-rap duo overseas on tour last year, but their visas were revoked after their controversial Glastonbury set led with the chant “death, death to the IDF.”
Grandson added, “When I threatened to pull out of the show, they said it was out of their hands and due to the local police’s fear of protestors impacting the safety of the audience.”
Speaking on the insuing impossible decision, the artist shared, “I was put in the position where I had to either tell the 2,000 people that travelled to the show and paid a ticket tonight to go home, or have my OWN freedom as an artist to invite whoever [the] fuck I want onto the stage and say whatever the fuck I want be infringed on.”
However, Grandson decided to go ahead with the performance, as a way to give his fans a “place to feel the love and community that a Grandson show is ultimately about”.
Nonetheless, he slammed the “gross” situation and aimed his frustration straight at the venue: “You benefit from the ticket sales and take a merch cut from outspoken artists, but then aren’t prepared to protect our words. Really shameful and disappointing.”
When Bob Vylan faced much backlash after their Glastonbury controversy, Grandson was quick to came to their defence. He wrote online, “Censorship of art is a tactic of control. They blame artists and activists and not those who responsible for the conditions we rage against. From the death spiral of corporate greed and climate change to the genocide of Palestinian lives, the music and the artists are not the problem, we are the symptom of a sick world.”
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