Manchester’s Radar Festival describe death threats amid Bob Vylan controversy
The organiser of Manchester’s Radar Festival, Catherine Jackson-Smith, has revealed that she has received death threats after being forced to pull Bob Vylan from the festival in light of their Glastonbury controversy.
The punk duo performed on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury on June 28th. Bob Vylan led the crowd through a chant of “Death to the IDF,” referencing the Israel Defence Forces. They also chanted “Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea.” Their next live show was set to be Radar Festival, held at Victoria Warehouse in Manchester between July 4th and July 6th.
However, the festival announced on social media on July 2nd that the band had been removed from the lineup due to the police investigation into their Glastonbury set. Speaking on the Two Promoters One Pod podcast, organiser Catherine Jackson-Smith has now revealed that the festival did not want to remove Bob Vylan from the lineup, but was “forced.”
She revealed that the choice was put “very bluntly” to the festival; they could not run on Saturday if Bob Vylan were not removed. Jackson-Smith did not want to pull the band, but had no choice. She then described what was “categorically, one of the most horrendous professional discussions I have ever had” with Bob Vylan.
Jackson-Smith also revealed that in light of the controversy, she has received hundreds of vitriolic messages directed at her professional and personal email addresses. At one point, she picked up the phone to an unknown number, who threatened her life.
She revealed that they began the call with a tirade of “vile” sentences that she refused to engage with. The conversation finished with, “We know who you are, we know what you look like, we know where you are going to be. Do you feel safe? Watch your back.” She described this as a “visceral” experience. The irony of receiving death threats in reaction to the consequences of a “death death to the IDF” chant is not lost on Jackson-Smith.
She continued, “I had to say to my parents, ‘Yeah, I had a death threat yesterday. This is happening.’ And just hearing my parents very upset about that…” She has also put the teenagers who volunteer for the festival to work for experience in “lockdown”, so they are not allowed outside of the security perimeters.
Kave Fest in France have also confirmed they will no longer host Bob Vylan, and a venue in Cologne will no longer let the band support Gogol Bordello in September. This comes after Bob Vylan had their US visas revoked, which will prevent them from hitting the road with Grandson later this year. They have also been dropped by talent agency UTA.
Responding to the backlash, the band wrote, “We are being targeted for speaking up. We are not the first. We will not be the last. And if you care for the sanctity of human life and freedom of speech, we urge you to speak up, too.”
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