Bob Vylan played its first show on Wednesday night since the punk rock duo’s controversial onstage comments at Glastonbury. At a sold-out surprise gig at London’s 100 Club, frontman Bobby Vylan — whose real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster — discouraged the crowd from repeating the chant that caused the band to become the subject of a police investigation.
During Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury set on June 28, Robinson-Foster led the packed audience in chants of “death, death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]” as well as “free, free Palestine” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine must be free.” The set was streamed live on the BBC and caused a firestorm, particularly for the IDF chant, which some deemed antisemitic. Glastonbury organizers said they were “appalled” by the chant and the BBC said it “should have pulled” the set from airing live. As a result, Bob Vylan were also dropped by booking agent UTA and their U.S. visas were revoked, preventing them from touring in the country later this year.
At the 100 Club on Wednesday night, several members of the crowd attempted to revive the “death, death to the IDF” chant, according to The Guardian. However, Pascal-Robinson quickly stopped them. “No, no, no. You’re going to get me in trouble,” he said, as can be seen in video captured by The Standard. “Apparently, every other chant is fine, but you will get me in trouble.” He then instead began chanting “free, free Palestine.”
As reported by The Guardian, at the end of their set, the band held up a Palestinian flag as Pascal-Robinson made a speech. “As hard as this week may have been for us, it has been nothing in comparison to what the Palestinian people are going through right now. And that is where the attention should be,” he said, according to video reposted on Bob Vylan’s Instagram Story. “That is where the focus should be. That is where these politicians and media outlets should be focusing their attention right now. Not on the words or the actions of a fucking punk band.”
From Variety US