Bob Vylan dropped from Manchester music festival
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Steven McIntosh
BBC News
Punk duo Bob Vylan have been dropped from the line-up of a music festival in Manchester following their controversial appearance at Glastonbury.
The group had been due to headline the Radar Festival at Victoria Warehouse on Saturday, but organisers confirmed in a statement they would no longer appear.
In response, Bob Vylan posted a statement on Instagram, telling fans: “Manchester, we will be back.”
Bob Vylan had also been due to perform at French festival Kave Fest on Sunday, but organisers told the BBC their appearance there had been pulled too.
At Glastonbury, Bob Vylan’s lead singer led the crowd in chants of “death, death to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]”, prompting criticism from across the political spectrum, including the prime minister who called it “appalling hate speech”.
Bob Vylan responded to the outcry in a post on Instagram on Tuesday, saying they had been “targeted for speaking up”.
“We are not for the death of Jews, Arabs or any other race or group of people. We are for the dismantling of a violent military machine,” they said.
They added that “we, like those in the spotlight before us, are not the story. We are a distraction from the story, and whatever sanctions we receive will be a distraction”.
On Wednesday, a Met Police spokesperson confirmed the band is also under investigation for comments it had made during a concert at Alexandra Palace a month earlier.
“The decision to investigate follows the emergence of footage which appears to have been filmed at the venue on 28 May 2025,” the force told the BBC.
However it is not clear when the investigation was officially launched.
In response to the music festival cancellations, the band reiterated their position, telling followers: “Silence is not an option. We will be fine, the people of Palestine are hurting.” The group added they would return to Manchester in the future.
Organisers of Kave Fest, which is held in the town of Gisors, said they would release a statement later explaining their decision to drop the band.
A German music venue has also confirmed that Bob Vylan will no longer open for US band Gogol Bordello at a concert in Cologne in September.
The BBC has been criticised for broadcasting the Glastonbury set via a live stream which was available on iPlayer.
In an email sent to the BBC’s Jewish staff network on Tuesday, the corporation’s director general Tim Davie said: “I was, and remain, appalled by Bob Vylan’s deeply offensive and totally unacceptable behaviour during his Glastonbury set.”
He added the performance had “no place on the BBC” and that “there is absolutely no place for antisemitism at the BBC”.
On Tuesday, the UK’s chief rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis strongly criticised “the airing of vile Jew-hate at Glastonbury”.
In a statement on Monday, the BBC said: “The team were dealing with a live situation but with hindsight we should have pulled the stream during the performance. We regret this did not happen.”
Broadcast regulator Ofcom also issued a statement, saying it was “very concerned” about the live stream, adding that “the BBC clearly has questions to answer”.
