‘We had no idea we weren't allowed' – Irish band breaks silence on having gig in Berlin cancelled over venue complaint
IRISH rock band The Murder Capital have broken their silence after having their gig in Berlin cancelled.
The
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The Murder Capital were set to perform in Club Gretchen in Berlin
Credit: Getty Images - Getty
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The Dublin band made a statement after their show was cancelled
However, when the band were setting up the stage on Saturday and displayed a Palestinian flag, as they have done at many shows, venue management informed them that this wasn't allowed.
The Murder Capital took to their
The band's frontman, James McGovern, told fans that he was just speaking "totally from the band's point of view".
In the video, he said: "We pulled into Berlin this morning. We had no idea that we weren't allowed to fly this [Palestinian] flag here today.
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"We found out early this afternoon. We discussed it for an hour at length, what we should do. We came to the decision that we were not going to take the flag off the stage.
"That was a decision pretty easily made, but we discussed possible outcomes - what if they decide to cancel the show?
"We thought about all of you deeply, because we care about you deeply, and I mean that."
James then discussed why they wanted to put the Palestinian flag on stage.
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He added: "We put it up at about 2pm as we set up the stage, ready to play. After that, we said: 'We discussed a little bit on and off, would we replace the flag with a banner that said: 'Free Palestine'? They wouldn't allow us to do that either.
"So it's not just about national flags. It's about political statements. And to us, this isn't just a political statement, it's a humanitarian statement.
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"We've been saying that in interviews for the whole time that we've been speaking about it, as people.
"It's not all about politics. It's about people who are dying and being slaughtered every day, and that's happening right now.
"So for us, as a band, who's had this flag on their stage for countless shows now, it will be the wrong thing for us to do to take it off the stage, just so that the venue is kept happy. We don't agree with that."
He then went on to say: "We spoke earlier today about this, about how we wish live music and arts and theatre could be free of political discussion and things like that, but as the world as it is, unfortunately, it just cannot be.
'WE'LL BE BACK'
"That's the way it is. So we'll be back to you as soon as we can. We appreciate all your support deeply. But most importantly, free Palestine," which was followed by applause from the crowd.
The concert venue in Berlin also posted a statement to their social media addressing the situation.
The spokesperson said: "We are very sorry that the show with The Murder Capital didn't take place.
"We, as venue, have a 'no national flag' policy since many years. That means that we do not tolerate any kind of national flags in our venue.
"This is also written down in our venue specs, so that also artists get to know about that. During the sound check this late afternoon, it turned out that the band had a Palestinian flag on stage.
"We asked them to take the flag away, but they decided that for them and their show, this flag is too important to be able to do the show without."
"We try to be a safe place for many different communities and really believe that music is able to build bridges - beyond borders and nationalities. Therefore, we deeply believe that national flags are not helpful all at."
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