16 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The National
Who are Bob Vylan and what did they do at Glastonbury Festival?
The duo, made up of Bobby Vylan and Bobbie Vylan, led crowds at the West Holts Stage in a chant of 'death, death to the IDF' as they performed before Irish rap trio Kneecap.
Who are Bob Vylan?
Formed in Ipswich in 2017, both members of Bob Vylan keep their real names secret to maintain their privacy.
The band's musical style is an innovative mix of grime, punk and hard rock, and they have released four albums, Dread (2019), We Live Here (2020), Bob Vylan Presents The Price Of Life (2022), and Humble as the Sun (2024).
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They won best alternative music act at the Mobo Awards in 2022, and best album at the Kerrang awards in 2022 for Bob Vylan Presents The Price Of Life.
They have collaborated with Amyl And The Sniffers singer Amy Taylor, Soft Play guitarist Laurie Vincent and rock band Kid Kapichi.
What are their performances like?
Bob Vylan perform a high energy set of sampled guitar tracks mixed with live drumming from Bobbie, and the band often see their audiences pogoing and moshing, but they make an effort to ensure the crowd acts safely.
The band's songs often speak out against racism, homophobia, toxic masculinity and far right politics, and the track Pretty Songs is often introduced by Bobby saying that 'violence is the only language that some people understand'.
In their early days Bobby would sometimes wield a baseball bat, thrashing it in the direction of the crowd, and carry out other provocative actions such as wearing the football shirt of the rivals of the town or city in which they were playing.
Recently, the band has become less confrontational, and Bobbie regularly performs a drum solo to the late Roy Ayers' chilled out Everybody Loves The Sunshine.
During their Glastonbury set, Bobby brought out his daughter to sing with him on Dream Bigger.
Have they been in the news before?
In 2021, the Norwich Evening News reported that one fan was on the end of a tirade from Bobby, after he was hit by an ice cube while performing in an Ipswich Town shirt, and the gig was said to have been halted while the singer ranted.
Bobby is also said to have wielded a baseball bat at the gig, and the news article was headlined 'the frost and the fury'.
Sarah Corbett, from Norwich, who was on the receiving end of the alleged tirade, told the newspaper: 'We were all having fun on the dance floor. I'd put an ice cube down my friend's top for a laugh.
'Another girl then threw it at her friend, but it missed and landed at his feet.
'At that point he stopped the gig and demanded to know who had thrown it.
(Image: Jane Evans Photography)
'Seeing the girl's face drop, I decided to take the flak and announced it was me. He started abusing me through the microphone.
'As I tried to leave, one of his fans tried to grab me by the throat.'
A band spokesperson told the paper after the incident that they 'completely refute any wrongdoing' and that Bobby 'did not want to engage'.
