Latest news with #LanternHall
Belfast Telegraph
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Belfast Telegraph
Radiohead star makes Kneecap comparison as his gigs are cancelled over ‘credible threats'
The guitarist and keyboardist has collaborated with Israeli-born rock musician Dudu Tassa for more than a decade, and the pair were due to perform at Bristol Beacon's Lantern Hall and London's Hackney Church in June, after releasing the record Jarak Qaribak in 2023.
The Journal
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Journal
Radiohead musician says those supporting Kneecap 'determined' to restrict his own cancelled shows
RADIOHEAD MUSICIAN JONNY Greenwood has said that although he has 'no judgement' to pass on Belfast rap group Kneecap, those supporting their right to freedom of expression are 'determined to restrict' his. Greenwood's statement comes following his announcement that his upcoming shows in the UK were cancelled because of 'credible threats'. The guitarist and keyboardist has collaborated with Israeli-born rock musician Dudu Tassa for more than a decade, and the pair were due to perform at Bristol Beacon's Lantern Hall and London's Hackney Church in June, after releasing the record Jarak Qaribak in 2023. The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (Pacbi), a member of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, welcomed the axing of the gigs. It had launched a campaign for the venues to cancel the dates, claiming the duo's performances 'would have whitewashed' the war in the Gaza Strip. Today, a letter from Greenwood, Tassa and their musicians said: 'The venues and their blameless staff have received enough credible threats to conclude that it's not safe to proceed. Promoters of the shows can't be expected to fund our, or our audience's, protection.' Advertisement The letter added that the 'cancellation will be hailed as a victory by the campaigners behind it, but we see nothing to celebrate and don't find that anything positive has been achieved'. It went on: 'Forcing musicians not to perform and denying people who want to hear them an opportunity to do so is self-evidently a method of censorship and silencing.' They also cited artists defending Kneecap, saying they 'feel the need to register our opposition to any political repression of artistic freedom', after the trio were criticised when one member appeared to call for Tory MPs to be killed. 'We have no judgment to pass on Kneecap but note how sad it is that those supporting their freedom of expression are the same ones most determined to restrict ours. 'We agree completely with people who ask 'How can this be more important than what's happening in Gaza and Israel?' They're right – it isn't. How could it be? What, in anyone's upcoming cultural life, is?' Former BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac, Paul Weller and Primal Scream are among the artists who have have opposed politicians calling for Kneecap to be dropped from the Glastonbury Festival line-up. Videos of a member of Kneecap allegedly saying 'The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP' in November 2023 and another of one of the group appearing to shout 'Up Hamas, up Hezbollah' in November 2024 are being investigated by counter-terrorism officers. Greenwood, Tassa and their musicians continued their letter and said their Arab musicians, singers and music are 'toweringly important', and if they get to play together again it will be a 'victory for our shared love and respect of the music – and of each other'. Related Reads CMAT and Brian Eno among latest acts backing 'freedom of expression' amid Kneecap controversy Kneecap: UK counter-terror police launch formal investigation after reviewing concert footage The musicians said their touring show also features singers from Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait and Iraq, with 'each of the members brought together by a shared love of Arabic song, regardless of where exactly they all happened to be born'. 'We find ourselves in the odd position of being condemned by both ends of the political spectrum,' they added. 'For some on the right, we're playing the 'wrong' kind of music – too inclusive, too aware of the rich and beautiful diversity of Middle Eastern culture. For some on the left, we're only playing it to absolve ourselves of our collective sins. 'We dread the weaponisation of this cancellation by reactionary figures as much as we lament its celebration by some progressives.' Greenwood, also a two-time Oscar-nominated composer, was criticised by pro-Palestinian groups last year for performing in Tel Aviv amid the war in Gaza. Radiohead had performed at Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv in 2017, when the group's frontman, Thom Yorke, reportedly told the crowd: 'A lot was said about this, but in the end we played some music.' Hackney Church, Bristol Beacon, Avon and Somerset Police, the Metropolitan Police and Pacbi have been contacted for comment.
