{"id":370817,"date":"2025-08-24T22:37:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T22:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/370817\/"},"modified":"2025-08-24T22:37:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T22:37:10","slug":"vampire-weekend-call-out-victorious-festival-organizers-after-mary-wallopers-set-cut-short","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/370817\/","title":{"rendered":"Vampire Weekend Call Out Victorious Festival Organizers After Mary Wallopers Set Cut Short"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Friday, August 22, Irish folk band the Mary Wallopers<\/a> had their set at Portsmouth, England\u2019s Victorious Festival cut short<\/a> after flying the Palestinian flag onstage and leading a chant of \u201cfree Palestine.\u201d Several artists, including the Last Dinner Party<\/a>, subsequently pulled<\/a> out<\/a> of their scheduled<\/a> performances<\/a> in protest, and now Vampire Weekend<\/a>, who are among this year\u2019s headliners, have called out the festival\u2019s organizers.<\/p>\n

As reported by Portsmouth News<\/a>, Ezra Koenig addressed the crowd during Vampire Weekend\u2019s set last night (Saturday, August 23). \u201cIf someone was punished for flying a flag, that is wrong and they deserve an apology,\u201d Koenig said. \u201cThe terrible suffering of the Palestinian people deserves all of our sympathy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Writing to NME<\/a>, representatives for Victorious originally claimed to have cut off the Mary Wallopers\u2019 sound because they \u201cused a chant which is widely understood to have a discriminatory context.\u201d The band then responded with their own statement<\/a> alongside footage of the stage during their set: \u201cThe festival have released a misleading statement to the press claiming they cut our sound because of a discriminatory chant and not the band\u2019s call to Free Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement continues: \u201cOur video clearly shows a Victorious crew member coming on stage, interfering with our show, removing the flag from the stage and then the sound being cut following a chant of \u201cFree Palestine.\u201d The same crew member is later heard in the video saying \u201cyou aren\u2019t playing until the flag is removed.\u201d Victorious Festival then released a second statement<\/a> apologizing to the band. Read both in full below.<\/p>\n

In June, British punk-rap duo Bob Vylan<\/a> had their U.S. visas revoked<\/a> after a controversial Glastonbury set where frontman Bobby Vylan led the crowd in a chant of \u201cDeath, death to the IDF<\/a>.\u201d Irish rap trio Kneecap<\/a>, whose performance at Coachella 2025 featured pro-Palestine and anti-Israel messages, have since been removed from the lineup<\/a> of Glasgow\u2019s TRNSMT music festival, banned from Hungary<\/a>, and had one of their members, Mo Chara, charged with a terror offense<\/a> for allegedly displaying the Hezbollah flag during a 2024 concert. Both groups are currently being investigated by British police<\/a> following their sets at Glastonbury this year.<\/p>\n

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