By Sally Churchward. Picture by Simon Reed – Musical Pictures.
The Mary Wallopers weren’t one of the headline acts at Victorious Festival but the band hit international headlines following their very brief outing on the main stage on Friday afternoon in front of a huge crowd at the Southsea festival.
If there’s one photo you’ve seen of the festival this year it’s probably of the Irish band standing together at the front of the stage, holding the Palestinian flag.
It would be impossible to write with any integrity about the festival without discussing what happened. So ultimately, as a result of the decision to pull the plug on their set, the band’s message about the genocide in Gaza has been amplified way beyond the thousands gathered in Southsea to hear them play.
On the day, there was some confusion in the crowd and circulating on social media afterwards about exactly what had happened – but a video on social media from the band itself shows what unfolded up close.
The band had walked on stage with bass player Rósin Barrett placing the flag over an amp. Singer Andrew Hendy shouted “Free Palestine and f**k Israel” before launching into their first song.
A member of the Victorious crew then removed the flag and the band stopped playing. Andrew said the gig was being cut off because of the flag and said everyone should just leave before singer Charles Hendy went backstage to recover the flag whilst the band and crowd chanted “Free Free Palestine”.
When Charles returned he went to speak to the crowd, to find the sound had been cut. Chants of “Free Free Palestine” continued, before the crowd began chanting “let them play”.
The band then gathered to hold the flag up before the audience, who, along with the band, chanted “Free Free Palestine” before eventually leaving the stage.
Charles can be heard saying “Are we playing or what?” to which the reply is “You’re not playing till the flag’s removed.” Charles replied, “look, we’ve been playing with that flag for six years.”
In a statement accompanying the video the band said: “Yesterday, a famine was declared in Gaza, where at least 65 people were killed by Israeli attacks, all the while Israel pushed ahead with plans to split the West Bank in two.”
They went on to say: “We know this is getting some attention and we don’t want another distraction which takes attention away from the genocide that is happening in Gaza.”
Immediately following the event, replies to Victorious social media posts filled with responses to what had happened, the vast majority of which criticised Victorious for suppressing free speech and expressed support for the Palestinian people. The responses continued on social media during the weekend, and may well carry on for some time to come – with many saying they wouldn’t return to the festival again. Many mentioned that music festivals have always been synonymous with protest.
And on site, it felt like the atmosphere shifted.
Many had come specifically to see The Mary Wallopers and some submitted complaints about what had happened, whilst there was also talk amongst some of seeking a refund.
While other bands were playing, at times members of the crowd could be heard shouting “Free Palestine”.
Conversations were had between strangers about what had happened, with heads shaking about the lack of free speech.
Later that day, Madness frontman Suggs addressed the issue, saying: “Did you hear a band was kicked off a stage earlier today for displaying a Palestinian Flag? We need more peace, love and understanding.”
And, of course, ripples were felt in the weekend’s line up with bands cancelling in response to the events, most notably The Last Dinner Party, who were sent to play second to top of the bill on the main stage on Saturday.
It first became apparent that something was happening on Saturday when the crowd gathered for Shed Seven, to find local singer Marley Blanford had been drafted in from one of the smaller stages as the organisers scrambled to change the line up, pushing the rest of the bands later, and lengthening Shed Seven’s slot, to fill the gap left by the popular band’s absence.
In a statement on their social media, The Last Dinner Party said: “As a band we cannot cosign political censorship and will therefore be boycotting the festival today. As Gazans are deliberately plunged into catastrophic famine after two years of escalating violence it is urgent and obvious that artists use their platform to draw attention to the cause. To see an attempt to direct attention away from the genocide in order to maintain an apolitical image is immensely disappointing.” They encouraged fans to donate a drink’s worth of money to Medical Aid for Palestinians.
In a statement on their Facebook page, Victorious said: “We are sorry that The Last Dinner Party have decided not to perform today. We regret not being able to reach a positive conclusion with them but respect their decision and their ongoing support for Palestinian humanitarian causes. We would like to draw your attention to the donation link in their bio, which would have been shared on the screens at Victorious today.”
Other bands, including, The Academic, who had an afternoon slot at the second stage also pulled out of the festival, for the same reason. Getdown Services initially intended to play and donate their fee to War Child, but subsequently pulled out, stating that they were unhappy with the behaviour of the festival organisers, adding “taking a stand is more important than playing,” and that they would still make a donation to the charity. Meanwhile, Ezra Koenig, lead singer of Saturday headliners Vampire Weekend told the crowd that they had recently arrived and had just heard some details about what had happened the previous day.
He said: “If someone was punished for political speech, that’s wrong. If someone was censored for flying a flag, that’s wrong. The terrible suffering of the Palestinian people deserves all our sympathy.”
Elsewhere Rizzle Kicks expressed similar sentiments in support of The Mary Wallopers and the Palestinian People.
Initially Victorious put out a statement saying that the festival does not allow flags and stating “The decision by the event management to cut the sound and end the performance was only taken after the band used a chant which is widely understood to have a discriminatory context. To be clear, we respect the right of artists to use their platform to express their views within the inclusive nature of the event and it was not the band’s call to ‘Free Palestine’ which resulted in this outcome.”
However, eyewitnesses and videos didn’t support this explanation, with the only audible chant being “Free Free Palestine.” The festival subsequently put out the following: “We didn’t handle the explanation of our policies sensitively or far enough in advance to allow a sensible conclusion to be reached. This put the band and our own team in a difficult situation which never should have arisen.”
It remains to be seen how the decision to cut The Mary Wallopers set will impact on the festival in future years.
In the meantime fans of The Mary Wallopers, The Last Dinner Party and the other bands who didn’t play, along with all those who are appalled at what is being done to the people of Palestine know that their protests have added to the growing international outcry against unfolding genocide and famine in Gaza and illegal occupation of Palestinian lands by Israel and can hope that the attention given to Medical Aid for Palestinians will help raise further funds for the humanitarian cause.
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