Bands on the line-up for Radar festival 2025 have started boycotting the event following Bob Vylan being removed from the bill.
The duo were dropped as headliners for this year’s edition of the Manchester festival due to their controversial slot at Glastonbury, in which they voiced their support of Palestine and criticised the BBC, Israel, and the UK and US governments.
They also led chants of both “free, free Palestine” and “death, death to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]”, and projected a message onto the screen behind them reading: “Free Palestine – United Nations have called it a genocide – the BBC calls it a ‘conflict’.”
The backlash has led to them being dropped from shows in Germany and France, finding their set under “a criminal investigation”, severing ties with their agent United Talent Agency (UTA), and having had their US visas revoked.
This week the organiser behind Radar, Catherine Jackson-Smith, explained that the festival did not want to remove Bob Vylan from the bill, but felt pressured to in a bid to ensure that the event could go ahead. She also revealed that they considered having Kneecap – who have also seen backlash for their pro-Palestine stance – added to the line-up as a replacement.
Now, it appears that the decision to have Bob Vylan removed as headliners has not gone down well with some other acts on the bill, and two have already dropped out of the event as a result.
The Scratch shared a message with fans, announcing their withdrawal from the Manchester event today (July 4). They made it clear that they know the festival wanted to keep Bob Vylan on the bill, but felt they needed to bow out in a show of “solidarity” with other artists.
Posted by The Scratch on Friday, July 4, 2025
“The censorship and de-platforming of artists speaking out against the ongoing genocide in Gaza is greasy, dangerous and must be challenged,” they wrote. “To be clear, this decision is not a criticism of Radar Festival. We understand it was an incredibly difficult and complex situation. This is about showing solidarity with Bob Vylan and any artist who may face similar treatment in the future.”
“Shadowy government influence and wealthy lobbying groups should not be allowed to dictate who is given a platform and what can be said on it,” they added. “This situation will only worsen unless we, as artists, support one another and take action.”
ĠENN shared a similar sentiment, announcing their withdrawal from the line-up. “As a minority on pretty much every line-up, and with a relatively modest platform, we considered whether we could use our physical presence to speak against the bullying, censorship, and strong-arming demonstrated towards the likes of both Bob Vylan and Radar,” they wrote.
“For our safety and sanity, we’ve made the final decision to pull out from performing at Radar this weekend. We are devastated to do so after the time, money, and excitement we put towards this performance and can only apologise to anyone who was going to be there to see us,” the statement continued. “Our fight should not be focused on the policing of those who are trying to spread awareness within their means. This is a distraction from a wider picture. Pressure needs to be placed on those who are instigating the censorship of a genocide happening in real time.”
Few words on why we decided not to perform this Sunday. <Please be kind and channel your energy towards the…
Posted by ĠENN on Friday, July 4, 2025
Bob Vylan have spoken out in defence of their Worthy Farm performance multiple times now; saying it is vital to “teach our children to speak up for the change they want”, and reiterating that they are wanting the “dismantling of a violent military machine”, not calling for “the death of Jews or Arabs or any other race or group”.
Massive Attack have shown their support for the duo amid the furore too, and urged the media to centre their attention towards “what is happening daily to the people of Gaza”, rather than focusing on the artists speaking out.
Shortly after the set last weekend, other artists, including Lambrini Girls, Amyl And The Sniffers and Soft Play, shared their backing as well. The latter shared a statement that read: “Again, the media is trying to distract you from the real story. The outrage sparked […] is merely a smoke screen for the lack of reporting on the destruction of the Palestinian people. They are starving children, where is the media’s outrage at Israel’s continued obliteration of a whole nation?”
Radar Festival has not yet commented on the decision for The Scratch and ĠENN to back out of the festival, nor have they confirmed a replacement for the slot Bob Vylan were set to play tomorrow night (July 5).
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