Metal Anarchy

Barclays have officially suspended their sponsorship of several Live Nation events including the Download, Latitude and Isle Of Wight festivals. This news follows a wave of protests from artists like Scowl, SPEED, Zulu, etc., who all pulled out of Download due to Barclays’ ties to Israel.

Barclays told BBC the following:

“Barclays was asked and has agreed to suspend participation in the remaining Live Nation festivals in 2024. Barclays customers who hold tickets to these festivals are not affected and their tickets remain valid. The protesters’ agenda is to have Barclays debank defence companies which is a sector we remain committed to as an essential part of keeping this country and our allies safe.”

They also added:

“The only thing that this small group of activists will achieve is to weaken essential support for cultural events enjoyed by millions. It is time that leaders across politics, business, academia and the arts stand united against this.”

Dying Wish, who recently threatened to cancel their performance at Download, also commented:

“Download has informed us that they have officially removed Barclays as a sponsor from their festival – we will be playing tomorrow as scheduled. We never wanted to let anyone down and celebrate the news that the boycott was successful. Huge thank you to everyone who was involved in making this possible.

We appreciate the understanding and support as we stand by something that truly matters to us. We are so proud to be a part of a community that can come together and create change.

That being said – we cannot wait to see you tomorrow at 4:40 pm on the Dogtooth stage.

With love, solidarity and free Palestine
forever

– Dying Wish“

Enter Shikari issued a statement as well:

“BARCLAYS HAS PULLED OUT OF DOWNLOAD

There has been mounting pressure for bands to drop out of Download festival due to the involvement of Barclays Bank.

We have been in talks with Download themselves, expressing our serious objection at Barclays involvement. We have considered all options, and along with other artists have been working tirelessly on this.

We don’t believe in rushed reactions and always want the best outcome for all involved. Thanks to this collective pressure we now believe we have achieved that — Barclays have pulled out of Download Festival.

For those unaware, Barclays has large financial ties to Israeli weapons manufacturers, and therefore is complicit in genocide and has no place at our festivals.

Big ups Download and Bands Boycott Barclays, who both engaged with us in a calm & considered manner while this was being resolved.

This is what we can achieve when we work together instead of dividing ourselves with attempts at moral purity. There are many understandable positions on this, don’t be malicious and don’t be divided. It does not help the cause.”