Russian rock band Splean cancelled the concert at a festival in Moscow planned for 26 August, Kommersant reports, citing frontman Alexander Vasilyev.
“It is already clear,” he said when asked to comment on the situation. However, the concert has not officially been cancelled so far. Festival organisers, the Moscow Show company, did not respond to Kommersant’s request for comment.
The newspaper points out that with this statement, the musician confirmed that the concert was cancelled following Vasilyev’s statements at an earlier concert in Voronezh. While on stage, he said: “It’s good to see so many people that still have mercy, compassion, humanity, those who reject cruelty, violence and murder. In these black nights, even the songs played in a major key sound sad.”
Then, in the run-up to the band’s hit song Vykhoda Net (No Way Out), Vasilyev expressed hope that other Russian bands that were forced to leave the country would come back. “We will perform for you here, in Voronezh, because we have no other way out,” the musician added. The video of Splean’s performance was later deleted from the festival’s website.
Earlier, another Russian rock band Anacondaz postponed all its concerts until next year due to pressure from the government. The musicians said that they would sue the local officials with the aid of the Agora human rights group for cancelling their concerts in Yekaterinburg and Perm.
