PANTERA cancelled by German Rock Am Ring festival
24th January 2023German festival ROCK AM RING has decided to cancel PANTERA from the bill of the 2023 edition. The festival says it will be taking this decision after careful deliberation with artists, fans, and partners of the festival, after the criticism that followed when the band was announced.
The official statement in German goes:
Die Band Pantera wird nicht wie angekündigt bei Rock am Ring und Rock im Park 2023 auftreten.In den letzten Wochen haben wir viele intensive Gespräche mit Künstler*innen, unseren Partner*innen und euch, den Festivalfans, geführt, uns mit der Kritik weiter gemeinsam auseinandergesetzt und uns dazu entschlossen, die Band aus dem Programm zu nehmen.
TRANSLATION
The band Pantera will not perform at Rock am Ring and Rock im Park 2023 as announced.
In the last few weeks we have had many intensive discussions with artists, our partners and you, the festival fans, continued to deal with the criticism together and decided to take the band out of the program.
No full disclosure of the reason is given, but the criticism is likely to be directed at the Nazi salute that frontman Phil Anselmo made at the Dimebag tribute event Dimebash in 2016. He later drew back saying it was a pun towards the white wine he had been drinking before the show. The action initially made him the center of attacks from his peers, with ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian stating that Anselmo should make a contribution to the Simon Wiesenthal foundation and MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn vowing to never perform another PANTERA song live ever in his life.
In the aftermath of his actions, in early 2016 his band DOWN got a massive blow in the first year, with the band being canceled from all festivals. A ban was later lifted and Anselmo pursued to be booked with Down and his other bands, among which Phillip H Anselmo and The Illegals.
He said at the time, about his band Down being canceled:
“I’m repulsed by my own actions, and the self-loathing I’m going through right now is justified by the hurt I’ve caused. “
He hinted that Down should have gone without him, as a statement towards his actions.
In 2015, Anselmo faced some criticism after it was discovered that Pantera was still selling merchandise bearing the Confederate flag. However, the singer quickly spoke out against the defunct band’s Lynyrd Skynyrd-inspired shirts. “It’d be like, ‘Would we be flying the Nazi flag?’” he said. “I don’t think so, because flags are looked at whether it be nationalism or symbols of something. Truthfully, it’s like … I wish fucking everyone would get along.”
Die Band Pantera wird nicht wie angekündigt bei Rock am Ring und Rock im Park 2023 auftreten. pic.twitter.com/oMNrWo8HT6
— Rock am Ring (@rockamring) January 23, 2023
Die Band Pantera wird nicht wie angekündigt bei Rock im Park und Rock am Ring 2023 auftreten. pic.twitter.com/prCE2PyRjs
— Rock im Park (@rockimpark_com) January 23, 2023
