festivals

The Foo Fighters have added two more festival gigs to their busy summer schedule. After thrash metal icons Pantera were dropped from the lineup of Germany’s Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park fests last week, the Foos announced that they are sliding into the June 2nd headlining slot at Rock Am Ring as well as the top spot on June 4th at Rock Im Park.
The Dave Grohl-led band join a lineup that also includes headliners Kings of Leon and Die Toten Hosen, as well as Rise Against, Limp Bizkit, Yungblud, Tenacious D, Evanescence, Incubus, Papa Roach, Bring Me the Horizon, Machine Gun Kelly, NOFX, Turnstile and more.

Pantera were also removed from the lineup of Austria’s Gasometer Festival just days after they were erased from the German fests. Promoter Mind Over Mater Music announced in a FB message that the Pantera performance originally announced for May 31 at Gasometer has been cancelled; the post did not give any further information on the reason for the decision.

According to a report in Vienna’s Die Presse, the Austrian Green Party had a hand in the cancellation after demanding that Pantera be removed in a statement that echoed one from Germany’s Greens in advocating for Pantera to be dropped from that country’s events. “Due to its National Socialist past, Vienna in particular has a special historical responsibility to oppose any form of right-wing extremism. The appearance of Pantera is completely incompatible with this responsibility,” the statement from the Austrian party reportedly read.

While organizers did not give a specific reason for their decision, speculation has centered on an incident from 2016 when Anselmo was filmed giving a nazi salute and shouting “white power” during a tribute to late Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell. Shortly after, Anselmo issued an apology, in which he said he had been drinking at the Dimebash and, “There was heavy-duty talk between myself and those who love Dime. And heavy emotions were flowing, jokes were made backstage that transpired upon the stage, and it was ugly. It was uncalled for. And anyone who knows me and my true nature knows that I don’t believe in any of that; I don’t want to be part of any group…  just give me another chance.”

A spokesperson for Pantera said management had no official statement on the German or Austrian festival date cancellations.

The Foos are preparing to hit the road this summer for their first major gigs since the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins, 50, last summer in Bogota, Colombia on the eve of a festival gig there. Though the band has not yet announced who will be playing drums with them on the upcoming gigs, the roster already includes seven major dates, including appearances at Boston Calling Music Festival (May 26), Sonic Temple Arts & Music Festival (Columbus, OH, May 28), Rock Am Ring (June 2), Rock Im Park (June 4), Bonnaroo (Manchester, TN, June 18), Harley-Davidson Homecoming Festival (Milwaukee, WI, July 15) and Sao Paulo, Brazil’s The Town (Sept. 9).

On New Year’s Eve the group shared a heartfelt message about the challenges of 2022 and offered a glimpse into what the future may hold. “As we say goodbye to the most difficult and tragic year that our band has ever known, we are reminded of how thankful we are for the people that we love and cherish most, and for the loved ones who are no longer with us,” the Foos began their statement on Twitter.

“Foo Fighters were formed 27 years ago to represent the healing power of music and a continuation of life. And for the past 27 years out fans have built a worldwide community, a devoted support system that has helped us all get through the darkest of times together. A place to share our joy and our pain, our hopes and fears, and to join in a chorus of life together through music. Without Taylor, we never would have become the band that we were – and without Taylor, we know that we’re going to be a different band going forward.”

See the new poster for the events below.

Pantera have been removed from the lineups of two major German rock festivals. The organizers of Rock and Ring and Rock in the Park announced on Monday (Jan. 23) that the reunited thrash metal band will not be performing at this summer’s events after previously being announced alongside a lineup topped by Rise Against, Limp Bizkit, Kings of Leon, Die Toten Hosen, Bring Me the Horizon, Machine Gun Kelly, Yungblud, Evanescence and more.

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“In the last few weeks, we have had many intensive conversations with artists, our partners and you, the festival fans, we have continued to deal with the criticism together and decided to remove the band from the program,” organizers wrote in a FB post about the decision. At press time a spokesperson for Pantera had not returned a request for comment and the festival’s organizers had not given any further information on why the band had been removed.

The reformed band’s new lineup — featuring original singer Phil Anselmo and longtime bassist Rex Brown joined by Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante and longtime Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde — kicked off their first major tour in two decades in South American in December.

While organizers did not give a specific reason for their decision, speculation has centered on an incident from 2016 when Anselmo was filmed giving a nazi salute and shouting “white power” during a tribute to late Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell.

Shortly after, Anselmo issued an apology, in which he said, “I was at the Dimebash, and it was extremely late at night. There was heavy-duty talk between myself and those who love Dime. And heavy emotions were flowing, jokes were made backstage that transpired upon the stage, and it was ugly. It was uncalled for. And anyone who knows me and my true nature knows that I don’t believe in any of that; I don’t want to be part of any group. I’m an individual, and I am a thousand percent apologetic to anyone that took offense to what I said because you should have taken offense to what I said. And I am so sorry, and I hope you just … man, give me another chance to …  just give me another chance.”

Both of the festivals take place in Nuremberg — the site of many Nazi rallies, including a 1934 one filmed by Leni Riefenstahl for the notorious party propaganda film Triumph of the Will — and Germany’s Stern magazine reported that there was pressure from the city’s Green Party city council representatives to remove the band from the lineup.

The “City of Peace and Human Rights” still struggles to outrun its National Socialist path more than 80s years after the fall of the Third Reich and a Green Party rep told Stern that Anselmo’s apology for his white power outburst was “not credible enough” and that hosting the band on the former Nazi Party rally grounds “clearly exceeds the limit of what is bearable.”

“We are relieved about the organizer’s decision not to offer the band Pantera a stage. Their singer Phil Anselmo had repeatedly attracted attention with anti-Semitic and racist incidents,” said the Party’s Réka Lörincz in a statement on the Green Party’s site. “Therefore, a performance was unimaginable for us – especially on the former Nazi party rally grounds.”

Rev your engines. The Harley-Davidson Homecoming Festival is driving through the city of Milwaukee this summer, with newly announced all-star headliners Green Day and the Foo Fighters in tow.

Named for its location in Wisconsin, birth place of Harley-Davidson, the Homecoming Festival will celebrate the motorcycle brand’s 120th anniversary over the course of four days in July, starting on the 13th. Green Day is slated to play on the 14th, and the Foo Fighters are booked for July 15.

The rest of the festival’s schedule has not yet been confirmed, though Cody Jinks, Social Distortion, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Phantogram, White Reaper and KennyHoopla will all make performances of their own over the course of the event, which concludes July 16. The festival will take place at Milwaukee’s Veterans Park, with tickets to see both headlining acts available for purchase now on Harley-Davidson’s website.

Both Green Day and the Foo Fighters posted about the event on their bands’ official social media accounts, including a sleek poster with their names worked into a graphic design of a guitar made out of motorcycle parks. The former wrote on Instagram: “Riding into Milwaukee on July 14th to celebrate @harleydavidson’s 120th bday (!!!)”

Harley-Davidson’s Homecoming announcement marks the latest in a wave of recent annual festival lineup announcements, from Coachella to Boston Calling to Bonnaroo. The Foo Fighters are booked for the latter two festivals, meanwhile Green Day is slated to headline the Arizona Innings Festival and the When We Were Young Festival this year.

See Green Day and Foo Fighters’ Harley-Davidson Homecoming announcements below.