No festival cancellation because of Pantera
Dead pants get lost in the Cancel Culture swamp
Die Toten Hosen with singer Campino (centre), Kuddel (left), Breiti (right), Andi and Ritchie (2nd from left)
© Rolf Vennenbernd / DPA
Die Toten Hosen have reacted to the controversial appearance of the heavy metal band Pantera at the Rock im Park festival. In a statement, they explain why they are not canceling their own appearance – and are sharply criticized by fans.
The woke present can be complicated. The slightly graying German punk band Tote Hosen around singer Campino has had this experience. The Düsseldorf group is scheduled to headline the twin festivals Rock am Ring/Rock im Park in early June. But the appearance is now controversial and often meets with criticism.
The reason is that the US heavy metal band Pantera is also booked for shows there. Their singer Phil Anselmo had a bad right-wing extremist failure in 2016 during a performance in Los Angeles. Completely drunk (according to his own account, but believable), Anselmo gave the Hitler salute at 2 a.m. and roared “White Power” to the crowd. (The concert was held in honor of the shot Pantera guitarist Darell “Dimebag” Abbott. The band had already broken up in 2000 and only reunited in 2022).
Debate is picking up speed
At first, the frontman tried to downplay the incident. “White Power” was supposedly a band-internal gag and stood for the white wine that the group downed behind the bandage backstage. But after criticism mounted, with bands like Anthrax and Metal Head slamming Anselmo, he recorded an apology video a week later (“It was ugly, it was inappropriate”). Days later, he followed up with a written statement. Interviews followed, including in the magazine “Rolling Stone”, in which he declared that he was not a racist (“I don’t give a fuck about the color of skin or nationality or religion or whatever”). Many did not or do not accept the apology from Anselmo.
The 2016 incident wasn’t the first to draw negative attention from the metal singer. There are several stories from the 1990s in which he indulged in racist insinuations or is said to have worn the T-shirt of the band Carnivore with a racist motif from South Africa.
Now the band, reunited in 2022, has started a worldwide concert tour and is viewed critically, at least in Germany. Incidents like Anselmo’s are not easily forgotten. The debate about the Pantera appearance first picked up speed on social media. Then the green city council group in Nuremberg joined the protest and called on the organizers, Argo Konzerte GmBH, to cancel Pantera’s performance.
Verbose justification of the Toten Hosen
Die Toten Hosen finally got involved in the discussion by also publishing two statements. The first came out last Friday. In it they eloquently explain why they want to hold their performance despite Pantera. Of course, they find Anselmo’s Hitler salute “repulsive and disgusting,” they write. And they have their doubts about the singer’s apology (as do the Greens). The question remains how credible that is, writes the band on their Facebook page.
But they also emphasize that they have never met Anselmo and cannot judge what his true attitude is. “We find the whole situation complicated and unfortunate.” At the same time, they point out that Pantera will be appearing at numerous festivals this year with bands that “are difficult to put in the right corner”. The “majority of the rock music world” seems to accept the singer’s purification, wrote the Toten Hosen. So there is no trace of the so-called “cancel culture” among the old punks.
As a result, the band received some heavy criticism from fans, who apparently reacted too laxly. This in turn prompted them to make a second, brief statement in which they defended their decision and referred to the tickets sold by fans. At the end they write “We will keep you up to date”. It may well be that the debate about Pantera and the Toten Hosen is not over.
Sources: DPA, “Rolling Stone“, “Diffuse“, Green city council faction Nuremberg, Toten Hosen Facebook page, Youtube video with Hitler salute by Phil Anslemo