As over 150 acts joined a festival-wide boycott, the past week has showcased a real, robust support among musical peers across the country I s a watershed moment still possible in an industry currently overwhelmed by noise and fast-changing trends? If last week (May 15-18)’s edition of The Great Escape is anything to go by then the answer is yes, very much so. In the build up to this year’s festival – which has long served as an annual mecca for new music – over 150 artists arranged a mass boycott in solidarity with Palestine , following the current Gaza-Israel conflict. They joined Bands Boycott Barclays , a campaign that claims the bank – who are sponsors of The Great Escape, alongside several other UK festivals including Latitude , Isle Of Wight and Download – has repeatedly invested in arms companies who supply to Israel.
The movement received support from Massive Attack and Brian Eno among others, with the latter sharing a statement in response. “I want to salute the courageous artists who passed up a chance to play,” he said of the boycott , which was accompanied by an online petition started by How To Catch A Pig and Bristol band The Menstrual Camps, and signed by over 1,300 names including Lip Critic , Lambrini Girls and Alfie Templeman . The Great Escape are yet to issue a comment in response, while Barclays have directed criticisms to a transcript of a Q&A session from a recent AGM meeting .
The Brighton event has an illustrious history of supporting.