The Pixies Cancel Israel Concert
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Alex Weisler June 9, 2010
The Pixies in 1988 sang about being “stuck … out here on the Gaza Strip” in the song “River Euphrates,” but the alternative rock band has canceled a planned concert in Israel after an international outcry over the May 31 flotilla raid.
Their act was to be part of PiC.NiC 2010, a daylong concert slated for June 9 in Tel Aviv. It would have been the first trip to Israel for the band, well known for “Where Is My Mind?” the song that plays during the ending of the movie “Fight Club.”
A statement posted on the website of PiC.NiC promoter Shuki Weiss told fans: “We’d like to extend our deepest apologies to the fans, but events beyond all our control have conspired against us. We can only hope for better days, in which we will finally present the long-awaited visit of the Pixies in Israel.”
Gorillaz and Klaxons, two British bands that were also scheduled to play at the festival, have announced their withdrawal, according to the New York Times ArtsBeat blog.
Gorillaz is famous for their song “Feel Good Inc.,” which was prominently featured in an early iPod commercial. Klaxons is a dance-punk band from London that won the 2007 Best New Band prize at the annual British NME Awards.
According to the news agency AFP, Weiss wrote: “I am full of both sorrow and pain in light of the fact that our repeated attempts to present quality acts and festivals in Israel have increasingly been falling victim to what I can only describe as a form of cultural terrorism which is targeting Israel and the arts worldwide.”
Weiss’s website told fans they could seek a refund. At press time, Placebo, Hank & Cupcakes and Carusella were still listed as performers on the festival’s website.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
