Mick Hartley

Meanwhile, in Bologna:

A music venue in Italy cancelled an American metal band’s concert after the lead guitarist asked for a Palestinian flag to be removed from the stage.

Dylan Carlson of the historic Seattle-based drone metal band Earth reportedly asked if the Bologna venue TPO could take down a Palestinian flag from its stage just minutes before Earth’s scheduled concert there on Tuesday, which prompted the venue to call off the performance altogether.

According to the music blog Stereogum, the flag had been on display at the multi-purpose social centre since it hosted a cultural event for activist groups the previous weekend. Explaining the cancellation of Earth’s performance on Instagram, TPO Bologa wrote: “We’ve been asked to remove the Palestinian flag from the stage. It wasn’t a possibility for us. So we decided to cancel the concert.”