Green Day have canceled their upcoming concert at Moscow’s Spartak Stadium over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The band posted a statement to their Instagram stories earlier today (February 27). “We are aware that this moment is not about stadium rock shows, it’s so much bigger than that,” the band wrote in the post (viewed by Pitchfork). “But we also know that rock and roll is forever and we feel confident there will be a time and a place for us to return in the future.” Find Green Day’s full statement below.
According to Variety, the concert was scheduled to take place May 29 as part of Green Day’s Hella Mega Tour. Spartak Stadium is a massive arena in Russia’s capital, with an audience capacity of over 45 thousand. At the time of this writing, Green Day have removed the May 29 tour date from their website.
A number of artists and organizations have displayed solidarity with Ukraine in recent days. Russian rapper Oxxxymiron canceled six sold out concerts in Moscow and St. Petersburg, protesting President Vladimir V. Putin’s invasion and assault on Ukrainian civilians. The European Broadcasting Union banned Russia from the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest, one of the world’s most popular non-sport competition programs. Noted activist and Pussy Riot co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova is selling NFTs to raise funds for Ukrainian civilian groups. And last night, Saturday Night Live opened with a performance by the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York, who sang “Prayer for Ukraine.”
Pitchfork has reached out to Green Day’s representatives for further comment.
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