1 month ago
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The Shell Shock metal festival, set to be held October 19th in Orlando, Florida, has seen headliner Evergreen Terrace and other bands drop off the bill after inviting Kyle Rittenhouse to take part in the festivities.
Rittenhouse is best known as the then 17-year-old who shot three men during an August 2020 protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, killing two of them. He was acquitted after claiming self-defense, but still has two civil lawsuits pending against him.
Shell Shock festival bills itself as a charity event that “supports first responders struggling with injuries to include Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).”
When Evergreeen Terrace learned of Rittenhouse’s appearance, they pulled out of the festival. The Florida metalcore band released the following statement:
“Evergreen Terrace has always supported and continues to support philanthropic events for veterans, PTSD awareness, child poverty, and many more, but we will not align with an event promoting a perceived murderer such as Kyle Rittenhouse capitalizing off of their pseudo celebrity. Unfortunately we did not do our due diligence with this particular event. Even after they offered to pull Kyle from the event, we discovered several associated entities that we simply do not agree with. As advocates for free speech we are respectfully canceling the Shell Shock festival. We will be personally contributing to a veterans charity and urge you to do the same. The promoters have been nothing less than understanding.”
The bands Southpaw, Let Me Bleed, and American Hollow all followed suit, with Southpaw stating, “We knew going into this, that the festival was veteran based, which we support. But knew nothing of a particular individual being a main focus of support for the show until after accepting it. Due to events that have taken place and drama surrounding this particular individual, we made the decision to respectfully step down.”
In response, The Antihero Podcast — which is among the organizers of the Shell Shock festival — stated, “We have been silent. But we are prepping. The liberal mob attempted to destroy Shell Shock. But we will not allow it. This is now about more than a concert. This is a war of ideology.”
In place of Evergreen Terrace, Shell Shock has now booked a Slipknot cover band named (SiC) as its new headliner.
Meanwhile, Evergreen Terrace are organizing their own show in Orlando, telling fans, “Orlando. We will be seeing you soon. We are currently organizing a show with the bands that dropped off of the Shell Shock fest after being blindsided. All of Evergreen’s proceeds will go to an associated veterans organization. Updates soon. We play shows, not rallies.”
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