UK
Bob Vylan’s Manchester gig postponed
Jewish groups and local MPs called for the gig to be cancelled following the Heaton Park Synagogue attack
October 23, 2025 11:41
Jewish groups and local MPs called for the gig to be cancelled following the Heaton Park Synagogue attack
October 23, 2025 11:41A concert by UK punk duo Bob Vylan, due to take place at at the Manchester Academy next month, has been postponed.
Although no new date has been announced, according to correspondence seen by Sky News, the venue has rescheduled the gig for next year.
MPs from across Greater Manchester backed calls from the Jewish community for the gig to be cancelled in the wake of the Heaton Hebrew Congregation terror attack on Yom Kippur.
With the Jewish community reeling from the attack, which left two men dead, and community tension high, the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester and Region (JRC) urged Manchester Academy to call off the gig in a letter signed by nine local Labour MPs and one Liberal Democrat.
“We are deeply concerned by Manchester Academy’s decision to host Bob Vylan, an artist who has repeatedly engaged in rhetoric that crosses the line from legitimate political discourse into antisemitism and incitement,” the letter read.
It continued: “There is a vital distinction between legitimate criticism of the Israeli government and speech that veers into antisemitism. Freedom of expression is a central component of our democracy that must be protected but it cannot be right to platform an artist who has consistently been condemned as hateful and racist.
“We call on the Manchester Academy to cancel the performance and commit to clear policies to ensure that it will not legitimise prejudice under the guise of freedom of speech.”
Bob Vylan became a household name after leading a chant of “death, death to the IDF” at Glastonbury this year.
On Tuesday, broadcaster Louis Theroux published the latest episode of his podcast featuring an interview with the group’s frontman, Bobby Vylan.
During the hour-long chat, Bobby Vylan – real name Pascal Robinson-Foster – told Theroux that he was “not regretful of it at all” of the chant, questioned the veracity of CST figures on antisemitism, and equated Zionism to white supremacy, saying: “Ultimately the fight is against white supremacy, right? Like that is what the fight is against, and I think white supremacy is displayed so vividly in Zionism.”
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