Aug 25 2008
Moonfest in Wiltshire Cancelled
How would you like to be one of the most hated men in the county?
Gigwise.com reported that the police in Wiltshire County, United Kingdom, hate that Pete Doherty resides in their county.
Doherty has a history of violent outburst and drug-related arrests. Apparently he is too troublesome for the county.
Police put a stop to Doherty’s band, Babyshambles’, upcoming performance at the Moonfest Aug. 29-31. Moonfest is one of the many outdoor summer music festival the UK has to offer. The police feel the band will invoke violent outbursts.
“The issue is not the act itself, it is the profile of the fans that follow the act,” Superintendent Paul Williams told NME.
This decision was decided after fans rushed the stage at a recent Doherty solo show at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
Last weekend Babyshambles played Leeds Festival where they infamously smoked on stage, despite a city-wide smoking ban.
Is it fair to judge an entire fan base on a few crazy fans at one show? Perhaps this is the police trying to sabotage someone by finding the littlest problem to shoot them down with.
Let’s all take a moment to think.
Boy bands are bombarded wherever they go. It’s the heightened security that prevents this from happening on stage. Babyshambles has the popularity nearing that of a pop act… minus the pop music. A band shouldn’t be denied the right to play because cops do not want to “deal with”their fans.
Who really is being taught a lesson here?
For the record… the organizer of Moonfest is near bankruptcy because of this whole ordeal, so Babyshambles plans on playing nearby, working with the organizer.
