I could put this in Cafe Society, but who are we kidding. I just got this message from the organizers of a music festival I am attending next month:
At this uncertain time, it has been extra difficult for foreign artists to travel to and perform in the US and unfortunately, two great bands we were very much looking forward to having at the festival this year — L.H.D. from Croatia and I. Jeziak & The Surfers from Poland — have determined it’s better and safer not to play at this time.
Two months ago I was at another festival (a cruise, actually) where a band from Sweden also dropped out for the same purported reason.
Getting the third degree from the goons at customs is no picnic, even for Americans, but I have no doubt that these bands (with good reason) want to punish American voters for their bad decisions. Remember back in the 1980s when artists refused to book shows in South Africa due to apartheid policies? Guess what. We are now (1980s) South Africa.
I saw Matthew Good cancelled his US tour. I know or follow a few people in small bands and they are doing longer than usual European tours this summer, and either avoiding or delaying booking in the States. One band had to cancel a few shows because the USA blocked a work visa with no explanation (or, at least, none I have heard about; I don’t think they’ve gone to the states since I saw that post).
Yes, there’s a lot of money to be made, but at what cost? A significant number of Canadians are choosing to avoid the USA entirely, why would musicians be any different? I know I’m not going back any time soon, not without significant social and political change.
Yet another article about non-US musicians cancelling US tours. This one details Amir Amiri’s case. He originally applied for a visa in December, 2024 to perform at a July festival. His agents tried many things, including contacting Colorado Senator Bennet’s office, but in the end cancelled because they simply never received a visa.
Other artists are mentioned who have canceled for similar visa problems, as well as human rights concerns, such as fear of prolonged detainment or being forced to travel under their birth gender.
Trump doesn’t want “America First” he wants “My Version of America Only”. For the anti-immigration crowd foreigners cancelling their tours is a feature, not a bug.
Bob Vylan, an English rap duo, simply can’t get a visa at all for being very pro-Palestinian and very outspoken about it. Their US tour was cancelled for them.
I go to a LOT of concerts by foreign artists. (Last year I went to 21 concerts by non-Americans.) Fortunately very few of the ones I go to have been affected. However, I have definitely heard of many American tours or (more commonly) festival appearances which had to be cancelled because of visa problems. I haven’t heard of many situations where a tour was canceled because of the artist’s decision.
It remains to be seen if foreign artists stop booking American tours. If so, that would definitely affect me.
I highly doubt it. It’s hard enough being a working musician without turning paying customers away unnecessarily. Especially in the biggest, richest market on Earth.
But avoiding the gestapo is worth a lot. People are getting disappeared or sitting incommunicado, with substandard food and no medication, in concentration camps for weeks or months on end. It’s just a cold, hard economic decision at that point. No amount of ticket sales can make up for your life and career being ruined by violent, power-drunk Trumpist goons.
Even if the overall chances of that happening to you are low, as long as they’re above zero it’s not a reasonable risk to take for most people, if you can help it.
They’re still coming, at least plenty of them are. I have tickets to see 13 non-American musical artists until the end of the year. British, Japanese, and Korean, mostly. Some Canadian.
