A metal festival recently lost it’s headliner, and multiple other bands because event organizers decided to invite a special guest to attend. The special guest in question is Kyle Rittenhouse.
Yeah. That Kyle Rittenhouse.
Based on the information we’ve given you so far, we’ll give you one guess as to where you think this unfolded.
If you guessed Florida, you are correct, and no one is shocked.
The Shell Shock II festival is scheduled for October 19th, and now with less than a month’s notice, event organizers are scrambling to find metal bands to play. When they announced that Kyle Rittenhouse would be making a special appearance, the main headliner decided that they’d had enough and canceled their appearance.
Evergreen Terrace was set to headline the festival until they found out that Kyle Rittenhouse was to attend as a featured guest. That was apparently the straw that broke the camel’s back for the band, because even after event organizers offered to rescind their invite, they still said “nah, we’re out.” When multiple other bands followed suit, festival organizers found themselves in quite the preventable pickle.
For those of you who have been trying to remember who Kyle Rittenhouse is, he’s the dude who at age 17 had his mother drive him— and his AR-15 style rifle — across state lines so that he could shoot Black Lives Matter protesters in Kenosha Wisconsin. He was acquitted of all charges— including homicide— when the judge and jury decided that yeah, sure. He hitched a ride to place he doesn’t live and inserted himself in a situation that wasn’t affecting him in an act of self-defense.
The festival’s choice to invite him was interesting, to say the least. Shell Shock II is intended to be not only a metal festival, but also an event that raises awareness for PTSD. Inviting such a polarizing figure to a charity event that is geared towards trauma survivors is… a choice.
According to Evergreen Terrace, they felt that the invite itself crossed “lines we draw in the sand”. They have also stated that Rittenhouse’s invite was just one of many issues they found with the event, it was just the event that caused them to withdraw from the festival.
Event organizers might have been able to bump another band up into the headliner space; but so many others bailed as a result of Evergreen Terrace saying “nope” that their headliner? A Slipknot cover band. A cover band. For a music festival.
Festival officials are attempting to blame the “woke mob” for their impending lack of musicians, but the bands themselves? They’re already hard at work organizing another collective Orlando performance, and intend to use the event as an opportunity to raise money for veterans.
According to Evergreen Terrace, “we play shows, not rallies,” and Rittenhouse receiving an engraved invitation? To them— and many other like-minded individuals— was just one step too close to being associated with the kind of rally they want nothing to do with.
We wish Evergreen Terrace the best of luck with their soon-to-be scheduled Orlando event, and for the organizers of Shell Shock II? Maybe be a little more prepared for the “find out” part of FAFO if you choose to invite controversial figures to your little shindig.
