DistantNews
Support us
🇩🇪 Germany /Culture & Society

Alphaville rejects renewed invitation to perform at Glücksgefühle Festival

From Der Spiegel · () German

Translated from German and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • Alphaville declined to perform at the Glücksgefühle Festival after organizers first withdrew and then restored the band's invitation.
  • The band said earlier statements had created an atmosphere in which it no longer wanted to appear, and pledged to donate its fee to a charity.
  • Organizers had objected to political statements on stage, but later called the disinvitation a mistake.

Alphaville will not return to the Glücksgefühle Festival in Hockenheim, even after organizer Markus Krampe apologized and invited the band back.

We acknowledge the organizer Markus Krampe's apology and renewed invitation, and hope that from now on he will properly respect the importance of freedom of speech and artistic freedom at the Glücksgefühle Festival.

· AlphavilleThe band responded on social media after the festival restored its invitation.

The group said it acknowledged the apology and renewed invitation, while hoping Krampe would now respect the importance of freedom of speech and artistic freedom at the festival. But it added that the earlier statements had created an atmosphere in which it would not perform. Alphaville said it would donate the fee for the canceled appearance to a charitable organization.

The earlier statements created an atmosphere in which we are refraining from performing.

· AlphavilleThe band explained why it still rejected the invitation.

The organizers had initially disinvited the band because they could not agree that it would refrain from making political statements on stage. Singer Marian Gold described the decision as a gag order and made the cancellation public. The move drew criticism across Germany, including from Campino of the band Die Toten Hosen.

A gag order.

· Marian GoldThe singer described the festival's initial decision to disinvite the band.

Krampe later acknowledged that the disinvitation had been a mistake and renewed the invitation. Alphaville nevertheless confirmed that it would not appear. The German pop band became famous in the 1980s with songs including "Big in Japan" and "Forever Young".

A mistake.

· Markus KrampeThe organizer characterized the initial disinvitation after public criticism.
About this summary

Originally published by Der Spiegel in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog