Who are Bob Vylan? What did Pascal Robinson-Foster say about Charlie Kirk - as Tilburg gig cancelled over comments
A concert by punk duo Bob Vylan has been cancelled following controversial remarks made on stage regarding the assassination of Donald Trump ally, Charlie Kirk.
Footage widely shared online shows a band member telling the audience, "if you chat s**t you will get banged". The group previously drew criticism for chanting for the "death" of the Israel Defence Forces at Glastonbury Festival.
In response, their planned performance on Tuesday September 16 at the 013 in Tilburg has been cancelled, with the venue saying the statements made by the performer “go too far”. During their performance at Amsterdam’s Paradiso on Saturday, frontman Bobby Vylan, whose real name is reportedly Pascal Robinson-Foster, told fans: “I want to dedicate this next one to an absolute piece of s**t of a human being.
“The pronouns was/were. Cause if you chat s**t you will get banged. Rest in peace Charlie Kirk, you piece of s**t.” Mr Kirk, who was a prominent political commentator in the US and ally of the president, was shot and killed at a Utah Valley University event on Wednesday, in what authorities called a political assassination.
A translated statement on the 013 website on Sunday said: “The planned performance by British rap-punk group Bob Vylan on Tuesday, September 16th, at Poppodium 013 in Tilburg has been cancelled. The reason for the cancellation is the controversial statements the artist made last night during a show at Paradiso in Amsterdam.
“Despite the controversy that arose after their Glastonbury performance, 013 decided to let Bob Vylan perform in Tilburg.” The venue said it had an “understanding for the artist’s anger” regarding the violence in Israel and said the duo clarified in a statement that the “death to the IDF” chant was “not an antisemitic slogan, but rather criticism of the Israeli army”.
The statement added: “While we understand that these statements were made in the context of punk and activism, and that the reporting on them is sometimes less nuanced than what actually happened, we still believe these new statements go too far. They no longer fall within the scope of what we can offer a platform.”
After reports that his comments “celebrated” Mr Kirk’s death, Bobby Vylan said in an Instagram video: “At no point during yesterday’s show was Charlie Kirk’s death celebrated. At no point whatsoever did we celebrate Charlie Kirk’s death.” The duo, comprised of frontman Bobby Vylan and drummer Bobbie Vylan, have another gig in the Netherlands at Doornroosje which is billed for Monday.
Who are Bob Vylan?
The duo, who released their debut album in 2020, go by the aliases Bobby Vylan, the frontman, and Bobbie Vylan, the drummer. Interviewed in the Guardian in 2024, they told Jason Okundaye they deliberately obfuscate their identities to resist what they see as a surveillance state, although Bobby’s real name, Pascal Robinson-Foster, has been widely reported.
Robinson-Foster began his artistic career as a teenager, as a performance poet and grime artist sometimes called Nee-Hi. He was involved in local community outreach projects, mentoring young people in Ipswich and was invited to perform at the Black and Asian Police Association Conference in 2005. He began Bob Vylan after meeting his bandmate in a London bar in 2017 (neither are Bob Dylan fans; they just thought the name was funny).