Shining (the Swedish one), Revenge, and Wolvhammer are currently out on the road on the edgily-named No More Safe Space 2017 tour. The tour began May 5, and was scheduled for a stop at the Tonic Lounge in Portland, Oregon on May 17.
Unfortunately for fans, the show has been cancelled by the venue over accusations against Shining frontman Niklas Kvarforth. According to Tonic Lounge and its sources, Kvarforth has been accused of possibly drugging drinks, groping women, and threatening to stab employees before its gig at Mulligans in Boise, Idaho.
Kvarforth is also accused of using "many blatant racist and homophobic slurs on stage, threatened audience members with rape, slapped audience members in the face, and was sieg heil saluting repeatedly throughout their performance."
"Tonic Lounge has decided to cancel the Shining show that was scheduled for this Wednesday, May 17th. All tickets will be refunded.
We regret having not researched this band more before approving their show. After booking them, it was brought to our attention that Shining’s singer has done and said many things that could be considered offensive, dangerous, or destructive. While we were learning about and considering these issues, the list continued to grow, including a recent report that the he may have been involved in the drugging of someone’s drink.
This morning we received a call from a trusted friend in Boise Idaho, detailing the events that took place while Shining were there on Sunday. We were told that the singer of Shining went to the local punk bar Mulligans before their concert, and was groping women and threatening to stab employees, and had to be removed.
We were also told that later, while performing at The Shredder, he used many blatant racist and homophobic slurs on stage, threatened audience members with rape, slapped audience members in the face, and was sieg heil saluting repeatedly throughout their performance.
Sometimes words and allegations on the internet can be difficult to navigate, but a story like this coming from a friend is not. The above types of behavior are simply not acceptable at Tonic Lounge. This isn’t about censorship. This is about protecting our venue, our staff, and our patrons.
This decision was not made under pressure by any individuals or political groups. We believe in freedom of expression and are not quick to pull the plug on any band booked at our club. However, we are not going to invite someone into our space to spout hate speech on our stage, and/or put our staff and patrons in harm’s way.
We are still in full support of Famine Fest Presents, the other bands who were on the bill, and all of our friends and customers who planned on attending. We hope you all can respect our decision to do what’s best for our club and those within it."
To add on to the accusations, there's footage of Kvarforth getting into some sort of altercation outside Mulligans as well.
