Photo Credit: Andreas Lawen / CC by 4.0
Foo Fighters will replace Pantera as headliners at Rock Im Park and Rock Am Ring Festivals in Germany.
After thrash metal mainstay Pantera was dropped from Germany’s Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park festivals last week, the Foo Fighters announced that they would be headlining Rock Am Ring on June 2 and Rock Im Park on June 4. The Foo Fighters join a lineup including Kings of Leon, Die Toten Hosen, Rise Against, Limp Bizkit, Yungblud, Tenacious D, Evanescence, Incubus, Papa Roach, Bring Me the Horizon, Machine Gun Kelly, NOFX, Turnstile, and many more.
Just days after their removal from the German fests, Pantera was also removed from the lineup of Austria’s Gasometer Festival. The event’s promoter, Mind Over Matter Music, announced that the Pantera performance scheduled for May 31 had been canceled but did not provide additional details. That said, government entities in Austria and Germany have reportedly released statements advocating for Pantera to be dropped from their countries’ events.
“Due to its National Socialist past, Vienna, in particular, has a special historical responsibility to oppose any form of right-wing extremism. The appearance of Pantera is completely incompatible with this responsibility,” reads the statement from Austria’s Green Party.
Speculation on the cancellations centers on a 2016 event in which Pantera’s Phil Anselmo was filmed giving a nazi salute while shouting “white power” during a tribute to the band’s late guitarist Dimebag Darrell. Spokespeople for Pantera have said that management has no official statement on the Austrian or German festival appearance cancellations.
Meanwhile, the German festival gigs add to an already-busy summer schedule for the Foo Fighters, who are hitting the road for their first significant shows since the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins last summer.
While the band has not yet announced who will be playing drums with them at the upcoming gigs, the itinerary already features seven major appearances: Boston Calling Music Festival on May 26, Sonic Temple Arts & Music Festival in Columbus, OH, on May 28, Rock Am Ring on June 2, Rock Im Park on June 4, Bonnaroo in Tennessee on June 18, Harley-Davidson Homecoming Festival in Milwaukee, WI, on July 15, and The Town in São Paulo on September 9.