Placebo drop out of Kazakhstan’s Yandex Park Live
Placebo have cancelled their headline performance at Kazakhstan’s Yandex Park Live, with less than a week to go until the festival.
The new festival has been launched by the organisers behind Moscow’s Park Live, which fell over in 2022 when a raft of international acts pulled out over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Placebo were among the acts that dropped out of the event, alongside My Chemical Romance, Slipknot, Biffy Clyro, Iggy Pop, Deftones, Royal Blood and The Killers.
Now, the British band has stepped back from Kazakhstan edition, set to take place between 6–8 September in the city of Almaty.
“There are compelling circumstantial reasons for this, not related to the professionalism of the organisers, which we were unable to resolve… We apologise profusely to all our fans in Kazakhstan,” reads a statement from the band, which at the same time has pulled out of their upcoming concert in Georgia.
“Consequently, despite the best efforts of our Georgian promoters, this has made it logistically impossible for us to perform in Tbilisi on September 12th.”
“There are compelling circumstantial reasons for this, not related to the professionalism of the organisers, which we were unable to resolve”
“This is what life is all about,” reads a statement from Yandex Park Live. “There are unexpected things that make you disappointed. Even though we are not the ones who made such a difficult decision, we do not want to blame anyone. No matter what, we have to move forward. Our mission is to engage and uplift the people of the world.”
The festival has now lost two major international acts after British rock band Editors pulled out over the alleged Russian links of the headline sponsor, Yandex.
“Having now been informed who the sponsor of the event is, we have decided to withdraw our involvement,” they wrote on social media at the time. “We dearly hope to come back to Kazakhstan in the future, under different circumstances.”
Editors were replaced by The Kooks who, following Placebo’s cancellation, have been bumped up the bill to the closing slot on Sunday 8 September.
Die Antwoord and Tyga are scheduled to headline the Friday and Saturday, respectively, with Oliver Tree, Tom Meighan, Dizzee Rascal and Yonaka among the international acts that are further down the bill.
One-day tickets to the festival cost KZT 25,000 (€48) for Friday and KZT 30,000 (€58) for Saturday and Sunday. Three-day entry costs KZT 60,000 (€116) and one-day VIP tickets are KZT 135,000 (€262).
Ticketholders for Sunday 8 September have been offered full refunds, as well as free entry to Friday or Saturday of the event and a 50% discount on one day of Yandex Park Live festival in the future.
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Russia’s Park Live relocates to Kazakhstan
Russia’s Park Live festival has announced a new edition in the neighbouring country Kazakhstan.
Launched in Moscow in 2013 by local promoter Melnitsa Concert Agency, the event aimed to bring international artists to Russia.
However, the festival fell over in 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, when a raft of international acts pulled out.
Placebo, My Chemical Romance, Slipknot, Biffy Clyro, Iggy Pop, Deftones, Royal Blood and The Killers all cancelled appearances, forcing the promoter to cancel the June/July event at Luzhniki Olympic Complex.
“The picture of current circumstances does not provide the opportunity to fit our [festival] into it for legal, logistic, or for simple human reasons,” read a statement from the organisers at the time.
Melnitsa also worked in Ukraine – organising UPark festival in Kyiv – as well as Minsk, Tbisli and Kazakhstan (since 2017).
Now, Park Live is now set to return as Yandex Park Live and will take place at Pervomayskiy Ponds recreation park, in the city of Almaty, south-eastern Kazakhstan.
“We’re very close to selling out all three days”
The three-day affair, organised by Park Live Kazakhstan and Yandex Kazakhstan, will take place between 6–8 September with headliners Placebo, Die Antwoord and Tyga.
Tyga, Dizzie Rascal, Oliver Tree, Brennan Savage and Kazakh rapper Scriptonite are also due to perform across Park Live’s two stages.
“This is the biggest-ever international music event in the territory of Kazakhstan,” Maria Axenova of Park Live Kazakhstan (previously part of Melnitsa) tells IQ.
“We’ve put on shows in Kazakhstan before but there is a production company from Russia that has moved here and so production-wise [the market] is now on a level.”
Discussing the demand for live music events in Kazakhstan, she adds: “We’re very close to selling out all three days. The festival is 12,000-capacity and that’s the sacrifice for our beautiful location but for next year, we’re considering a bigger venue.”
One-day tickets to the festival cost KZT 25,000 (€48) for Friday and KZT 30,000 (€58) for Saturday and Sunday. Three-day entry costs KZT 60,000 (€116) and one-day VIP tickets are KZT 135,000 (€262).
“Yandex, known in the world as ‘Russian Google’ has a separate entity in Kazakhstan… it is not connected to Russia”
English rock band Editors were due to perform at Yandex Park Live but this week pulled out over the headline sponsor, writing on social media: “Having now been informed who the sponsor of the event is, we have decided to withdraw our involvement. We dearly hope to come back to Kazakhstan in the future, under different circumstances.”
Axenova refutes the claims, explaining: “Yandex, known in the world as ‘Russian Google’ has a separate entity in Kazakhstan. Yandex Kazakhstan is a company registered in Kazakhstan and is a taxpayer in the country. It is not connected to Russia. This is the fact.”
Over the last few months, a number of festivals have been hit with boycotts from both artists and fans due to sponsors.
More than 80 artists pulled out of this year’s SXSW in Austin, Texas, in protest of the military’s support for Israel in the war in Gaza.
English rock band Editors were due to perform at Park Live but this week pulled out over the event’s sponsors
In response, the showcase festival last month discontinued its partnership with the US Army and the defence contractor RTX Corporation.
The news came after Barclays suspended its sponsorship of Live Nation UK’s remaining 2024 festivals following a raft of artist withdrawals over the bank’s ties to Israel.
Barclaycard became headline partner of Isle of Wight and Latitude in 2023 as part of its partnership renewal with Live Nation UK. The five-year extension also included collaborations with events including TGE, Download, Lytham Festival, Camp Bestival and Reading & Leeds.
“Following discussion with artists, we have agreed with Barclays that they will step back from sponsorship of our festivals,” says a Live Nation spokesperson.
Artists have also found themselves in the firing line, for similar reasons. Earlier this month, Imagine Dragons responded to the criticism the band have received for performing concerts in Israel and Azerbaijan.
Read more about how the industry is grappling with boycotts here.
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Moscow’s Park Live festival decimated by cancellations
Moscow’s Park Live festival has been called off following a raft of cancellations from international acts.
Placebo, My Chemical Romance, Slipknot, Biffy Clyro, Iggy Pop, Deftones, Royal Blood and The Killers have all pulled out of the festival in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
With only a handful of acts left on the bill, the annual international music festival will no longer take place at Luzhniki Olympic Complex in June and July.
“Y’all already understood that Park Live festival won’t be happening this year,” reads a statement from the organisers, posted on Facebook. “The picture of current circumstances does not provide the opportunity to fit our [festival] into it for legal, logistic, or for simple human reasons.”
“The picture of current circumstances does not provide the opportunity to fit our [festival] into it”
Park Live was launched in 2013 by Moscow-headquartered promoter Melnitsa Concert Agency, with the aim of bringing international artists to Russia.
The promoter, which also has offices in Kyiv, Minsk and Tbilisi, is considered one of the leading live music organisers of international and domestic acts in the ex-USSR territory.
Alongside Park Live, the company’s stable of festivals includes UPark in Kyiv, Ukraine, which has also been called off due to the conflict.
As more events are called off in Russia, the country’s live music association is proposing a moratorium on ticket refunds to prevent “the collapse of the industry”.
Other acts that have cancelled performances in Russia include Green Day, Imagine Dragons, Louis Tomlinson, Yungblud, Franz Ferdinand, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Bring Me the Horizon.
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Russian industry pleads for moratorium on refunds
The Russian live industry is pleading for a moratorium on ticket refunds, as concerts and festivals are cancelled en masse.
Green Day, Imagine Dragons, Louis Tomlinson, Yungblud, Franz Ferdinand, Iggy Pop, The Killers, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Bring Me the Horizon are among the artists that have pulled out of performances due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Association of Concert, Theater and Ticketing Organisations (KTiBO), which represents more than 20 of the biggest players in Russia, is proposing a moratorium on ticket refunds to prevent “the collapse of the industry”.
The association wants refunds to be frozen for events scheduled from 9th February 2022 to 3rd September 2023, provided they are/were cancelled or postponed before 6th January 2023.
“Due to circumstances beyond the control of the Russian organisers, such companies fell under the consequences of restrictive economic measures (sanctions) imposed by foreign states against the Russian Federation, including against banks, and do not have the opportunity to receive a refund of advances paid under transactions on time, established by the respective contracts,” it wrote in a letter to the chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation Nabiullina E.S. and the head of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation Egorov D.V.
Semyon Galperin, producer, art director and talent buyer for live music venue Tele-Club in Yekaterinburg previously pointed out that the issue of refunds is further complicated by the current sanctions on Russia.
“We will have to refund ticket buyers, but some of the money is already in agencies’ bank accounts, and they won’t be able to send that back – as far as I understand – because most Russian banks will be under severe sanctions.
“Some of the money is already in agencies’ bank accounts, and they won’t be able to send that back”
“So the international part of the business will suffer terrible losses, which will probably make a lot of leading Russian companies either bankrupt or severely in debt…
“There is also this strange question about how we can find some options to rebate ticket fees to customers because of the blocked financial system.”
The issue is being felt by individual promoters across the country including Moscow-based concert agency Pop Farm, which says that at one point “tens of thousands of people” contacted them for ticket refunds.
The promoter has cancelled all of its upcoming live music events including concerts with Foals, Twenty-One Pilots, Pixies, Michael Kiwanuka and Alt-J, as well as its June festival Pain.
“We physically don’t have time to process all the return requests,” reads a post on Pop Farm’s Facebook page. “We need a few days off to figure out how to proceed, so please be patient – returns will take longer than before…”
“We don’t know what will happen to the concerts next,” reads the post. “We don’t know (and no one knows) what will happen next.”
Elsewhere, Moscow-based festival Park Live is also asking fans to be patient during the refund process, as the event continues to shed international acts.
Placebo, My Chemical Romance, Slipknot, Biffy Clyro and Iggy Pop are among the artists that have disappeared from the line-up.
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