I don’t know about you, but I’ve been to a few musical festivals in my day. I’ve been to jazz festivals and blues festivals and bluegrass and rock and jam bands and cover bands. I’ve even been to a couple of metal festivals, although never the one in this story.

The Shell Shock Festival’s inaugural lineup in 2023 promised a good time for metal fans, without any politics other than the stated support that the founders of the event have for veterans and victims of PTSD.

Shell Shock II, held once again in Orlando, Florida, was intended to be more of the same in-your-face heavy metal and hardcore music from the previous year. But then the organizers decided to invite a controversial figure as a “special guest” at the fest: Kyle Rittenhouse.

Since his acquittal for the double killing he committed in Kenosha, Wisconsin during the Jacob Blake protests, Kyle has treated his subsequent fame as a full time job. He slaps his name on “defense kits” from weapons companies, endorses political candidates, and even gives speeches at colleges, generally centered around the 2nd Amendment.

His partnerships with brands have paid him handsomely.

But this time the Kyle Rittenhouse name backfired on both the young man and the music festival, when a number of the bands in the lineup pulled out of the engagement after learning of Kyle’s involvement.

The first to go was the headlining band, Evergreen Terrace. Now, if I’m being honest, that sounds as much like the name of an apartment complex as it does a Florida hardcore metal band. But apparently they’re pretty famous, if they were the headliners.

They weren’t even THAT political in their announcement on Facebook:

“Evergreen Terrace has always supported and continues to support philanthropic events for veterans, PTSD awareness, child poverty, and many more, but we will not align with an event promoting a perceived murderer such as Kyle Rittenhouse capitalizing off of their pseudo celebrity. Unfortunately we did not do our due diligence with this particular event. Even after they offered to pull Kyle from the event, we discovered several associated entities that we simply do not agree with. As advocates for free speech we are respectfully canceling [our appearance at] the Shell Shock festival. We will be personally contributing to a veterans charity and urge you to do the same. The promoters have been nothing less than understanding. “Lines we draw in the sand…depend on where we stand.”

That doesn’t say anything about Republicans or Democrats or anything of the sort. It just kind of says “screw that one guy in particular, and anyone else like him.”

Despite the fact that Evergreen Terrace said that Shell Shock offered to drop Kyle from the guest list, The Antihero Podcast, the hosts of the event, said something quite different.

In an Instagram post, the podcast said “We have been silent. But we are prepping. The liberal mob attempted to destroy Shell Shock. But we will not allow it. This is now about more than a concert. This is a war of ideology.”

Ideologically, apparently the Slipknot cover band they booked to take the headliner’s place is more closely aligned with them.

I don’t see a “liberal mob” here. I see some bands that just don’t like Kyle Rittenhouse because he’s awful.

The bands Southpaw, Let Me Bleed, and American Hollow all made the same decision and left the festival. Not a single one of them made a statement that could in any way be construed as anything other than a distaste for Kyle in particular. It was the host of the event that made it political, not the bands.

Southpaw:

“We knew going into this, that the festival was veteran based, which we support. But knew nothing of a particular individual being a main focus of support for the show until after accepting it. This simply is not what we signed up for, period.”

Let Me Bleed:

“Though we are advocates of free speech we are collectively not a political band. It wasn’t until after we agreed to play the festival that these problematic and potentially alienating entities were being used to market the show and that is something we simply cannot condone.”

American Hollow:

“As individuals in this group we have many beliefs and viewpoints, but as a band we focus primarily on our artistry. Let it be known that we fully and unequivocally support the military and first responders, especially those who struggle with mental health issues. We have no qualms with the Shell Shock family and we hope our fans will respect our decision.”

As you can see, this is no “liberal mob.”

It’s nice to see, though — Kyle had been enjoying nothing but praise and attention from right-wing groups. Now he knows what it feels like to be a symbol that people don’t want to associate with.

People on Instagram lashed out at the festival, disagreeing with their ridiculous assertion that a “liberal mob” ruined the festival: