Filter have been accused of a PR stunt by a venue boss after they pulled out hours before their Gothenburg show due to an apparent “electronic death threat” sent to them.
A representative of the band reportedly told TMZ that last week’s shooting of 22-year-old singer Christina Grimmie and the mass shooting at Orlando gay club Pulse played a factor in the group’s decision to scrap the gig.
But a boss at the Sticky Fingers venue in Gothenburg, Sweden, claims the industrial rock band didn’t notify staff of the alleged threats – and says it was “just a case of cry wolf.”
They say (via Facebook): “Just to clarify things, there were no death threats made last night at the Filter show. Simply a misunderstanding which involved a staff member telling the singer that ‘you can’t smoke in here because the boss is gonna kill us.’
“This made the singer freak out, run back to the bus and call the police claiming that a death threat was made. Combichrist still performed – so kudos to them, Lord Of The Lost, the rest of the members in Filter and the tour crew for being super nice all evening.”
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They continue: “Regarding the supposed ‘electronic threats’ that were made – this raises a lot of questions. For example, if there was such a threat, why in the holy name of Lemmy Kilmister Almighty did they not tell the venue security about this?
“We first heard about this through some foreign music sites the morning after. If there was such a threat, then we should have been the first ones to be informed, so that extra security precautions could have been taken. This, however, was nothing that was addressed during the night of the show.
“We fully understand the concerns people have due to recent events and our thoughts goes out to everybody who lost someone in both Orlando and at the Bataclan last year – but what happened at Sticky Fingers on Tuesday night was just a case of cry wolf.”
AftonBladet report that police spokesman Ulla Brehm confirms a car was sent to the venue after they received information about “illegal threats” made there.
Filter tour dates 2016
Jun 14: Stockholm Gota Kallare, Sweden
Jun 16: Turku Gong Live Music Venue, Finland
Jun 17: Tampere Tampereen Yo Talo Oy, Finland
Jun 18: Helsinki Circus, Finland
Jun 19: Tallinn Rock Cafe, Estonia
Jun 20: Liepaja Fontaine Palace, Latvia
Jun 23: Gdansk Klub B90, Poland
Jun 24: Dresden Kulturzentrum Strasse, Poland
Jun 25: Wettingen Konzertfabrik Z7, Switzerland
Jun 26: Frankfurt Batschkapp, Germany
Jun 29: Newcastle Riverside, UK
Jul 01: Bristol Marble Factory, UK
Jul 02: Sheffield Corporation, UK
Jul 03: London Heaven, UK
Jul 04: Oberhausen Kulttempel, Germany
Jul 29: Hinckley Grand Casino, MN
