Enter Shikari issue statement over ‘abuse’ of support band Palaye Royale and their fans

"We do not, never have, and never will, condone that sort of behaviour."

Enter Shikari have issued an impassioned statement after the support band on their UK tour were met with a deluge of abuse.

Support band Palaye Royale reportedly faced a hostile reception as they opened up for the rock titans in Southend on Saturday night. According to eyewitnesses, a member of the audience intentionally attempted to abuse both the band and their fans, which resulted in a member of Palaye Royale stepping in to defend the crowd.

The troublemaker was later escorted from the Cliffs Pavillion, RockSound reports.

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In a lengthy statement posted on Facebook, Enter Shikari hit out at a “very small group” of their fans who have reportedly led a campaign of online hate and verbal abuse at their shows.

“Last night in Southend, there was an incident where one member of the audience someone who was – from what we can gather from talking to several people involved – there specifically to cause trouble) who was abusing Palaye Royale with highly offensive language, crushing young fans in the front rows and generally making the early part of the night unpleasant for everyone around him,” the band wrote.

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“At the end of Palaye Royale’s set, their drummer went to the barrier to check on fans and (rightly or wrongly, but, adrenalised by what had happened, maybe understandable) confront the individual, an out-of-context video clip of the proceedings catches part of the exchange, but fails to tell the whole story.

“The person in question was taken aside, where he proceeded to threaten security, issue extremely violent threats towards Palaye Royale’s merch person, and then ended with a flourish of a threat to burn the building down as he was escorted from the venue.

“It goes without saying that we do not, never have, and never will, condone that sort of behaviour. and we will always endeavour to have it squashed as quickly and quietly as possible.”

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The band later addressed the impact of the hostility, and explained how they had faced similar crowds during their earlier days.

“We also acknowledge that Palaye Royale aren’t to everyone’s tastes. But Enter Shikari aren’t to everyone’s tastes either, and we went through our own share of this on support tours in our earlier days. Imagine how we would have felt then, had this been happening to us?,” they wrote.

“It’s a rock show. ‘Rock’ is already treated as a marginal art form, we shouldn’t create division within it.

“We maintain that Enter Shikari shows should always be a safe space for anyone who wants to come and enjoy music. We hope that we can now put this all behind us, and move forward positively with what has otherwise been an extremely fun tour”.

Responding to the statement, Palaye Royale said: “Shows are meant to be a safe place where you feel apart of something that is greater than one self and not a reflection of the toxic society outside.”

Meanwhile, Shikari recently played their own tribute to David Bowie with an emotional cover of ‘Heroes.’

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