God Is An Astronaut Got Involved In A Strange Incident
A strange incident occurred during the concert of the band God Is An Astronaut in Athens, Greece on Saturday 6th of October . According to the local press, Torsten Kinsella (singer of GIAA) forced the Greek support band Head On to leave the stage earlier. Torsten Kinsella grabbed the mic from the Greek singer, pushed him away and shouted at him «You don’t fucking walk there.»
We have not heard anything official from the Irish band’s side yet, however this is the official English statement of the Greek support band Head On:
HEAD ON ANNOUNCEMENT
“This announcement concerns what happened on Saturday, 06/10, at Fuzz Live Music Club:
We were opening for God is an Astronaut in Athens, and while we were on stage and ending our 5th song, Torsten Kinsella,
a member of GIAA, storms on stage, pushes and grabs our vocalist by the neck, grabs the microphone and yells “Let’s make something straight; you can’t walk around my equipment”.
In continuation he demanded that we get off the stage, interrupting our set as a result. Kinsella came up on stage a little while later, this time with an apologetic tone (towards the crowd),
blaming us for possible damage to their equipment. Most of the crowd
responded with applause in this “apology”, some of them booed him, while some left immediately with spoiled mood and with the money of the ticket unjustly wasted.
We would like to clarify the following:
We do not, in any case, tolerate harassment/oppression/bullying, whether on or off stage, and particularly from individuals who do it behind the security of their fame.
We would like to make clear that throughout our entire time on stage we had absolute control of our actions, regardless of what GIAA’s frontman stated afterwards,
this is also clear from the audiovisual material to follow and from the fact that their equipment has remained untouched.
We know full well the value of musical equipment, having worked countless shifts in order for us to be able to purchase our own,
and we would like to highlight that there was never any restriction applied neither from the band nor from the production, in regards to the what our “space” was on stage.
We condemn the organization for remaining detached and impartial after the incident took place, when they took no public position regarding the incident.
The following day the aggressive style on the part of GIAA continued to thirds who publicly criticized them for attacking us.
With false and slanderous comments, through their official page, we saw this band calling us “some drunks”.
Only when they ‘d been reminded of the fact that there were videos rushed to erase their comments (as well as all their posts that propagated the live in Athens).
This incident strikes up a conversation about the manner in which support bands are usually treated, by musical venues, headlines, and by the crowd itself.
That being said, we would like to note that there were Fuzz employees who showed personal support during and after the incident, for which we salute them.
Kinsella’s behavior (and,that of the band that he represents) is not in line with art’s, and particularly, music’s, freedom of expression, specifically one with roots in rock,
which has been used as a method of expression for human rights in multiple instances in the past.
More so, considering he has lived in a place that has been abused by the oppression of the English,
not only do his actions disgrace his country, whose mistreatment has produced many revolutionary and unconventional artists,
but true to his British commonwealth upbringing, his oppressive behavior was reminiscent of bullying.
Two specific web pages rushed to prove their level by baptizing the assault as an “aggressive attitude”, our energy “overwhelming zeal/obvious intoxication” and ourselves “naive and careless, probably”.
Those who choose to praise such practices dazzled by the reputation of the Irish band ,
would be encouraged to reconsider their stance.
GIAA made a mistake from the start.
They chose-agreed to a support band whose stage presence does not rely on cool lights, sound effects, and in the static instability they themselves adopt.
It seems they believe that a support band should have a decorative and dispensable role, aligned with the aesthetics of the headliner.
It’s their right, but they ought to have realized it and set us the facts, so we can deny from the very beginning to participate in that.
Finally, God might be an astronaut, but “God is an Astronaut” are certainly not gods, and perhaps it was time someone reminded them of that.
We would like to thank all of you who supported and continue to support us.
– Head on
Co-signed by the following who were present at the incident:
Elena Evangelia(Dance Instructor/Choreographer), Sogia Kallogianni (Director), Petros Kasimatis (Musician), Apostolis Kiassos (Musician), Ilias Kleftaras (Director), Dimitris Kontoulis (Director),
Giannis Biliris (Musician), Stelios Bouziotis (Cinematographer), Stathis Papandreou (Musician/Sound Engineer),
Giannis Papanikolaou (Musician), Christos Pitharas (Director), Giοrgos Skarlatos (Musician), Giorgos Sylligardos (Musician), Eleni Tzannatou (Journalist), Panos Blackjohn (Musician)”
Image source: Fuzz Club
Sources: Athens Voice, Efsyn Newspaper,
Sources: Athens Voice, Efsyn Newspaper,
