Nick Cave gives advice to an artist torn by The Great Escape boycott: "Play"

Last month, Lambrini Girls joined a bunch of artists who have dropped out of The Great Escape Festival 2024. In their statement they shared that this is in solidarity with Palestine. "Barclays provide financial services of over £1BN pounds to companies supplying military technology and weapons to the IDF, perpetuating the horrors unfolding in Gaza," they wrote.

Now, a fan has written into Nick Cave's The Red Hand Files to as him for advice on what to do. "I do not support the genocide, I would hope the rest of the world feels the same. But as an artist already existing in a very toxic industry, the best many of us can hope for is a few scraps – the glimmer of an opportunity, a gig, anything to help us get our music out into the world, and in turn make it a better place with the love we promote in our art," they wrote.

"The music industry is a place of being told you need to follow TikTok trends and that labels only look at ‘metrics’. Individuality doesn’t feel celebrated," the continued. "I feel as if I am to be judged by my peers and by fans if we don’t cancel our performance, yet my heart tells me that this is ill-advised. I don’t want to be bullied into following a trend, yet I worry my silence makes me look complicit".

Putting a point on the fact that not many artists have the privilege of cancelling and boycotting their performances The Great Escape over a sponsorship which is linked to numerous other festivals, they add, "Integrity is all we have, so how are we expected to navigate through this world when all commercialism and corporate sponsorship comes from darkness?"

Nick Cave's response was simple: "Play".