Bands Boycott Main Street Armory in Rochester New York
Bands have come out in protest to an event scheduled to occur at the Main Street Armory in Rochester, due to its ties to conspiracy theorists.
The ReAwaken America Tour's scheduled stop in Rochester, New York is causing quite a stir before the show even takes place.
The tour includes a laundry list of right-wing speakers who push conspiracy theories that have been for the most part debunked. Some of the theories include that the COVID-19 pandemic is a hoax and that the 2020 election was rigged, and actually won by Donald Trump. Those speaking on the tour include former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.
White nationalism is a key element of the ReAwaken Tour, and indie band Japanese Breakfast, whose frontwoman Michelle Zauner is of Korean-American heritage, announced via Twitter that the band is pulling out of their scheduled show at the Armory, because of the scheduled ReAwaken America Tour stops in Rochester on August 12th and 13th.
Japanese Breakfast was nominated for the Best New Artist award at this year's Grammys. They were scheduled to play at the Armory on September 27th.
Rochester-based indie band Joywave has also joined in on the boycott, via Twitter:
We reached out to Joywave frontman Daniel Armbruster, and he had this to say:
We don’t think the Reawaken America Tour is consistent with the values of our community. Welcoming the forces that tried to hang the sitting Vice President of the United States on January 6th, 2021 to our city with open arms should be abhorrent to all Monroe County residents regardless of political affiliation. We understand that the Armory is a private business and has the right to host whatever events they want, but we also have the right to not bring our business into an establishment that is actively participating in attempts to undermine free and fair elections. If the Reawaken America Tour takes place as scheduled, we will not play the Armory in the future, and I’ve had several booking agents indicate they will follow suit with their artists. Some have already canceled or moved shows out of our area. We’ve worked for years to present Rochester in a positive light to artists and industry folks around the country in hopes of bringing more high profile events to our city. Decisions like the one the Armory has made hurt our arts and entertainment community and ensure that your favorite artist’s next tour will stop in Buffalo or Syracuse instead. We strongly encourage the Armory to cancel the Reawaken America Tour.
The Rochester Main Street Armory is a historic early 20th-century building in Rochester, New York, that has served as a concert venue and multi-purpose arena since it reopened in 2007. The Armory was built in 1905 by the United States Army and used for the training and processing of soldiers into the mid-1950s. The New York National Guard left the facility in 1990, and the building sat vacant for nearly two decades and fell into disrepair.
The building was purchased in the 2000s by Rochester businessman Scott Donaldson and was refurbished and opened to the public again in 2007.