A Bunch Of Artists Are Canceling Concerts In Russia, Like Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, And Nick Cave

Given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, that part of the world isn’t exactly somewhere people are flocking to right now. Given the unrest in the area, music acts who were planning on performing over there are understandably deciding to change their touring plans and skip Russia. Green Day was one of the first major artists to announce canceled Russian shows a couple days ago, and in the past 24 hours or so, a good handful of artists have taken a similar stance.

The Killers were set to perform at Moscow’s Park Live Festival this summer, but a representative for the band tells TMZ they’ve pulled out of the event. Franz Ferdinand also canceled shows they had lined up for this summer and wrote on social media, “We are cancelling our Russian shows that are scheduled for this summer. The only reason for this is the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian state. […] We know you see the madness of your country’s leadership. We know you do not want war. We do not want war. Despite the tragedy of this situation, we still burn a flame of optimism in our hearts and look forward to the day when we can return in a time of peace to share the joy of music together again.”

In light of this news, the band became a trending topic on Twitter today, as many users drew a connection between the current Russian invasion and Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, after whom the band is named and whose assassination in 1914 is considered to be a major catalyst for World War I.

Artists like Nick Cave, Louis Tomlinson, Health, Yungblud, and Måneskin shared similar news, with Måneskin not canceling shows but delaying news of upcoming shows. Check out their posts below.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.