Well, that escalated quickly…
Last month British Summer Time concert series announced Bob Dylan and Neil Young would co-headline one of their shows in London’s Hyde Park on July 12th of next year. The announcement may have been received with excitement from fans over in the U.K., but Neil Young did not share the same amount of enthusiasm. In unapologetic Neil Young fashion, the guitarist and singer outspokenly criticized the the British concert promoters when expressing his opinion on what he considered a premature announcement.
Young’s main issue with the show’s producers is that he fundamentally disagrees with their involvement with presenting sponsor, Barclays Bank, citing their business relationships with the fossil fuel industry. It turns out that Mr. Young has a little more weight in the industry than Barclays, as it was reported on Wednesday that Barclays will no longer sponsor the July 12 concert. Young shared the news to his archive website, stating “NYA is happy to announce that the Hyde park show will proceed without Barclays as a sponsor. We are overjoyed, so happy to be playing the show!”
The post also went on to state that the show’s billing on July 12 will be listed as, “Sponsored By Nobody.”
Dylan has remained silent on the issue, letting his fellow classic rock colleague take on the promoter’s sponsorship issues himself.
Neil Young and his fans may be happy about their resolution, but Barclay’s name and imaging is still seen on the event’s Facebook page, as well as atop the event’s official ticketing page on the British Summer Time website. If the promoters are willing to put their presenting sponsor on the back burner for this show (which is a very difficult move considering the cost required for a presenting sponsorship at music festivals these days) they sure aren’t in a rush to remove the bank’s name and likeness from the show’s billing as of Wednesday morning.
[H/T Stereogum]