The Korean indie rock band Se So Neon has come under scrutiny for their decision to perform at the 2024 South by Southwest (SXSW hereon) Festival.
The band is set to perform at the festival on March 15 in Texas, United States. But their decision to participate in the event has been met with criticism in light of the ongoing devastation of Gaza, Palestine.
The criticism comes in the context of nearly 100 artists pulling out of the festival, citing that weapons manufacturers and the US Department of Defense are involved in this event. These organizations, the withdrawing artists have said, are connected directly to the ongoing onslaught of the Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.
Over 100 artists and guest speakers have withdrawn from the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival in Austin, TX.
They cited the involvement of weapons manufacturers and the US Department of Defense in the event, which are directly implicated in the genocide of Palestinians. pic.twitter.com/uNHAFFqOqN
— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) March 14, 2024
In response, the festival put out a statement, essentially doubling down on their support of the private defense industry and the US Army’s sponsorship of the event.
The Army’s sponsorship is part of our commitment to bring forward ideas that shape our world. In regard to Collins Aerospace, they participated this year as a sponsor of two SXSW Pitch categories, giving entrepreneurs visibility and funding for potentially game-changing work.
— SXSW (@sxsw) March 12, 2024
Fans have been responding to Se So Neon’s posts about SXSW with Tweets hoping to get them to reconsider their decision to perform there since a few days ago.
Please rethink this! Many people are backing OUT of SXSW because SXSW is being sponsored by arms manufacturers. https://t.co/f6csDKGelc
— samantha⁷ ☁️ (@cIoudedsam) March 13, 2024
Please boycott this festival 🙏
— 💜⁷AbolishIce&CBP😷 #Yarch #StoptheGenocide (@W0manEncircled) March 15, 2024
Queen, we love you, but Please join the over a hundred artists who have stepped away from this festival for its support of a gen0cidal colonial project. If you have an online concert instead, I promise I’ll watch and buy extra tix for more fans plsss https://t.co/ieI58IXo5E
— NoseyBee (@miNosetradamus) March 15, 2024
Even a day before the festival, Se So Neon have posted about their appearance on their social media accounts, and the replies were flooded with fans calling for them to withdraw from the event and show solidarity with Gaza.
@sleeep__sheeep i hope you guys reconsider your decision to perform pic.twitter.com/zoyzk6Sy4h
— wild_rose⁷ (@naztan_7) March 15, 2024
@se_so_neon you need to back out https://t.co/xn1ZQLVevt
— re(v)⁷ (@namgimisserr) March 15, 2024
please consider withdrawing from the festival aswell due to Korean history!!https://t.co/MYUbMQJsg8
— Elliot⁷ 🏳️🌈 seeing The Rose (@queerminyoongi) March 15, 2024
hey guys… there’s still time…https://t.co/mO71ddi9eu
— rain⁷ (@doomboynamgi) March 15, 2024
really disappointed and appalled. this⬇️ is how you should have moved. reconsider your actions https://t.co/YZgk5kB89k
— çağla⁷ (@bangtandaone) March 15, 2024
The group, however, has not acknowledged any of these demands so far, inviting criticism.
se so neon i will never forgive you for not backing out of sxsw and ruining good music for me. im gonna compile all ssn and soyoon music soon on a drive so if u want it lmk lol 👎🏽
— rain⁷ (@doomboynamgi) March 15, 2024
you really can’t trust anyone anymore….. https://t.co/KIgxUVBM7C pic.twitter.com/e8iqXUjWQA
— ashy🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@hos3okv) March 15, 2024
and this is after many pulled out this is so disappointing https://t.co/C00DZiZvSZ
— s (@rkiveformon) March 15, 2024