Shining Concert Cancelled Due To Niklas Kvarforth’s Alleged Actions in Idaho
Kvarforth is accused of drugging a woman’s drink, slapping an audience member, and threatening to stab a person, in addition to other alleged actions.
Noted edge–lords Shining (SWE) are currently touring the US with Revenge and Wolvhammer for the “No More Safe Space Tour.” It seems the try-hard titling of this tour was a harbinger of things to come, much like a Donald Trump tweet complaining about Hillary Clinton only to be turned around and reflect hilariously poorly on him every time he does the exact thing he complained about. On May 14th, the band played at a Boise, Idaho venue named The Shredder. The show reportedly did not go well. Shining vocalist Niklas Kvarforth has been accused of:
1. Drugging a person’s drink
2. Groping women
3. Threatening to stab people
4. Threatening an audience member with rape
5. Slapping an audience member
6. Using racist and homophobic slurs during their set
7. Seig heiling
Security footage, purportedly from outside The Shredder, shows what appears to be an angry Kvarforth grabbing someone outside the venue. He also appears to throw a nazi salute at 0:11.
Tonic Lounge, a venue in Portland, OR got wind of Shining’s antics and cancelled the show. On Facebook, the venue posted in great detail about the incident:
“Tonic Lounge has decided to cancel the Shining show that was scheduled for this Wednesday, May 17th. All tickets will be refunded. We regret having not researched this band more before approving their show. After booking them, it was brought to our attention that Shining’s singer has done and said many things that could be considered offensive, dangerous, or destructive. While we were learning about and considering these issues, the list continued to grow, including a recent report that the he may have been involved in the drugging of someone’s drink. This morning we received a call from a trusted friend in Boise Idaho, detailing the events that took place while Shining were there on Sunday. We were told that the singer of Shining went to the local punk bar Mulligans before their concert, and was groping women and threatening to stab employees, and had to be removed. We were also told that later, while performing at The Shredder, he used many blatant racist and homophobic slurs on stage, threatened audience members with rape, slapped audience members in the face, and was sieg heil saluting repeatedly throughout their performance. Sometimes words and allegations on the internet can be difficult to navigate, but a story like this coming from a friend is not. The above types of behavior are simply not acceptable at Tonic Lounge. This isn’t about censorship. This is about protecting our venue, our staff, and our patrons. This decision was not made under pressure by any individuals or political groups. We believe in freedom of expression and are not quick to pull the plug on any band booked at our club. However, we are not going to invite someone into our space to spout hate speech on our stage, and/or put our staff and patrons in harm’s way. We are still in full support of Famine Fest Presents, the other bands who were on the bill, and all of our friends and customers who planned on attending. We hope you all can respect our decision to do what’s best for our club and those within it.”
Following up on Tonic Lounge’s post, The Shredder had this to say:
“Big ups to Chris and the Tonic Lounge in Portland for making a choice decision! No need to put up with bigotry and childish bullshit. Especially from an individual that only preys on the weaker people in attendance”
As a funny aside, the venue posted this on the event’s page prior to Shining’s set, which is probably just a super appropriate typo:
At the time of this posting, Shining has not commented on their Facebook or Twitter pages about the incident or the cancelled show. Their tour continues tonight in Seattle.
