Japanese Breakfast cancels show at venue hosting Michael Flynn’s tour

Japanese Breakfast, an indie band led by Korean-American singer Michelle Zauner, was scheduled to perform at the venue on September 27 at 8 p.m. with rock band Yo La Tengo. But the group pulled the plug earlier this week.

“We canceled the event because a number of people have informed us that they are boycotting the venue because of the Reawaken America tour,” Japanese Breakfast said in a tweet Thursday afternoon. “It’s a picket line that we support and are not interested in crossing.”

Japanese Breakfast’s Rochester concert would have been part of the band’s 2022 North American tour, which featured musical acts such as rock bands The Linda Lindas and Florence + the Machine on various tour dates.

The band whose name is meant to emphasize the juxtaposition American Pop Culture and the Exoticism of Asians was the musical guest on the season 47 finale of Saturday Night Live. The band members performed “Be Sweet” and “Paprika” from their latest album “Jubilee”.

“Unfortunately, we cannot move the event to another location [at] This time we love Rochester and I’m sure we’ll be back someday soon,” the Japanese breakfast also said on Twitter.

The ReAwaken America Tour kicked off in April 2021. In an interview with Charisma News, Clark explained that the tour is a movement to protest current regulations to reduce the spread of Covid-19 and further the conspiracy that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump. The tour has made stops in Oklahoma, Texas and Arizona and is scheduled to take place in Rochester on August 12th and 13th.

An online petition was created urging the Main Street Armory to cancel the ReAwaken America event, citing that it would “likely draw white supremacists and other members of hate groups from the Northeast into our community.”

The tour, which has been criticized in multiple media outlets as a breeding ground for far-right group QAnon, has featured Flynn alongside radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, political activist and radio host Charlie Kirk and Eric Trump in their cast of speakers.

Flynn’s reps did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Flynn, 63, recently made headlines for listing the Fifth in a testimony before the House Committee on the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, after being asked if he would support a peaceful transfer of power in the United States believe. He was subpoenaed for a post-election meeting with Trump, where the former president allegedly suggested confiscating ballot boxes.

Flynn was the US national security adviser during the Trump administration but resigned after three weeks for his possibly illegal communication with the then Russian ambassador.

Michael Flynn pleads guilty to lying to the FBI about contacts with the Russian ambassador

The Japanese Breakfast concert promoter, After Dark Presents, on Thursday asked Main Street Armory to stop ticket sales for the concert. Main Street Armory owner Scott Donaldson said he was not given a reason why the band members canceled and never spoke to them about the ReAwaken America event.

Donaldson said the venue was “hit right between the eyes” amid an altercation between ReAwaken America’s supporters and critics. The venue is non-political, he said, and the space has been rented out for hundreds of events, from volleyball tournaments to hip-hop concerts, regardless of the criticism they draw.

“You can’t please everyone,” Donaldson said. “This is a business, not a political arena.”