German rockers Iron Savior have bowed out of the upcoming ProgPower USA festival citing concerns over the current U.S. administration and adding that they “simply do not feel safe and welcome” coming to the U.S. to play.
The band issued a full statement expressing their concerns that was shared both through their own social media as well as that of the ProgPower USA festival. But on the ProgPower USA festival, comments on the post on social media were turned off with the lone remaining comment from the festival organizer stating, “As of right now, I have no idea who I am going after for a replacement. I don’t intend on rushing things, but don’t anticipate this taking months either given the obvious circumstances.”
Why Iron Savior Bowed Out of the ProgPower USA Festival
The German rockers shared their sadness over not being able to make this year’s festival as they had initially planned, but after consideration they issued a statement that expressed their discomfort with the Donald Trump administration in the U.S.
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The statement reads as follows:
Dear ppusa community,
with the heaviest heart we have decided that we cannot travel to Atlanta this year. The reason is as simple as omnipresent: the new Trump administration and their new world order. Trump/Vance/Musk are tearing down everything what has been build up since ww2. They rewrite history and turn around the victim-aggressor role denying that Ukraine has been invaded by Putin with 150.000 soldiers, they call Ukraine’s president a dictator who doesn’t uphold election even though they know that elections are forbidden in Ukraine during war by their constitution, they send Vance over here telling us to start collaborating with the AfD Nazi party here in Germany, they spit on the truth and think freedom of speech means license to lie and to insult. Obviously they are about to destabilize the western world order so they can rewrite it to their needs, to make even more money.
We are deeply worried about this and simply do not feel safe and welcome anymore in your country. Of course we know that only 50% of the voters voted for Trump and that 50% didn’t vote at all. We feel extremely sorry for those of you who think the same, but at this point we can’t foresee what will happen in the next months. Maybe things will calm down and your admin will somehow get back to their senses. Or will they proclaim the American-Russian federation? All is possible and this scares the hell out of us.
We hope to return to Atlanta some other time in a better world like now. I hope you can understand and accept our decision.
All the best
Iron Savior
As you might expect, the band’s statement drew some strong reactions on social media. As previously stated, the ProgPower USA festival opted to turn off the comments while adding that they were “an entity that’s all about the music and won’t be getting into politics.”
But Iron Savior’s own socials allowed for reaction leading the band to further address their initial statement.
The group added in the comments, “Just to clarify: this statement was made in this way, because you deserve the truth and no Blabla ‘due-to-internal-reasons’ bullshit. It was not made to blame or insult any of you nor to slam the door. But we have to stick to our ideals and beliefs.”
They then added a lengthy addendum to their previous posting. In it, singer-guitarist Piet Sielck addressed those who felt they were making a political statement. Rather, he suggested the band’s primary concern was that by September, when the festival would be taking place, that things in the U.S. could be worse than they are today and that they had a legit fear that as someone who had been critical of the current administration, things could be more dangerous by the time of the visit.
“It may sound ridiculous to some of you, but looking at what has happened in just a few weeks, I cannot predict at all how far your government is willing to go,” the singer commented. “It was never our intention to make a political statement nor to hurt your feelings or insult you. We just gave you the truth of what led us to this decision.”
His full statement can be read below.
Statement PPUSA clarification addendum
Some of you accuse me of making a political statement on the back of the fans. This is not the case. The only reason why we are not traveling to the USA is our concern that in September things may be even a lot worse than today and that it may be dangerous for people like us, who criticize the government openly, to visit the US. It may sound ridiculous to some of you, but looking at what has happened in just a few weeks, I cannot predict at all how far your government is willing to go. It was never our intention to make a political statement nor to hurt your feelings or insult you. We just gave you the truth of what led us to this decision.
Some of you accuse me to speak about things which are not of my concern. First of all everything the USA does is of concern for any human being on this planet since the US actions affect the entire world. Besides that my mother has been living for over 30 years in SF, CA and is married to an American citizen. CA has been something like a second home for me for centuries and I used to life there myself. I think this qualifies for being concerned as well.
Some of you also accuse me of being badly informed by listening to the „wrong“ news. I am from Germany, where the media is financed and run by the people. The media is committed to be neutral and unbiased by law. Besides that we have also news run by commercial companies, which mostly are biased in the vein of their owners like in the US. Some of you might have a wrong idea about our public medias. They are not operated by the government nor has the government any control about the content. This is regulated by law. But since we are all human, this works not all the time 100%, but it works good enough for me to keep my trust in a more or less neutral and unbiased coverage.
Some of you also accuse the Germans, that we would forbid the freedom of speech. This is as wrong as can be. The freedom of speech/opinion is anchored in our constitution, the GRUNDGESETZ, article 5 which also forbids censor. But unlike in the US, where literally everything is allowed to say, print or picture we have some limitation. Insults, defamation/aspersion and incitement of the people/racial hatred are forbidden by law and will be prosecuted if violated. This simply means, you can express any content as much as you want as long as you don’t insult and/or defame others and your content is not inciting the people. We have learned that from the mistakes of the Weimar Republic wich allowed the Nazi party to rise with all the horrors of ww2 and the holocaust. This is where the vast majority of the German society comes from and I am totally ok to sacrifice a tiny little bit of my freedom of speech having to make my points in a civilized way without hate, insult and defamation. Because those are the tools/weapons of demagogues.
Some of you also accuse me having divided the ppusa metal community. I am sorry if I brought up a topic which is unpleasant, but the divide has been there long before I wrote the statement and was not made by me. The divide is made by politicians who use hate and defamation to manipulate the people to their needs. My statement just made visible what is under the surface.
Once again I would like to express my deepest regret about the current situation and having to disappoint people who are not responsible. Once again I can only ask for your understanding and tolerance. We don’t claim to be right here, but we have to base things on what we think is right. If we are right or not… time will tell.
All the best
Piet
About the ProgPower USA Festival 2025
Though Iron Savior are out, there’s still plenty to catch over the course of the Sept. 3-6 ProgPower USA weekend at Center Stage in Atlanta, Georgia.
The 2025 event features Orden Ogan, Vanden Plas, The Night Flight Orchestra, Symphony, Skald, Cemetery Skyline, Fabio Leone’s Dawn of Victory, Green Carnation, Eclipse, Sonata Arctica, Vola and Anciients among others.
Tickets are currently available for the 2025 edition of the ProgPower USA Festival.
2025 Rock + Metal Festival + Cruise Guide
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Gallery Credit: Chad Childers, Loudwire
