Two nations have been at the top of the list for places not to play this year: Israel and Russia. Cancellations in Tel Aviv have been part politics, part personal safety during the bombings earlier in the year. Russian cancellations have been strictly political because of the country's crossing into Crimea. In Israel's defense at least performers aren't being arrested or prevented from performing by the government. Lady Gaga and Madonna have had various legal issues with the conservative Russian government and its "homosexual propaganda" laws during previous tours, and now it looks like the other end of the music spectrum is having problems as well, based on reports from Cannibal Corpse and Loudwire.
The iconic death metal act just completed a tour in Russia, if you can call it that. Police and religious authorities managed to shut down nearly half of the gigs however. Russian Orthodox churches have organized protests due to the band's grotesque and violent lyrics, which is fair enough. If you're going to protest music for being violent, Cannibal Corpse is your band. That doesn't normally result in cancelled concerts however. What's especially odd is that police never cited the band's actual content when shutting venues down.
The band's Ufa show was called after the power was shut down at the venue. The police cited that it hadn't paid its rent...a bizarre coincidence. The Moscow and St. Petersburg shows were called after police informed the band it didn't have the right visas...apparently different cities in Russia require different visas, if you believe this explanation. Finally the group's Niznhy Novgorod set was ended about halfway through when police insisted on checking everyone at the show for drugs...a lengthy process.
This isn't the first issue metal groups have had in Russia this year. Perpetual lightning rod Marilyn Manson had shows called off because of protests and bomb threats, while Polish band Behemoth was actually arrested, again for allegedly incorrect visas.
