Swedish Venue Calls Filter’s Death Threat Into Question

Earlier today, we posted about how Filter cancelled a show in Gothenburg, Sweden, due to receiving a death threat. The band claimed the threat was made electronically, and referenced both band members and the venue.

But now a representative from the Gothenburg venue, Sticky Fingers, is calling the validity of Filter’s claims into question. According to a statement made by venue representative Andres Leijon to Aftonbladet, a Sticky Fingers staff member caught a member of Filter smoking a cigarette inside, and told them to put it out “or the owners will kill us.” This made the band overreact, and they cancelled their show knowing that it give them a flurry of media attention.

Leijon went on to say:

“Had there been any danger [to the people inside the club or any of the musicians], we would have closed the club immediately and not allowed any of the other bands [on the bill] to perform.”

According to Blabbermouth, the threat was reported, and a police officer did come to the venue and take a complaint around 9:30pm local time.

So the question is, who’s lying? On the one hand, this could be an angry promoter seeking to discredit a band who bailed on a show at the very last minute. On the other hand, I haven’t seen Filter in the news very much until today. So either this is payback against Filter, or Filter disrespected Christina Grimmie’s murder in the hopes to get publicity.

If the truth ever comes out, we’ll let you know what it is.