Arcade Fire kicked off their tour as planned on Tuesday in Dublin, despite allegations of sexual misconduct against singer Win Butler, as a wave of ticket refund requests swept through social media.
Posted at 2:16 p.m.
In an article published on Sunday, four people told the American media pitchfork having been victims of sexual misconduct by the leader of Arcade Fire. Allegations that have been refuted by Win Butler, who says he never had a non-consensual relationship, but has apologized for the pain he caused by not being “more aware and attentive to the effect” he has on people.
After the publication of the text of pitchfork, there have been numerous calls for the tour to be canceled. But seeing that the group had decided to go ahead with the shows, several fans said they were unable to go and applaud them on stage, or even cheer them on. On Twitter, requests for reimbursement, which directly challenge the giant Ticketmaster, were very numerous on Tuesday.
But a few hours before the start of the show, the two concerts in Dublin were still maintained by the producer MCD Productions, with no possibility of reimbursement for people who no longer wanted to attend.
Arcade Fire, which performed in Osheaga this summer, is scheduled to give around 40 shows this fall in Europe and the United States. The tour Wethe title of their most recent album, is due to end in Montreal on December 3 at the Bell Centre.