An upcoming performance by longtime punk act The Exploited in Santa Cruz is causing an uproar over what some see as the Scottish band’s support of Nazism.
Yet, the venue — the Santa Cruz County Veterans Memorial Building — says that The Exploited concert scheduled for March 7 will go on as planned despite the outpouring of negative feedback about the booking.
“The Veterans Memorial Building will not be canceling the show,” Dave Ramos, the venue’s managing director, wrote in a news release sent out in response to concerns over The Exploited show. “Supporting free expression does not mean endorsing any particular viewpoint — it means allowing individuals to engage with art, music, and ideas on their own terms.”
These type of charges are certainly not new when it comes to The Exploited, an Edinburgh-born band that has certainly courted much courtesy over the years through its aggressively anti-authority lyrics. Yet, much of that can just be summed up as old-school ’70s and ’80s punk.
What separates The Exploited — and is vastly concerning to many — is that lead singer Wattie Buchan has been accused of aligning himself with Nazi causes and supporters. Critics point to a number of well-known white supremist/Nazi acts that Buchan has hung out with, and been photographed with. And it’s hard to ignore the swastika that Buchan allegedly had tattooed on his body.
“Yes, I’ve seen the picture of the tattoo and heard and read about the band’s controversial history and experiences with neo-Nazi and Nazi groups,” Ramos said in a follow-up interview. “I am not in a position to defend the band nor make excuses for them.
“I stand by our decision to hold the show as scheduled because if we start cherry-picking who we do and do not allow to exercise their rights to free expression, we aren’t upholding the values that we, as Veterans, fought for.”
It appears that the commotion over the performance began on Reddit, where a post brings up a number of different times that Buchan was associated with neo-Nazi acts — as well as the accompanying excuses that allegedly went along with those situations (and the swastika tattoo).
“All of these separate instances don’t add up to ‘youthful ignorance’ or simply ‘being at the wrong place at the wrong time,’” the writer posted. “There is no solid defense against these instances, the only defenses they have are the fact that many people are genuinely ignorant and unaware of it, and even more people willingly decide to look the other way and ignore it in solidarity.”
Many others chimed in on the post, decrying the booking. Some also noted the irony of an act that is perceived to be sympathetic to neo-Nazism to be playing a hall honoring U.S. Veterans.
Ramos says he’s heard from plenty of disgruntled folks over the decision to carry on with the show, with one veteran telling him that he is “a disgrace to the uniform I wore.” Yet, Ramos believes that this just underscores why it’s important to protect freedom of speech.
“We respect the right of individuals to voice their concerns, just as we respect the rights of others to attend this event,” he says. “We encourage everyone to examine the band’s history, lyrics, and statements for themselves, rather than relying on secondhand claims, before drawing conclusions.”
Yet, Mirko Jurcan, a veteran who lives in Santa Cruz county, is absolutely flabbergasted that the band is being allowed to play at the Veterans Memorial Building.
“I am a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom, my grandfathers and uncles all fought in WWII- some were POWs,” he says. “This is an affront to everything United States Military veterans stand for and a disgrace that the Veterans Memorial Hall would allow this. I employ the vets hall to cancel this show. It is disgraceful that The Exploited are allowed to perform in my town that I pay taxes in.
“We have no place in our society for Nazis.”