A new wave of bands spoke up over the weekend, distancing themselves from disgraced booking agent John Finberg. Finberg was outed in an an explosive report by our friends at MetalSucks (our summary of the key points here), being accused by multiple women of sexual harassment and abuse, and various shady promoter dealings. Artists like Nightwish, Amorphis, and Battle Beast were among the first to drop Finberg. A second wave of artists including Hammerfall, Angra, and Powerglove followed, and over the weekend a handful of other bands parted ways with Finberg as well.
Among the new wave of bands – Overkill, Nile, Symphony X, Primal Fear, Firewind, Dark Tranquillity, Leaves Eyes, and Finberg's last remaining large client, Kamelot.
The following were taken from the bands' social pages.
Overkill
“We do not accept any form of abuse, bullying, racism or sexism.We have stopped working with John Finberg back in 2016.”
Kamelot
“It goes without saying that any form of harassment, bullying, racism has no place in business, music, internet, home or anywhere!! Any allegations should be taken serious and due process should be applied. The band will no longer be working with First Row Talent for bookings.”
Dark Tranquillity
“Dark Tranquillity are no longer working with or being booked by John Finberg / First Row Talent in the US.Dark Tranquillity does not tolerate harassment and bullying in any form.We are working on alternatives to the recently announced North American tour and will inform you as soon as we have any updates.”
Firewind
“Due to the recent allegations against John Finberg, Firewind will no longer be working with First Row Talent in North America.
“As we had a tour on sale, we had to wait a few days for that to be sorted out by World Entertainment Inc. All shows with Symphony X and Primal Fear are now canceled and we will keep you posted if and when they’ll be rescheduled under new representation.
It goes without saying that Firewind does not support or accept any form of harassment, bullying and racism.”
Nile
“Nile and World Entertainment Inc effective immediately no longer work with John Finberg and First Row Talent. All scheduled shows and tours will be canceled and rescheduled with new representation.”
Symphony X
“Symphony X and World Entertainment Inc effective immediately no longer work with John Finberg and First Row Talent. All scheduled shows and tours will be canceled and rescheduled with new representation.”
Primal Fear
“We had to wait several days until World Entertainment Inc had sorted out the legal side of a tour that’s already on sale. Now we can follow all our friends & colleges and officially announce that Primal Fear and Level 10 Music effective immediately will no longer work with John Finberg and First Row Talent. It goes without saying that any form of harassment, bullying, racism has no place in business, music, internet, home or anywhere! All scheduled shows will be canceled and rescheduled with new representation. Mat, Ralf, Tom, Alex, Magnus & Michael”
Leaves Eyes
“There is no space for any form of harassment, bullying, racism or other abusive manners in this world especially not within the metal family.
“We updated our booking contacts some days ago, and are no longer represented by the former agency in North America or any other territory.”
We'll keep you posted on more updates.
