Printed from BusinessInsurance.com

Insurer pulls plug on two bands at Ohio festival

Posted On: Jun. 12, 2019 2:01 PM CST

music festival

Two hard rock bands have been banned from performing in an Ohio concert festival on the order of the festival’s insurer.

Bands Unchipped and Weed Demon were removed from the lineup at ComFest in Columbus, Ohio, in late June at the request of Tokio Marine HCC, the provider of the festival’s assault and battery coverage. The insurer did not provide a reason for threatening to revoke the coverage if the bands were allowed to perform.

“Without this coverage, ComFest would not be able to get the necessary permits to operate at all and would be canceled,” the festival’s entertainment committee said in a statement on Sunday. “This is a very serious question of whether or not a company gets to determine who performs at our festival. We know it’s only two bands – this time. But it is likely that we will run into this again in the future. Should any company be given that much power over what this organization can do? We don’t think so.”

The statement praised the two bands as part of the Columbus community. “They would never want to endanger anyone at the festival or our organization by being associated with violence,” the committee said. “The decisions we have been forced to make this year were made by the insurance company. This situation is unacceptable and is not an option for us moving forward.”

Maybe the insurer just doesn’t like their music.