NEWS
Refused have cancelled their final festival performance in Sweden due to frontman Dennis Lyxzén suffering from “a massive heart attack”.
The Swedish punk band originally announced the news in March, stating they would be playing at Stockholm’s Rosendal Garden Party on Friday, June 14 alongside Turnstile, M.I.A and others.
However, Lyxzén took to social media to announce their festival appearance was cancelled. On Instagram, Lyxzén took a photo of himself in a hospital bed, explaining he had “a massive heart attack at my hotel room” that morning, calling it “extremely painful and wildly scary.”
“Thanks [to] the wonderful doctors and nurses at the Uppsala hospital I’m still around to fight another day,” he added. “Under the circumstances I feel ok. Sore and tired and really shook up. I [sic] real really hate cancelling show but the doctor said no rock for a couple of weeks.”
Lyxzén then wrote that due to his heart attack, the Refused show was cancelled, adding that it was “a complete bummer as I was really looking forward to it. But hopefully I/we will be able to make up to you soon.”
He concluded his post: “The good news is that with medication I can get back to my rocking self hopefully sooner than later. Life is weird and precious. Take care of each and tell your loved ones that you love them.”
The band’s last release was their 2020 EP ‘The Malignant Fire‘. It was their fourth release since reuniting in 2014, following the albums ‘Freedom’ and ‘War Music’, and the EP ‘Servants Of Death’.
Speaking to NME in 2019, Refused’s frontman discussed how the band’s politics had changed over the years.
“I think if you’re static in your political ideas, that’s not a good thing,” he said. “I think the foundation, with me, is more-or-less the same though. We’re still very anti-capitalist, pro-feminist and the like. Sadly, I think the ideas we were talking about in 1995 are still pretty relevant today. I think what’s changed for me is that I don’t take every fight anymore.
“When I was younger I was, ‘fuck this, fuck that, fuck everything’ and now I’m older, I just can’t do that. I’m more focused in my politics now. Oh, and I dunno, when we were younger, being straightedge was very important to us because drinking was such an integral part of the culture we found ourselves opposed to. Now we’re older it’s not as important to us anymore.”NME reviewed their album ‘War Music’ back in 2019, giving the record five stars and calling it “a perfect microcosm of everything brilliant punk ever was – and what it can continue to be.”
In other news, Refused were one of the many Swedish artists who have called for Israel to be banned from this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
Lewis Capaldi reportedly picked up the bill for an entire pub packed with England supporters following their dramatic World Cup win against Mexico.
The singer songwriter was spotted enjoying the match with Rita Ora at the Marlborough pub in Mayfair as the Three Lions secured a thrilling 3 to 2 victory.
Even though his home nation, Scotland, endured a disappointing tournament and were knocked out during the group stage, Capaldi still joined in the celebrations after the final whistle by treating the England fans in the pub to a round of drinks.
“Lewis bought every single person in the Marlborough a drink,” one customer told The Sun. “The bar staff were told to put every drink ordered on his tab. By the end of the night it came to almost £2,000.”
The pubgoer continued, saying it was “such a generous surprise and a genuinely lovely thing to do, especially from a Scotland fan… Lewis was an absolute legend. Not only did he buy everyone a drink, but he was also so kind to every person who came over to say hello.”
Ora also posted several videos from the lively celebrations, writing: “NOTHING beats a London pub game EVER… It’s coming home!!! The fact I woke up with my hair clips in and my hair has not moved says. Watch it till the end… trust me.”
Throughout the celebrations, Capaldi and Ora sang each other's songs before joining the rest of the crowd in celebrating England's victory by chanting, “Football’s coming home, it’s coming home…”
The celebrations come just before Capaldi headlines BST Hyde Park this weekend. The Scottish singer songwriter is set to perform at the London concert series on both Saturday, July 11, and Sunday, July 12.
Those huge outdoor performances are part of his UK and Ireland headline tour this summer, and any remaining tickets can be found here.
Capaldi recently revealed that one of the BST Hyde Park concerts will also be streamed live worldwide on YouTube.
The performance will be the biggest headline show of his career so far. Fans across the globe will be able to watch for free on YouTube without a paywall. The broadcast will feature 26 cameras capturing every moment, along with aerial footage filmed by drones.
Joining him on the July 11 BST Hyde Park lineup are The Vaccines, Absolutely, Nieve Ella, Tyler Ballgame, Kerr Mercer, NECKBREAKERS, Benjamin Steer, Luz, Sebastian Croft, and Luke La Volpe.
Meanwhile, England will face Norway in the World Cup quarter finals on the same evening as Capaldi's opening BST Hyde Park performance.
