U2 didn’t quite get the reception they’d hoped for at their show at the Glastonbury music festival in Ireland last night.
Instead of singing along and dancing to the rock band’s greatest hits, violence broke out in the crowd among protesters angry over U2’s tax status. The protesters, from a group called Art Uncut, inflated a 20-foot balloon that read “U Pay Your Tax 2” before being wrestled to the ground by security guards, the Daily Mail reports.
The 30 or so protesters, who faced trouble with security right after the band’s opening song, were upset that U2 and front man Bono haven’t been paying taxes to their native Ireland.
One protester, Charlie Dewar, told the Daily Mail: “U2’s multi million-euro tax dodge is depriving the Irish people at a time when they desperately need income to offset the Irish government’s savage austerity program.”
Dewar accused the band of evading taxes when the money “should be helping to keep open the hospitals, schools and libraries that are closing all over Ireland … Bono is well-known for his anti-poverty campaigning but Art Uncut is accusing him of hypocrisy.”
Fans booed as the protesters attempted to disrupt the concert, but not all of U2’s fans were upset. One said the situation was a “bit shocking” and, though he loves the band, “I think everyone should pay their taxes. The campaigners have a right to voice their opinion.”
The protesters weren’t the only ones to get political. Singer Morrissey, who also performed at the music festival, called British Prime Minister David Cameron a “silly twit” for his opposition to a ban on wild animals in circuses.