Truro rock festival's male-only lineup prompts In-Flight Safety to pull out

Members of In-Flight Safety were thrilled to be booked as the opening act for Sloan at Truro's Rock the Hub festival, until they found out there were no women performers booked for the event.

"I found it troubling, personally," the Halifax band's vocalist John Mullane told CBC's Maritime Noon, although he admitted it took about 30 minutes for him to notice the list of acts was all male when it was released. Rock the Hub is being held Aug. 24-25.

'"This is not good," he recalled thinking. "I need to think more critically here and my involvement with this.

"It is 2018. This conversation has been ongoing for years and I felt, just by being part of it, I was causing some harm."

Longstanding issue

Gender imbalance has long been an issue in the music industry. Both the Grammy Awards and Junos have faced criticism over a lack of female representation among their nominees. 

In February, four Canadian music events joined an international pledge to fight inequality in the industry by vowing to have gender parity across their lineups by 2022. The movement was started by a British talent firm.

Mullane said it took him a couple of days to realize he had to "respectfully bow out."

That realization came after he found himself apologizing on social media for being part of the festival that had excluded women, he said.

"It just had to happen."

'It needs to be done today'

He said he believes promoters find it more time-consuming to find a mixture of men and women when booking musical acts.

"But it is work that needs to be done and it needs to be done today, not next year. Most promoters will tell you to find gender parity that it does take a little bit more work, but it all works out just fine."

Rock the Hub festival organizers, who describe themselves as "small business owners of several live music venues," said the issue of gender equality is something that is being discussed.

"We appreciate the opportunity to reflect on the feedback, which will inform our current and future decision making," they said. The statement did not indicate they are considering adding women performers.

The statement also said they respect the views of In-Flight Safety.

Mullane said music fans will need to make their own decisions about whether to attend the event.

As far as consequences go, he said he expects "it will be challenging for me to work with some promoters who disagree with my decision but ... I am totally fine with that."

He also said he has received overwhelming support on social media from both women and men who agree with the band's decision.