"That is wrong" - Victorious headliners Vampire Weekend weigh in on The Mary Wallopers controversy

After the band’s opening song on the Common Stage on Saturday, August 23, lead singer Ezra Koenig alluded to The Mary Wallopers’ set being cut off on Friday due to the display of a Palestine flag.

Ezra caveated that the band had just got to Portsmouth and did not have all of the information but if someone had been stopped from sharing a political view, “that is wrong”.

The lead singer added: “If someone was punished for flying a flag, that is wrong and they deserve an apology.

“The terrible suffering of the Palestinian people deserves all of our sympathy.”

The statement received huge cheers from the crowd who applauded.

After The Mary Wallopers released a statement online rejecting the explanation by the festival organiser that the sound was cut due to a chant which had a “discriminatory context”, Victorious released an apology.

Victorious Festival said: “The Mary Wallopers are a fantastic band and we were very much looking forward to their performance at Victorious on Friday.

“We are in the business of putting on great shows, not cutting them off and this is the last thing we wanted, for the band, their fans and ourselves.

“We didn’t handle the explanation of our policies sensitively or far enough in advance to allow a sensible conclusion to be reached. This put the band and our own team in a difficult situation which never should have arisen. We would like to sincerely apologise to all concerned.

“We absolutely support the right of artists to freely express their views from the stage, within the law and the inclusive nature of the event.

“Our policy of not allowing flags of any kind, which has been in place for many years for wider event management and safety reasons, is not meant to compromise that right.”

The Academics, The Last Dinner Party and Cliffords pulled out of the festival on Saturday due to the controversy.