How the Leave EU Campaign Tried to Mislead Popstars Into Performing at Its Rally

One can forgive Geri Halliwell for writing a song called "Heaven and Hell (Being Geri Halliwell)". None of us are perfect. But it's much harder to excuse her for calling Margaret Thatcher "the first Spice Girl".

This is one of many examples of how pop and politics have always been unhappy bedfellows. Still, that hasn't stopped politicians from consistently believing that the endorsement of some musical figure will be the silver bullet to help them win over the yoof. Tony Blair tried to court the stars of Britpop, prompting Noel Gallagher to tell the 1997 Brit Awards that Oasis and Tony Blair were the only British figures giving young people hope. In America, Bernie Sanders currently has musicians queueing up to perform fundraiser concerts for him, including Killer Mike, Vampire Weekend and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

At least in those scenarios the artists involved are giving a full-throated endorsement of the political cause they're there to support. This is the bare minimum to expect when booking artists for a political rally.

Not so for BPop Live, the Leave.EU concert that seems to be trying its very best to look like something other than what it actually is. The event, scheduled to take place at Birmingham's Genting Arena on the 19th of June, appears to be a slightly sad but passable one-day local radio bash. The biggest name on the bill, Alesha Dixon, is now most famous for doing something that isn't singing; other acts offer low-level nostalgia spanning the decades: two members of 5ive and three members of East 17 who aren't lead singer Brian Harvey or songwriter Tony Mortimer were booked. Disco girlband Sister Sledge and Gwen Dickey of 1970s soul group Rose Royce were recruited too, presumably to coax in the sort of older Midlanders who think Mis-Teeq is a cheap perfume. So far, so "is this really worth £25 plus booking fee, though?"

But when the event was announced, it was actually billed as Bpop Live "endorsed by Leave.EU", and it turns out it's taking place just four days before the EU referendum. Although the event's website barely mentioned the political aspect, the Leave.EU campaign was briefing the press that this would be "the biggest political rally in modern British history".

Suddenly, this innocuous event looked a lot like a political rally in pop show clothing. Would Alesha Dixon (billed as "Alesha Dixson" on the website) be repurposing her signature hit "The Boy Does Nothing" as a sardonic comment on the uselessness of Jean-Claude Juncker?

Well, no, because nobody informed Dixon what she was actually being booked for.

Her camp told VICE yesterday that:

They added that they "would like to make it clear that Alesha has no political allegiances either way on this issue". Sadly, "The Boy Does Nothing (Juncker Refix)" will have to wait.

The 5ive boys have also withdrawn for similar reasons. In a statement to the press, their representative seemingly confirmed that when Leave.EU say they're "endorsing" BPop Live, what they actually told acts is that they were just bankrolling a concert.

The 5ive rep said:

It gets worse. When the BBC asked Gwen Dickey about Brexit, she said she "didn't know what it was". At least when Bernie Sanders welcomes Sasha Go Hard or whoever to perform at one of his rallies, we know they're performing because they want him to be president. It seems like BPop Live are trying to hoodwink artists into playing their event, somehow hoping they won't notice that they're performing in between rumoured guest speakers Nigel Farage, Liam Fox and Kate Hoey.

We've contacted the organisers of BPop Live for comment, and they confirmed Alesha and 5ive have pulled out of the event. Actually, they called her "Aleshia Dixon", spelling her name incorrectly in yet another new and interesting way. They also confirmed that "Nigel Farage and Kate Hoey will be speaking after the concert" and "the website will be updated daily from now till the event", adding that replacement acts would be announced in due course.

What makes this whole stunt all the more galling is that this is actually the second time Leave.EU have seemingly tried to trick people into attending a political rally by putting on a pop concert at the Genting Arena. Another gig called B Pop Live was scheduled for the 8th of May before it got yanked when headliners Ella Eyre and Sigma pulled out because they hadn't been told it was a rally. Another act booked for that version of B Pop Live, Electric Swing Circus, told Buzzfeed that they "are not pro-Brexit" and "as a group… are generally pro EU", before cancelling.

It seems likely that BPop Live will be quietly cancelled in the next few days as organisers come to the realisation that they can't fill the 16,000-capacity Genting Arena with Gwen Dickey, Sister Sledge and the lesser members of East 17. But this doesn't mean we can all sit back and roll our eyes smugly. They will have likely left a hefty deposit on this venue, making it difficult for them to cancel the concert entirely.

Might Leave.EU try for third time lucky? Until votes are cast on the 23rd of June, the booking agents of Liz McClarnon, 911 and B*Witched should probably be extra-vigilant. Hey, maybe they could even give Geri a call.

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