Russian DJ dropped from ADE lineup after post wishing horrific death upon Ukraine
The Russian DJ Alexander Komarov was dropped from the Amsterdam Dance Event’s (ADE) lineup on Thursday. This follows a message surfacing that he sent to a Ukrainian colleague, in which he called his fellow DJ a “Nazi” and wished a horrific death upon Ukraine.
The message was to Ukrainian DJ Vadim Bonkrashkov. Komarov wrote, translated from Russian: “Vadimka shit himself and fled the motherland, leaving a trail of crap behind him XD. Now he’s squealing away against a backdrop of a flag the color of piss and tears - whining and wetting himself. I hope you, you shitty Nazi, die in agony - along with your whole pathetic excuse for a country. You’ve managed to fuck up absolutely everything, you scumbags.”
The message surfaced on a Reddit forum for trance music enthusiasts this week and sparked an outcry, including calls to ban Komarov from the trance community.
Speaking to the Dutch newspaper AD, Komarov confirmed he will no longer be performing at the ADE and said he was disappointed his trip to Amsterdam won’t happen. “I was planning to attend this event and meet artists I collaborate with, and stay in touch with via messages.”
The Russian DJ does not deny sending the message to Komarov. “Yes, that did indeed happen,” he told the newspaper.
ADE, the world’s largest electronic music event, is happening in the Dutch capital from Wednesday to Sunday next week. Komarov was scheduled to perform on Friday, October 23, as part of a show by the record label Interplay Records.
The lineup for the ADE includes approximately 3,300 artists across over 200 locations throughout Amsterdam. Many of these performances are organized by record labels and DJ collectives, who announce their programming on the ADE website.
“We have no insight into the bookings,” a spokesperson for the ADE told AD. “The line-ups can change right up until the last moment, but in any case, Komarov is no longer on the list.”
This is also not the first time the lineup for the coming ADE edition has changed. Last month, Dutch DJ Xamuel pulled out of performing after it was announced that French DJ Shlømo, who has been accused of rape, would be playing at the event.