BLIND CHANNEL singer sends video message to haters of their fans: “Do you really think that it makes you damn cool?”

Joel Hokka addressed the situation with criticism towards Blind Channel fans

Finland’s Eurovision stars, teenage-girl-dream rockers Blind Channel do not only sing “Dark Side”, they are also experiencing the dark side of being increasingly trendy and popular. Now that Finnish music fans are hitting plenty of summer rock and metal festivals all over the country, lots of live footage get posted by fans, showing them being hyped about their favourite band taking the stage. Unfortunately, the reactions to such a pumped crowd are often on the bullying side.

Watch: BLIND CHANNEL interview – “If there’s only darkness, let’s have a f–ing party in that darkness”

After Blind Channel took part in Finland’s massive festival Ruisrock, one TikTok fan video went viral. The footage shows fans in the first couple of rows waiting for the band to come up on the festival’s main stage and features someone saying: “We are Blind Channel fans”. While nothing was wrong with the video itself, it was apparently followed by a flow of harsh comments, which singer Joel Hokka decided to address.

In the response video, Hokka says he regards such comments as “oppression, ridicule and hate” towards people who happen to love the band. He says that even though he and his bandmates “have thick skin”, Blind Channel fans “who are mostly teenagers/young people and feel our musical gift as an important part of their identity should have nothing to do with that hate.”

In the most recent video update, Hokka also criticizes the whole phenomenon surrounding the bullying music fans and remembers himself being insecure and not accepted as a metal fan:

“In middle school, I was a long-haired guy wearing the hoodies of Slayer, Slipknot and other metal bands, who was afraid every day that I would get a pimple. I was called every possible name you can imagine”, Hokka remembers.

“Do you really think that it makes you damn cool that you diss the fans of a band or an artist?”, the singer asks the opinionated haters.

The comment field under the original TikTok video is now closed. However, judging by Hokka’s updates, the comments were far from nice. The singer goes on to say:

“[…] the brilliant idea to publicly make fun of people doesn’t make it any cooler. That makes it a f–king stupid sheep.”

Many Blind Channel fans took to TikTok and Facebook to support this anti-bullying statement. “More love and consideration for others in this world!” – writes one of the users. “I myself saw this small herd that was escorted to the front row and it was so wonderful to watch their happiness from the other side of our barricade,” adds a Ruisrock-goer. “Blind Channel fans are lucky to have such good guys to look up to & who care so much about their fans”, echoes a TikTok user.

Watch Hokka’s Finnish-language statement in question below:

Have you also experienced unacceptance and judgement, having displayed your love for a certain band or singer? Let us know straight away on AlteRock Facebook and AlteRock Twitter!

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