Muse postpone Istanbul gig after DBL boycott call from Turkish fans and protests

Muse have postponed their upcoming gig in Istanbul following the ongoing boycott of DBL Entertainment.

• READ MORE: Muse: “There’s gonna be a big shift. We’re dealing with a disruptive transition”

The band made a post on X/Twitter at the start of the week, announcing that they would be playing the show in the city on June 11, with tickets set to go on sale tomorrow (April 3).

However, the news immediately sparked backlash from multiple fans and fellow artists, who encouraged them to cancel the show amid controversy around the Turkish promoter behind the event.

This related to the recent remarks made by Abdulkadir Ozkan, boss of DBL Entertainment, regarding the Imamoğlu-related protests. In recent comments, he described those calling for a boycott of EspressoLab – which is another company he is linked to – as “traitors”, which fuelled widespread criticism and calls for artists to cut ties with his companies.

Now, Muse have shared an update with fans saying that they have pushed the gig back by a year after becoming aware of the circumstances.

“After careful consideration and hearing the feedback from our fans whilst fully respecting their concerns, our show in Istanbul will be now postponed until 2026 so we can ensure DBL Entertainment will not be involved,” they wrote on X/Twitter today (April 2).

“Thank you for your ongoing support, it means everything to us. See you in 2026!”

An exact date for the rescheduled 2026 show is expected to be shared at a later date.

After careful consideration and hearing the feedback from our fans whilst fully respecting their concerns, our show in Istanbul will be now postponed until 2026 so we can ensure DBL Entertainment will not be involved.

Thank you for your ongoing support, it means everything to…

— muse (@muse) April 2, 2025

The circumstances in Turkey have been gaining momentum since March 19, with the country seeing widespread anti-government protests. These come following the arrest of the capital city’s opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, who is the biggest political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (via France24). He was arrested on charges of corruption, but had denied the accusations, as per BBC.

There has been a boycott of firms that are supposedly close to Erdogan’s government, and nearly 2,000 people have been arrested since mid-March.

Over the weekend, the EspressoLab coffee chain was targeted by protesters. As aforementioned, Ozkan described the actions as “treason”, and the subsequent anger at his comments have led to a boycott of gigs put on by DBL.

Aside from Muse, other affected gigs include a show by Robbie Williams which was planned for October 7, as well as a gig for April 23 from Trevor Noah.

Ane Brun also shared a statement (via PA) saying: “301 university students who wanted to defend their democratic rights are currently in jail. The organiser of your concert in Istanbul DBL supports this violation of rights. We are boycotting, stand with us! I was not aware of it. I support the students. I am taking action.”

In a statement shared yesterday (April 1), Ozkan claimed that his response was “taken out of context”, and he went on to clarify that he did not mean to target “young people exercising their democratic right to protest” (via France24).

In other Muse news, last week frontman Matt Bellamy launched a new guitar design with Manson Guitar Works, inspired by some of his favourite American road movies. These included Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas, Ridley Scott’s Thelma And Louise and the Robert Johnson biopic Crossroads, as well as the iconic soundtracks associated with them.

Before then, bassist Chris Wolstenholme opened up about the band’s future, suggesting they were now thinking about their new album.

The follow-up to 2022’s ‘Will Of The People’ has a likely arrival date of 2026, he told The Leona Graham Podcast. “I think we’ll start very, very soon, like in the next couple of months,” Wolstenholme said in February. “We’ve got a few gigs in June. Only a handful – that’s the only gigs we’re doing this year.

“I don’t think the idea is to do anything really serious until next year, so I would imagine that 2026 will be a new album, barring any disasters.”

The post Muse postpone Istanbul gig after DBL boycott call from Turkish fans and protests appeared first on NME.