A recent concert by Regina Spektor in Portland was cut short for some attendees after a heated exchange regarding the ongoing war in Gaza.
The singer performed two shows at Revolution Hall, with the more controversial night occurring on Saturday.
Mandi Kercher, who attended the Saturday concert, described how tensions escalated about 45 minutes into the performance when a man near the stage shouted, “Free Palestine.”
According to Kercher, security promptly removed the man from the hall.
A video capturing the aftermath of the incident shows an audience member yelling, “Free Palestine,” accompanied by an expletive.
Spektor’s response was pointed; she remarked, “You’re just yelling at a Jew,” eliciting mixed reactions from the crowd.
While most of the audience seemed to support Spektor, voicing their support with chants of “Am Yisrael Chai”—meaning “the people of Israel live”—some continued to voice dissent.
Another individual shouted, “You could say something. There’s a genocide happening,” before he too was escorted out.
At that juncture, Kercher decided to leave the concert, stating, “I didn’t feel like I could stay.”
As tension mounted, Spektor made her own feelings clear, saying, “I thought this was different than the internet. This is real life.”
She addressed the crowd, indicating that if anyone wanted to leave, they were free to do so, saying, “This is not an internet comments section. I know that you’re mistaking my show for a YouTube video.”
The atmosphere during the show was not entirely hostile; many attendees reportedly rallied behind Spektor, with one woman expressing her emotional distress by saying, “I’m watching children dying and that hurts.”
Responding to this, Spektor reiterated her position, stating, “I think you should go. This is not the place for that conversation. I am a real person who came here to play music.”
She then offered a final opportunity for those who were unhappy to exit, saying, “If anybody wants to walk out, this is your chance.”
Reports suggest that more audience members chose to leave following this exchange.
In a poignant moment, Spektor reflected on her own experiences as an immigrant from the Soviet Union, declaring, “I only speak English because I came from a country where people were treating Jews as other, and now I am being othered here and it sucks.”
Despite the overwhelming support from much of the audience, not everyone left convinced by Spektor’s handling of the situation.
Kercher shared her changed perspective, stating, “She could have said something” regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
She concluded her thoughts by expressing her disappointment, elaborating, “I would never recommend her music or her concert,” and criticizing the audience’s choice of comfort over activism in a time of crisis.
Efforts to reach Revolution Hall for comments regarding the incident have gone unanswered.
image source from：oregonlive
