It has come to our knowledge here at SSSV that the new British band Saving Grace, ft. Robert Plant and Suzi Dian just scheduled a tour in North America. We are also very much aware of that this band just cancelled a gig in the Faroe Islands of the North Atlantic, due to a harvest of pilot whales, known as the Grindadrap. 

It is a very well known fact that both the United States of America, and Canada, are whaling nations. Infact, 2 of the biggest whaling nations. In these 2 countries, whales are harvested for food in the name of tradition, to feed locals with free food much like in the Faroe Islands of the North Atlantic. It is also a well known fact that people of all ages including children participate in whaling in the USA and Canada, as well as the butchering of the carcasses, much like in the Faroe Islands of the North Atlantic. 

Normally in a year, native whale hunters in the United States of America in the state of Alaska harvests between 250 and 600 beluga whales and up to 75 bowhead whales. These numbers even include calves, and pregnant females, something that opponents claim makes the Faroese harvest particulary and exceptionally cruel but this is also the case in the 2 countries that are planned to be toured by this band. This can actually be compared to the number of whales harvested some years in the Faroe Islands, in the North Atlantic. The islands that you claim are so cruel that you can't even have a gig there. 

Whale hunters in Canada harvest about 600 narwhals per year.  They harvest 100 belugas per year in the Beaufort Sea, 300 in northern Quebec (Nunavik), and an unknown number in Nunavut. The total annual harvest in Beaufort and Quebec areas varies between 300 and 400 belugas per year. Numbers are not available for Nunavut since 2003, when the Arviat area, with about half Nunavut's hunters, harvested 200-300 belugas, though the authors say hunters resist giving complete numbers. Harvested meat is sold through shops and supermarkets in northern communities where whale meat is a component of the traditional diet.

These numbers of course also includes calves, and pregnant females. And like in the United States, and the Faroe Islands, people of all ages including children can either partake in these harvests or at least the public butchering of the carcasses.

So, Saving Grace ft. Robert Plant and Suzi Dian, do you live by your words that you will not perform in a country that harvests whales, even though there may be a very big audience unlike in the relatively tiny Faroe Islands? Then cancel this tour and show that you have no double standards.

Another way you can show that you do not have double standards, would be to reinstate the gig at the G! Festival in the Faroe Islands. We would also like a public apology towards the people of the Faroe Islands for this act of double standards. If choosing this option, you can also perform in North America without having double standards. 

If one believes that having a gig in the Faroe Islands makes one complicit in whaling, the same should apply to having a gig in the USA and Canada. If one believes the Faroe Islands should be a pariah to so-called compassionate people, the same should apply to the USA and Canada. There is no room for discrimination.

Please, don't be a hypocrite.