An Australian venue has newly canceled a planned show by Dealer in light of resurfaced allegations against the band’s vocalist Aidan Ellaz Holmes. Back in 2018, when Holmes was a member of Alpha Wolf, an allegation of sexual assault/misconduct was leveled against him, quickly leading to his ousting from the group.
While police were said to have been involved with those allegations against Holmes, the subsequent charges were eventually dropped due to a lack of suitable evidence. Holmes later made headlines a few years afterward in light of a mass exodus of bandmembers from Dealer, in which his exiting bandmates lodged allegations of mental abuse against him.
The aforementioned past allegations of sexual assault/misconduct once again boiled over late last year when Dealer were announced for this year’s ‘America’s Rejects Tour‘. Ultimately that U.S. tour saw the band head out with Attila, Butcher Babies, DED and more.
Alpha Wolf bassist John Arnold viciously slammed that trek when it was first announced due to past allegations made against Holmes and members of Attila. Deathcore outfit Oceano, who were among the bands originally booked for the bill, found themselves caught up in the simmering controversy regarding past allegations made against Holmes and members Attila, due to agreeing to the trek. Ultimately, Oceano dropped off the bill, before choosing to disband.
With the uproar once again in full swing, this past November saw Holmes issue this statement outlining his side of the matter, while denying the allegations made against him. Yesterday, April 29th, Dealer announced a June 06th benefit show at Mo’s Desert Clubhouse In Gold Coast, Australia. That concert was intended to raise funds the cancer battle of their close friend Cain Perry. Kings At Heart, Insect and Ocean Shores were booked to open.
However, uproar over the aforementioned past allegations resumed, with the aforementioned venue ultimately opting to cancel the show today. Speaking via their Instagram, the venue stated this morning:
“MO’S DESERT CLUBHOUSE
STANCE ON VIOLENCEYesterday we announced a show for a well known act touring Australia soon. Today, we were made aware of allegations of violence and sexual assault from members of this band, which is currently before the courts. In light of these allegations, we have decided to cancel this show.
Mo’s is founded on radical expression and radical inclusion—an ethos that doesn’t leave room for ANY form of violence, discrimination, abuse or hate. Our priority has always been, and will always be to our patrons, artists and staffs safety and well being. On booking this show we were completely unaware of these allegations, and we sincerely apologise for any distress or pain caused.
To those who contacted us directly to discuss this, thank you for informing us in a mature manner. It takes time to deal with situations like this, and is a process to cancel a show. To those who abused our staff over the phone, sent threatening messages and violent content to our socials, a reminder that violence breeds violence, hate breeds hate.
Peace, love and rock’n’roll,
Christian, Kim and the entire Familia at
Mo’s Desert Clubhouse.”
Speaking in response to the cancelation on his social media in a since-deleted post, Holmes offered:
“the show has been cancelled due to the online backlash and the agent has decided to save face.
given all the negativity around dealers platform I tried to do something positive.
I say nothing and I’m guilty.
I say something and I’m guilty.This has been my ongoing battle for the last 7-8 years despite following the entire legal process properly, people I do not know or met briefly many years ago continue to show prejudice and lack of critical thinking and or emotional intelligence.
I am not an abuser.
But I am done with this.”
