Shining Frontman Niklas Kvarforth Accused of Drugging Drinks, Groping Women, Threatening Violence, and Sundry Other Acts of Shitbaggery

Metal Insider reports that Toilet Ov Hell reports Portland, OR venue Tonic Lounge has cancelled a Shining show (the Swedish Shining, not the Norwegian Shining) which was scheduled to take place tomorrow, Wednesday, May 17. The reason? The band’s guitarist/vocalist, Niklas Kvarforth, stands accused of being a serious shitbag.

You can read the venue’s full explanation below, but here’s the short version: Shining, who are currently on tour with Revenge and Wolvhammer, played a show this past Sunday, May 14 at The Shredder in Boise, ID. Before the show, Kvarforth went drinking at a local bar. During the course of both that drinking session and the actual performance at The Shredder, Kvarforth is said to have drugged someone’s drink, groped at least one woman, used racial and homophobic slurs, threatened people with stabbings and rape, and thrown the Nazi salute multiple times.

Unfortunately for Kvarforth, security footage taken outside The Shredder that night does indeed show him assaulting a man who appears to be leaving the venue peacefully, as well as throwing the Nazi salute (you might be able to convince me he was just waving his arm… if he didn’t pound his chest first).

Here’s the video (Kvarforth gives Hitler’s favorite greeting at the eleven-second mark)…

…and you can read the full cancellation statement from Tonic Lounge below. We’ll let you know if/when Kvarforth responds. Meanwhile, the rest of the band’s tour will still proceed as scheduled, but I encourage you to vote with your wallet (i.e., do not go).

“Tonic Lounge has decided to cancel the Shining show that was scheduled for this Wednesday, May 17th.
All tickets will be refunded.

“We regret having not researched this band more before approving their show. After booking them, it was brought to our attention that Shining’s singer has done and said many things that could be considered offensive, dangerous, or destructive. While we were learning about and considering these issues, the list continued to grow, including a recent report that the he may have been involved in the drugging of someone’s drink. This morning we received a call from a trusted friend in Boise Idaho, detailing the events that took place while Shining were there on Sunday. We were told that the singer of Shining went to the local punk bar Mulligans before their concert, and was groping women and threatening to stab employees, and had to be removed. We were also told that later, while performing at The Shredder, he used many blatant racist and homophobic slurs on stage, threatened audience members with rape, slapped audience members in the face, and was sieg heil saluting repeatedly throughout their performance. Sometimes words and allegations on the internet can be difficult to navigate, but a story like this coming from a friend is not. The above types of behavior are simply not acceptable at Tonic Lounge. This isn’t about censorship. This is about protecting our venue, our staff, and our patrons.

“This decision was not made under pressure by any individuals or political groups. We believe in freedom of expression and are not quick to pull the plug on any band booked at our club. However, we are not going to invite someone into our space to spout hate speech on our stage, and/or put our staff and patrons in harm’s way. We are still in full support of Famine Fest Presents, the other bands who were on the bill, and all of our friends and customers who planned on attending. We hope you all can respect our decision to do what’s best for our club and those within it.”