Coalesce Cancels European Tour as Grooming Allegations Force Jes Steineger to Step Down
Weeks after allegations that Coalesce’s Jes Steineger attempted to groom one of his students while he was a professor caused his bandmates to issue a statement of support, the guitarist has decided to step down from the group. As a result, the Kansas-based metalcore outfit is canceling their upcoming European tour as they figure out what comes next.
News of Steineger’s departure from the band and the tour cancellation came about when Roadburn Festival posted on their Instagram page that the guitarist was no longer part of the band and that as a result, they would “be unable to fulfill the upcoming shows.”
All of this stems from an allegation from one of Steineger’s former students, who posted details of an inappropriate relationship they had while he was a professor at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri. According to the allegations that were posted online on Christmas Eve, the inappropriate conduct began through weeks of email conversations that ultimately led to some physical interactions.
Though the initial post was deleted because the 24-year-old former student was worried it was “too long and too emotional,” the allegations were once again posted on r/metalcore with details of what allegedly wend down during the Spring 2025 semester.
“A member of [Coalesce] taught at my university and was separated from the school after his misconduct toward me. He was my professor and academic advisor for over three years.
“During my spring 2025 semester, he began touching me and gave me a personal, non-university email and moved our correspondence there. Over a short period we exchanged over 100 emails, many of them explicitly sexual. In writing, he described me as a sexual object, talked about his urges and past in sexualizing women, talked about my body, admitted he had a pattern of relationships like ours in the past, and called me ‘ballerina,’ talked about my body constantly. He was in charge of my academic future and clearly his feelings were more important than that.
“He got me into his office after hours. He put his hands all over me and said the only thing that stopped him going further was that he suddenly remembered I was ‘a person’ and that ‘the divine’ fell into his mind. (In writing :) ) This is not the only time that week he touched me. The university legal team used this information on top of the email evidence to part ways with him. All the emails were turned over to the university and to the band later on via my friend. The band knows exactly what he did. Their response has been to block anyone who raises concerns, including me. All I’ve done is occasionally view their stories because I’m terrified he will smear me publicly as my friends have made moves without my consent. I’m not asking for his removal, but it is insane to me to protect such a person.”
The person that posted the allegations said they were already in therapy to deal with the situation, that they had been beating themselves up over the situation, and that “there is nothing you can say that is worse than anything I’ve told myself.” She also said that Steineger “knew I was vulnerable” and that he “knew exactly how attached I was, and how much power he had, and he used it anyway.”
In response, Coalesce said they were aware of the allegations and that Steineger had told the band about his inappropriate behavior. They also said that this happened while he was a professor, that there was no quid pro quo in his role as a professor, and that it had nothing to do with his status as a member of the band. The band also said they looked at the emails in question and said “the documentation shows that the interaction was mutual, that the student’s attraction pre-dated these events, and it ended when Jes withdrew consent to pursue anything inappropriate.”
The tour dates listed below are now effectively cancelled. At this time, there’s no news as to what will happen with Coalesce moving forward.
Cancelled Coalesce tour dates
04/16 Tilburg, NL @ Roadburn
04/18 Bethune, FR @ Le Poche
04/19 Bristol, UK @ The Fleece
04/20 Manchester, UK @ Rebellion
04/21 London, UK @ The Garage
04/22 Brussels, BE @ Botanique – Rotonde
04/23 Koln, DE @ Helios37
04/24 Berlin, DE @ Cassiopeia
04/25 Prague, CZ @ Klub 007
