Month: November 2017

ACLU Defending Blogger From Defamation Claim by Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift
Jason Tate

The ACLU is defending a blogger from a defamation claim by Taylor Swift. From today’s press release:

On Sep. 5, PopFront editor Meghan Herning wrote a post titled “Swiftly to the alt-right: Taylor subtly gets the lower case kkk in formation.” The post is a mix of political speech and critical commentary, and discusses the resurgence of white supremacy and the fact that some white supremacists have embraced Swift. It also provides a critical interpretation of some of Swift’s music, lyrics, and videos. The post ends by calling on Swift to personally denounce white supremacy, saying “silence in the face of injustice means support for the oppressor.”

On Oct. 25, Herning received an intimidating letter from Swift and her attorney labeling the blog post as defamatory and demanding that she issue a retraction, remove the story from all media sources, and cease and desist. The letter threatened a lawsuit.

Seems like a lot of money to pay lawyers instead of just saying “white supremacy is really fucking bad.”

Bikini Kill Reunite for One Song

Bikini Kill
Jason Tate

Bikini Kill reunited last night for the first live performance in 20 years. They played one song at the release party for Jenn Pelly’s new 33 1/3 book about The Raincoats’ self-titled album. Pitchfork reports:

Tobi Vail, Kathi Wilcox, and Kathleen Hanna took the stage to perform “For Tammy Rae.” It was the first time the band had taken the stage together since they broke up in 1997. (Pelly says she had “no idea” this was going to happen; the night was put together by The Kitchen and Raincoats collaborator Shirley O’Loughlin.)

Read More “Bikini Kill Reunite for One Song”

Morrissey Cancels Show

Morrissey
Jason Tate

Morrissey canceled an outdoor show in California over the weekend because the on stage heater broke and it was too cold.

I’m wondering if “Morrissey cancels” are the two words I’ve typed together the most often over the course of writing about music. Probably.

Arcade Fire Reportedly Playing to Smaller Crowds Than Expected

Arcade Fire
Jason Tate

The Globe and Mail are reporting that Arcade Fire are having trouble filling arenas on their current tour:

Blame it on the new album or the marketing campaign for it, or on ticket prices and the popularity of rock music in 2017. Whatever the case, Arcade Fire is struggling to fill arenas on its North American tour.

Just 4,263 fans showed up for the Canadian band’s Quebec City show, 4,004 in Tampa, 5,614 in Austin, Tex., and 5,051 in Dallas, Billboard and Pollstar boxscore figures show. All of the venues have a capacity to seat roughly 10,000 to 20,000 people.

The Beatles Announce Christmas Box Set

The Beatles
Jason Tate

The Beatles will be releasing a limited edition box set for Christmas. Billboard reports:

[T]hey will be releasing a limited-edition box set of their Christmas holiday messages, originally given only to fan club members on flexi-discs from 1963 to 1969.

The limited edition set will include seven 7-inch colored vinyl singles, one for each of the seven messages. The Christmas records have never been given general release as a set before, though one was made available as part of The Beatles Rock Band video game.

Pre-orders are up on Amazon.