Alter Bridge fully supports every American's right to free speech...If any band chooses the stage to address their political views and to take shots at the current U.S. government, that is their right. However, it is not their right to slander our country and its people in the process... [Living Things] shouted obscenities and "repeatedly yelled 'F--- America!...I hate America!'So, in other words, AB supports free speech, so long as that free speech isn't offensive or slanderous towards the US. Okay? Sounds like they have been getting their tips on "free expression" from the idiots pushing the flag-burning amendment. **END UPDATE**
"Regardless of anyone's political views this is simply ignorant, offensive and unacceptable,"
A recent news story in music follows. The reason the story appeals to me is that, despite the outright rejection of the labels "Christian" or "spiritual" to the band Alter Bridge, they have, willingly or not, inherited the religious conflict from their past. I found myself remembering their quasi-Christian heritage when Lynne tipped me off to their recent debacle in Switzerland.
When people hear "Creed", they think, minimally, "spiritual lyrics" and possibly [albeit erroneously] "Christian band". This seems to be the case despite repeated protests against the label "Christian" during the time of the band's inception. It is a long-standing interest of mine to study the "crossovers" from Christian music as they move into other genres--typically rock and pop. The transition is often accompanied (some may argue "paralleled", or "compelled") by a synchronous transition of faith, or entire loss thereof. From the famous case of Jerry Lee Lewis, to Arethra Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Elvis, to contemporary bands like Lifehouse, Amy Grant and POD, crossover bands and artists are worth a moment's thought. To me, they are simply spotlighted case studies in deconversion, a phenomenon that I personally identify with. They are famous, completely public examples of the sort of experience that millions of people have annually--losing faith. I find religious transitions, and especially deconversions, fascinating [particularly the psychological aspect of] and would love to be pointed to some scientific studies on the process.
The former band Creed broke up, with lead singer Scott Stapp going solo and the remaining band members reforming as Alter Bridge. Why do we care?
Apparently, at a show in Zurich on June 14th, Alter Bridge is being accused of assaulting Living Things, another rock band, as they spoke against the current administration and the ongoing war(s). From the myspace site for Living Things, some fans did indeed document, on the day of the concert, the veracity of LT's claim.
On the same site, the tour date roster purports, "June 14 in Zurich, Switzerland at Rohstofflager supporting Alter Bridge". This implies that LT was opening for AB, so far as I can tell, and is thus considered a bit subservient in terms of their popularity/demand. An MTV news article interviewed the band's lead singer, Lillian Berlin, about the incident, where he claims,
We were in the middle of our second song, and I had some stuff to say about the current administration and the way they're handling the Iraq war...The Swiss were all behind us, and the crowd was cheering me on. I was talking about this letter I got inviting me to a Democrat-bashing dinner at the White House. And we went into our fourth song, and some goon from that Creed band came out swinging an American flag and then threw it at our drummer, Bosh.However, the spokesman for AB refutes this claim,
Alter Bridge was not happy that this band chose to deliver anti-American statements to their audience.I'll have more info as it becomes available, but I would expect a lawsuit if the claim of LT holds water, especially since Lillian claims the band members suffered verifiable injuries, including black eyes. This news article was also picked up by chartattack and pr-inside. Whether it holds merit or not we will shortly see.
However, no Alter Bridge bandmembers were onstage, and their crew was in their designated working areas during this supposed incident. Alter Bridge thinks this is just a weak attempt by the opening band to drum up press for themselves. Alter Bridge will have no further comment on this as they are finishing up their extremely successful European tour and returning shortly to the U.S. to start work on their second album.
Thought: if Alter Bridge was not inexorably tied to a quasi-Christian heritage and subsequent image, would we even care about this? Typical rock/metal/punk concerts are almost boring without some sort of violence or tirade. Why is this newsworthy, and eye-catching? It must be the association between AB and Christianity.
As an aside, it appears that Living Things' enthused political commentary from the stage has made news before.
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Technorati tags: Alter Bridge, Creed, Scott Stapp, Religion
