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Odds & Ends: Michelle Shocked, Animal Collective and Rihanna
Michelle Shocked’s anti-gay remarks shock San Francisco audience, Animal Collective postpones North America tour, and Rihanna’s one week with a private jet is coming to a Fox Television affiliate near you.
Photo: Jason Moore
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, New Orleans, La.
Michelle Shocked couldn’t have picked a more unreceptive town to let loose with some anti-gay rhetoric. While appearing at Yoshi’s in San Francisco Sunday night, the singer/songwriter/activist stirred things up when she said, “God hates fags and you can tweet that I said so,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Some people followed her advice and tweeted Shocked’s comments, probably doing so as they were leaving the building. The Chronicle reports that approximately two-thirds of the room walked out after Shocked shocked the audience.
Shocked reportedly made her remark during the middle of her concert, borrowing a line from the infamously homophobic Westboro Baptist Church while she delivered a longer rant against gay marriage. Although Shocked is active in progressive politics – she was arrested while at an Occupy protest – Queerty.com points out that in recent years Shocked had been “cagey” regarding LGBT issues.
As to last night’s show – Yoshi staffers, including the club’s manager, assistant club manager and sound production engineer, stopped the gig by “turning off the lights and cutting off the microphone,” reports the Chronicle.
Yahoo Music’s Chris Willman also reported about the show, saying Shocked’s “God hates fags” remark “was interpreted differently by some on hand, as either ironic or completely sincere.”
Meanwhile, Shocked is getting more publicity than she has probably experienced in years. Oh, well, as long as they spell your name right.
A nasty case of Streptococcal pharyngitis, otherwise known as strep throat, has forced Animal Collective to postpone shows scheduled through March 24.
Photo: AP Photo
Posing for the camera in New York City.
Including last night’s gig in Madison, Wis., the group has postponed shows scheduled for Minneapolis (March 18), St. Louis (March 20), Kansas City (March 21), Denver (March 22), Salt Lake City (March 23) and Boise (March 24).
Under the weather is the band’s David Portner, aka Avey Tare, who issued a statement apologizing for the change of plans.
“It kills me to have to postpone all these shows and it’s something I could never even have imagined happening,” Portner/Tare said.
“We promise you all that we are doing everything we can to reschedule all these shows asap and we will be visiting your cities. We hope you can understand and sympathize with the situation. It’s been really fun for all of us to be playing these days and the energy you all give us makes us want to take it further and further with you and give it right back. Hopefully, we can continue to do this together soon. Until then. Stay well.”
Only the few, the chosen, the brave traveled with Rihanna on her seven-country/seven-day tour aboard a chartered Boeing 777. Enduring the singer’s high-altitude hijinks, the 256 passengers made up of fans and journalists also had to put up with extremely long waits on airport tarmacs and other inconveniences that probably made them thankful the tour was only seven days long.
Photo: AP Photo
E-Werk, Berlin, Germany
But there was also a lot of music on the tour, something the documentary “Rihanna 777” will focus on when the film airs on Fox May 6. Covering a trip that included stops in Mexico City, Toronto, Stockholm, Paris, Berlin, London and New York City, Rihanna delivered top-notch performances as she promoted her seventh album, Unapologetic.