Los Lobos were the first to do it and now there is a large slew of names adding themselves to the list of bands refusing to play shows in Arizona in response to the state's immigration bill. This group of bands are boycotting Arizona as part of the Sound Strike protest. Big names include My Morning Jacket, Nine Inch Nails, Ben Harper, Maroon 5, Gogol Bordello, Pitbull, and Steve Earle. For a complete list of Sound Strike artists, click here.
Now for the opinion section. Do you think this is the proper approach? I've never had too much issue with a connection between politics and music, as a matter of fact, it can really have an influence in many situations. In this situation, however, I think there are ways to impact the bill without shunning a whole state's worth of fans. The fans weren't the ones who passed this bill, the Governor was. Don't you think a better solution would be to organize a concert in Arizona to raise money for organizations fighting the immigration bill? That would ensure your audience would be against the bill and it would be doing something proactive rather than just talking about how bad the situation is. Just my 2 cents.
Here is a video of Rage Against the Machine's Zach De La Rocha explaining the protest:
Zack De La Rocha for The Sound Strike from Producciones Cimarrón on Vimeo.
No comments:
Post a Comment