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November
8, 2002
Seattle Times
Club pulls rocker from lineup after complaints
By Young
Chang
Seattle Times staff reporter
The Catwalk Club in Seattle's Pioneer Square has removed a controversial musician from tonight's lineup after a barrage of calls and e-mails from civil-rights groups saying he promotes hate and bigotry.
Arman Badri, co-owner of the club, gave rocker Boyd Rice until mid-afternoon yesterday to call the Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity and respond to the accusations. When the coalition did not hear from Rice, who is touring as the opening act for the Gothic band Death in June, Badri said he had no choice but to pull him from the bill. "We started doing a lot of research, and we could not really come to a conclusion by ourselves," Badri said. That's when he and his partner decided to ask Rice to talk to the coalition himself.
Eric Ward, executive director of the Northwest Coalition, said Rice blatantly embraces fascism and tries to make it appealing to a larger audience.
Rice could not be reached for comment, but his Web site provides links to interviews in which he has stated that he is a fascist, loyal to the late Anton LaVey (head of the Church of Satan), a misogynist, a misanthrope and an opponent of democratic values. In an interview with "Misanthrope" in 1997, for example, he defined himself as a fascist, but denied being a neo-Nazi, saying "Nazi" is "a real specific term."
The controversy, Ward said, "shows the need to have a larger discussion about the impact of political ideologies that are steeped within religious or racial nationalism."
Ward's group also objected to Death in June's performance, but Badri said his own research into that band had not turned up information that would warrant canceling it.
A club in
Oregon also removed Rice from its lineup Wednesday but presented Death
in June. Badri spoke with the Portland club owner yesterday and said
what he heard satisfied him. "He
assured me that he watched the show himself. He didn't feel uncomfortable
to see the show, and the people who came were nice and mellow people,"
Badri said.
####################################
A letter to all from the The Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity
November 8, 2002
Everyone,
Berbati's Pan and The Catwalk Club cancelled the appearance of Boyd Rice.
This was due to all of your hard work. The controversy surrounding the
show has also created a wider community discussion regarding facism and
bigotry. I am enclosing an article (see above) that appeared in today's
Seattle Times.
An important part of organizing is thanking all of those who contributed (that you all!!!) and to also recognize the music venues who were under a lot of pressure and still came through for their community.
Please phone Berbati's and the Catwalk Club to thank them for the right decision under difficult circumstances. Also, if you are every in the neighborhood stop by and thank them as well.
Berbati's
Pan
231 SW Ankeny, Portland, OR
503-248-4579
The
Catwalk Club
172 S. Washington, Seattle, WA
206-622-1863
Warm regards,
The Northwest
Coalition for Human Dignity
www.nwchd.org
nwchd@nwchd.org
(206) 762-5627
November 15 2002