[12-03-97 Wed] A law could soon be passed that would censor some people from going to rock shows in Michigan - and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder won't stand for it.
If it goes through, some minors would be banned from concerts that are considered "offensive." A rating system similar to the one used on movies and now TV would be implemented for the concerts. If a young fan was admitted into an "offensive" concert with parental supervision, the concert hall owner could be fined up to $5,000 or put in jail for up to 90 days for letting the minor in. What is considered "offensive"? "Basically stuff that when taken as a whole, the average adult person would consider inappropriate for minors," said a spokesman for Senator Dale Shugars of Michigan.
There are several flaws to this, including this: no one knows what will go on at a concert! Paul Durham, the singer and guitarist for the San Francisco band Black Lab elaborated: "For us, on different nights it's different experiences. It depends if it's cross-dressing night, or insult the audience using multiple expletives night. It sounds like you might get stuck with a rating and then you'd have to play that show every time, which is hard for a band like us."
Frontman Vedder and the rest of Pearl Jam will not make a stop there on the group's upcoming tour if the controversial law goes through, said Kelly Curtis, the band's manager. This is what many other bands are considering, too. And who's to say the bill wouldn't spread through the rest of the U.S.?
Pearl Jam - December 03, 1997
Back to Archives
Back to December 1997