Pearl Jam Cancels 4/20 Raleigh, NC Concert in Opposition to HB2; Official Band Statement

bootlegger10 · April 2016

How crazy is it that Pearl Jam said they would come play Raleigh and then they cancel? How are some of you okay with such a blatant "fuck you" type of move? Did North Carolina beg them to come? Was Pearl Jam playing a free show out of the kindness of their hearts originally?

jeffwalsh · April 2016

ComeToTX said:
Negative attention doesn't matter to the few who passed this. Neither does popular opinion. Neither does PayPal and Deutsche taking money and jobs out of NC. They are bigots and PJ not playing a show won't change that.

Since you are the arbiter of what is effective, perhaps you should be telling everyone else how to successfully accomplish things, if that is your natural gift that you are very stingy about sharing? ;-)

ComeToTX · April 2016

jeffwalsh said:

ComeToTX said:
Negative attention doesn't matter to the few who passed this. Neither does popular opinion. Neither does PayPal and Deutsche taking money and jobs out of NC. They are bigots and PJ not playing a show won't change that.
Since you are the arbiter of what is effective, perhaps you should be telling everyone else how to successfully accomplish things, if that is your natural gift that you are very stingy about sharing? ;-)

It will probably go to the Supreme Court. I didn't claim to know the answer. I know a cancelled PJ show means nothing though.

shecky · April 2016

SB51327 said:

shecky said:

gsamarco said:
I live in Raleigh, I'm flockin' pissed, but I support the band's decision. It was a beautiful F#c% You to stupidity.
From the beginning I've been saying this law is stupid, and I'm not even liberal. WTF, what's next separated bathrooms for blacks and whites? This is discrimination, I don't care how you spin it.
I would't mind some tickets for Chicago instead...
Still pissed as flock though.
CHICAGO - are you kidding! How could any one play Chicago until they stop the murders?
Are you aware that over 900 people - mainly young Black men - have been murdered in Chicago during the first 100 days of this year already (as of about one week ago)?
Mayor Rahm Emanuel does NOTHING about it!
President Obama does NOTHING about it!
Bruce Springsteen does NOTHING about it!
And, now, Pearl Jam does NOTHING about it!
Where are our priorities?

Oh I see what you are doing. Thats funny

It's not funny at all.
And obviously you don't see what I'm doing at all.
By the way, I incorrectly reported that there had been 900 murders so far this year in Chicago.
The actual figure is 900 shootings so far this year - not all of the shooting victims died.
Where are America's priorities?

whoYouAre21 · April 2016

As an NC resident and someone with GA tickets to the show (my only show of the tour), I gotta say this stings. But as a long-time fan of this band, I have admired and appreciated PJ'd political activism. I continue to do so. And for those complaining, I feel you, but looking back as far as the Ticket master feud, PJ has always been willing to make fan satisfaction sacrifices for their principles. Let's all try to stop feeling sorry for ourselves for a minute and think about how much pain this law is causing in North Carolina. If this concert being canceled plays even a small part in its overturn, it's worth it. See y'all down the road.

THE LOOK · April 2016

This is just wrong! Mumford played Charlotte last Thursday and donated their proceeds to a LBGT organization. I felt like that was a classy way to express their opinion on the matter. PJ is not helping the situation in any way. I am sure the politicians are happy that the band cancelled. Less people speaking out against them, is a win. Total BS move! For the record, I did not have tickets to this show.

ComeToTX · April 2016

Mumford and Buffett are handling it correctly.

cjminor · April 2016

I can understand people being mad about losing money on flights and hotel rooms, but the person you should be mad at is the sack of shit governor of NC. Not the band, who are just trying to do what's right. I live in NC, and the more attention is brought to this shameful law, the better. I applaud PJ for their stance. There are more important things than concerts. We need to let the LGBT community of NC know we are supportive of them. My husband and I had 10C tickets to the Raleigh show and when we get our money back, we will donate all of it to Equality NC.

CM189191 · April 2016

ComeToTX said:
Mumford and Buffett are handling it correctly.

Said no one ever...

63schoefflin · April 2016

People who still support the band for this are morons. It's the same people that blindly stand behind everything they do. This will change nothing and in a week nobody will remember just like Bruce. All it does is piss off fans and now cause more people to think twice about traveling. I know that when it comes to traveling, I am now all in with MMJ and Phish because they don't pull stuff like this. Regardless of how you feel about the whack ass law, this is a slap in the face to fans but they don't care because a bunch of you still just go along with whatever they do. Shut up, play music, and donate the money and rant away.

rchallen · April 2016

bootlegger10 said:
North Carolinians: I hope you like the liberal elites pushing around your politicians you voted for. This time you may be okay with it, but next time you may not.

The people...or rather... the rich people have the power, the rich people have the power.

Well, I voted for the Charlotte mayor who passed pro-TG legislation.
Then the "conservative elites" in my state capital decided to teach us "Charlotte liberals" a lesson (or they just needed an excuse), and passed the most sweeping anti-LBGT legislation in the country.
So the politicians I did vote for are getting pushed around... and the politicians I didn't vote for are also pushing us around. I suppose that Pearl Jam cancelling a show also "pushes around" politicians... although not nearly as much as the $100 million that PayPal took away from the state last month. Or the $350 million we've already lost thanks to other corporations and conventions boycotting us.

Given the choice between the rich people in Pearl Jam and the rich assholes in the NC State House, I'd rather have Ed and company passing my laws, thanks.

CM189191 · April 2016

http://equalitync.org/action/repeal_HB2/

brianlux · April 2016

Lotta hate going on here, especially in light of (I assume) everyone here being (or until recently were) fans of Pearl Jam. Very ironic.

jeffwalsh · April 2016

rchallen said:
I suppose that Pearl Jam cancelling a show also "pushes around" politicians... although not nearly as much as the $100 million that PayPal took away from the state last month. Or the $350 million we've already lost thanks to other corporations and conventions boycotting us.

It's not a competition. We're all on the same side. ;-)

rchallen · April 2016

jeffwalsh said:

rchallen said:
I suppose that Pearl Jam cancelling a show also "pushes around" politicians... although not nearly as much as the $100 million that PayPal took away from the state last month. Or the $350 million we've already lost thanks to other corporations and conventions boycotting us.
It's not a competition. We're all on the same side. ;-)

No, I agree. I was just surprised to hear someone telling me that I was being "pushed around" by Pearl Jam, rather than the state politicians I didn't vote for whose law I don't support.
And call me cynical, but I don't see said politicians coming to their senses anytime soon. It's like Gov. Patsy McCrory and his cronies know what a clusterf**k they created, but they're sticking to their guns to save face... for purely political reasons I'm sure.

chiwhitesox · April 2016

I think the main gripe here is that a lot of fans are losing money they can't and more importantly, shouldn't lose. The paying fanbase have looked forward to this show for sometime. The band cancels 48 hours before? But they scheduled the show months in advance.

Show business is show business, and always will be.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_show_must_go_on

RunIntoTheRain · April 2016

Taft said:
There is a reason they waited until two business days from 4/20 to cancel the show, and it wasn't because they were torn or wavering on what to do (you either believe in this protest or you don't) especially given the press surrounding this issue, and Springsteen etc...

It had to do with contracts, the cynic would say the band reduced their exposure to liability and/or received a payment by waiting. The optimist (and more likely reason) would say the unions/minimum wage workers assigned to the show will still get paid since show was canceled so late....

This^^^^

JR119983 · April 2016

rchallen said:

PJlive said:
Sucks. But the people of North Carolina did this to themselves!!!
More than 50% of us voted Democrat in the last election. The state government is rigged due to gerrymandering. This is an overreach of power by the Republican governor and his cronies, and doesn't represent the state as a whole. They didn't even open the law up to discussion (it literally went from non-existence to law in less than 24 hours) because they knew how many people would oppose it.

Hey dipshit, you do know that the party that controls the legislature draws the districts, right? So the Republican majority that's now in the legislature were elected to office in 2010 in the districts drawn by the Democrats who controlled the process for 100 years prior. But I'm sure during all that time the Dems never drew lines to give them a political advantage, right?? I'm really trying to see things from your point of view, but I can't seem to get my head shoved that far up my ass.

jdesantis1983 · April 2016

Went to the 2013 Hartford show, the band's first show in the Connecticut since the tragedy in Newtown, and Eddie was very vocal about the issues at hand and spoke at length about it at the show. He mentioned there were fathers of victims at the show, they played Long Road, Come Back, it was one of the most powerful messages I'd ever seen conveyed at a concert. There were many there that agreed with them, and still little has changed with gun laws.

In this case, the message sent by cancelling the show in Raleigh will be more far reaching. I don't remember reading/seeing much about Eddie's message at the Hartford show though it has stuck with me and I'm sure others who have heard it to this day. Major news outlets are already reporting on this story an hour after the announcement, so I think not playing the show makes their message further reaching.

I feel bad for everyone who is stuck with non-refundable travel plans and tickets they can't get refunds for all because of a draconian law. Hopefully you'll be able to get to another show soon. There has to be some logistical reason for the announcement coming 2 days before the show like Springsteen's, seems like it's not a coincidence they both announced 2 days before. If they could they probably would have given fans as much advance notice as possible. Peace.

madtowndave · April 2016

For those of you who are losing money on hotel reservations, try this. I worked for 10 years in hotel management. Our property frequently tried to collect the fee on reservations that would not show up or were past their cancellation date. Some guests were fine with this, and some disputed the charge with their credit card company. In EVERY instance where a charge was disputed, a refund was issued. It is not worth the hotels time to argue with a credit card company. Dispute your charges! I realize this will has a lower probability of working with those who paid via travel websites, but hopefully it will work for some of you. Try calling the property and talking like a kind, rational person to the hotel clerk. In many instances, we waived fees for inconvenienced travelers. Don't be lazy, make an effort to try and get your money back!

Pearl Jam Cancels 4/20 Raleigh, NC Concert in Opposition to HB2; Official Band Statement

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