My time under the reign of terror known as the Bloody Social gig has been well documented in past blogs, so I’ll summarize here–
Essentially my current journey as a rock chick “of a certain age” committed to a rock musician still working under the current cultural climate in New York has not always been an easy one. I have managed to find my way through it and much of the experience has been instrumental in bringing up old demon energies and insecurities deep within my psyche for cleansing and release, and this is largely due to my good fortune in finding an infinitely patient and understanding boyfriend.
So whatever, that’s the esoteric slant to the whole thing, the real topic of today’s blog is the crap-ass clubs and people that populate our fair metropolis these days, the “models and bottles” culture so favored by the majority that are either too young or too stupid to understand that subculture, creativity, art, music, performance, etc. are entities to be valued and nurtured. It is my personal opinion (also well outlined in many blogs) that we have become a society that values celebrity and physical beauty above all else, eschewing the true beauty and truth that lies under the surface in our creative minds and hearts. And this breaks my heart every time I am standing in the middle of a room surrounded by gorgeous, vapid people grubbing for free bottles of vodka while ignoring whatever band is playing.
Enter Greenhouse, a much talked about “green” club in NYC. Now, I am all for the greening of America, one of the more positive things occurring in the 21st century. But the one time Drew played here I walked out feeling damaged, old, depressed, and wounded by the energy in the room. And I am an attractive woman who is granted entry into the “inner circle” much of the time. So if it beats the crap out of me, what must it do to someone with less armor and defense? The mind boggles.
Acey Slade and his band the Dark Party were scheduled to play Greenhouse last night and they pulled out at the last minute. I am posting the letter he sent out on Facebook afterwards, because I think his actions and words, were/are both eloquent and brave in the face of the bullshit that so many creative people face right now:
“First, let me begin by saying how sorry I am to those who did not see Acey Slade and The Dark Party perform tonight. But we stand behind our decision not to play and here is why.
What we saw tonight at Greenhouse NYC, disgusted us to the point of being forced to not perform. Our music brings people together in a celebration of life and diversity. Gay, Black, White, Transgender, Short, Fat, Poor, Rich, all are welcome at any show I put on. If you have a problem with the economic status, gender, race, or appearance, then I cannot endorse your company with me or my music.
What was not made clear to us in advance was that Greenhouse has a ‘discriminatory’ ‘dress code’ and would insult and turn away our friends. This was not addressed until about a ½ hour before we were to take the stage.
Upon seeing the way the venue treated our friends and fans I thought, ‘How could I stand on stage and sing songs about feeling isolated and different while my friends are outside, on the other side of the wall because they are ‘different’.
If I did, it would mean that me and my songs mean nothing.
Once it became clear that Greenhouse wouldn’t let people who looked like us in (?) on their ‘Rock Night’ (?) we had a band meeting that lasted about 2 seconds. We unanimously decided that given our options the RIGHT thing to do was not play.
We packed our equipment, told the promoter to fuck off and gave free T-shirts to anyone who was not allowed entry and did our best to hang out or talk to people who were allowed in to explain what was happening.
The amount of time, work, labor, and money that Andee, Percy, Chris and I put into this EP release and the release party is great and we would not set up all of our gear just to take it off stage without playing a note…
Unless we felt like we needed to take a stand for something we believed in. We believe in Diversity, Equality and Humanity.
We also believe that Karmas a bitch well move the EP release party to the show at Rebel on August 27th at 10:00 (AND is 18+) where WE (you, me, us!) will rock like fuck.
I hope that you understand and support our decision. “
MISS ANTHROPE'S HOUSE OF HIGH DRAMA 