lifeblood: listlogs: 1998v01n072-news

ig-news-digest monday, may 11 1998 volume 01 : number 072

                               today's subjects:
                               -----------------
  [ig-news] sonicnet article     [claudine lapsky <claudine@cableinet.co.uk>]
  [ig-news] review: zapatista benefit - austin, tx - may 8th  [doolittle <to]
  [ig-news] irmo concert!!!                      [sb <sharonb@geocities.com>]
  [ig-news] announcing: indigo texas mail repeater  [tony at mendina <mendin]

----------------------------------------------------------------------

date: sun, 10 may 1998 17:37:32 +0100
from: claudine lapsky <claudine@cableinet.co.uk>
subject: [ig-news] sonicnet article

[sherlyn's note: this message was originally sent to the indigo
girls mailing list at netspace.org.]

hey,

here's another article from sonicnet about the cancellations of ig
concerts:

indigo girls stand tall in the face of prejudice
students protesting the cancellation of indigo girls concert.
staff writer chris nelson writes:

you know, i never felt like i owed amy ray and emily saliers --
popularly known as the indigo girls -- before last week. i suppose
they've made some folks happy with the eight albums they've released in
the last decade or so, and for that i can see why, in a broad sense, i
and others might give them a nod.

but i was never one of the ones whose guts were stirred by their folky
harmonies. to be sure, the band is pleasant enough to listen to, but it
never put the fire in my belly.

they did stir the coals up over the past two weeks, however, when the
georgia duo announced a mini-tour of high schools, only to find several
of the shows canceled by school authorities fretful over several things,
depending on whom you ask.

the first school to turn tail and flee was irmo high in irmo, s.c.
principal gerald witt axed the event after parents complained about the
indigos' open homosexuality, although some said they were upset about
hosting a concert during a school-hours assembly.

by the time that principals ernest chism and edwin hedgepeth (of
tennessee's germantown and farragut high schools, respectively) bowed
out of their agreements with the group, the administrators had taken to
fear of the f-word to justify their cancellations.

as it turns out, when the indigo girls played an april show at
loganville high in georgia, they sang "shame on you" (realaudio
excerpt), a song that features the foul word. (the specific verse reads,
"me and jesus, we're of the same heart/ the only thing that keeps us
distant is that i keep fucking up.") their performance of that song
generated a local post-concert furor, according to loganville head ken
prichard.

not that the students at farragut are buying into the cursing defense.
"a lot of people here think the only reason this was canceled was
because they're lesbians," farragut teacher and concert organizer jeff
callahan told sonicnet music news.

but the queen mother of dirty terms gave the principals an out from what
had become -- since the irmo cancellation -- a controversial subject,
and they stretched to take it. they nixed their chance for a rare
performance -- which was to be followed by a question-and-answer session
with the singers -- despite assurances from the indigos' manager that
they wouldn't perform the offending song. hedgepeth booted the group
even after he'd spoken with principal doug crosier of tennessee's
franklin high school, who assured him that the show went off at his
school sans cursing.

censorship watchdogs will note that this same concern over live
performance may help pass a michigan law that would allow towns to apply
a "harmful to minors" designation to concerts. the measure's saving
grace only comes to light in comparison with the indigo girls
cancellations -- the "harmful to minors" tag can't be applied for the
sexuality of the artist or the use of curse words, and the provision
makes exceptions for work that has "serious literary, artistic,
political or scientific value for minors." should it pass, however, the
michigan bill only applies to traditional concerts, not school
assemblies.

fortunately for the kids of south carolina and tennessee, the indigo
girls quickly arranged for public concerts with free admission for
high-schoolers in the towns where their shows were bagged.

and that's what i feel like i owe the indigos for -- for standing up to
make this tour happen, despite the opposition that has seemed to creep
up at nearly every turn. in speaking up for themselves, they spoke up
for everyone who's concerned about free speech (and ongoing attempts to
censor it), as did the high-school students who protested the
cancellation. that's pretty punk-rock, even if their music isn't.

some might say the duo's offer to yank "shame on you" from their set was
a concession. not me. you tailor your message for the audience. i think
the girls could have made an impact on the students without saying
"fuck," which i'm sure the kids hear often enough from one another.

of course, by showing their resolve to play for the kids no matter what
the venue, the indigo girls offered the students something more valuable
than any performance or q&a -- an example of courageousness, of the
determination to act on their convictions. it's too bad that the kids
couldn't find the same in their school leaders, who chose instead to
pander to a narrow-minded minority.

[ sun., may 10, 1:33 am pdt ]

- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
it's nice to see the writer acknowledge the integrity, courage and
strength of the girls. something we already know and love about them!
:)

claudine

- ---------------------------------------------------------------
this has been a message from the ig-news list.
please send feedback, questions etc to owner-ig-news@smoe.org.
submissions are welcome - please send these to ig-news@smoe.org.

------------------------------

date: sun, 10 may 1998 16:53:16 -0700
from: doolittle <tonyfrapsiv@earthlink.net>
subject: [ig-news] review: zapatista benefit - austin, tx - may 8th

[sherlyn's note: this message was originally sent to the indigo
girls mailing list at netspace.org.]

hello fortunate ones~

        here's a brief review of friday night's benefit concert.  first, i
have to say that these benefit shows are quite a bit different from regular
ig shows.  both at the voter's for choice benefit in dallas two weeks ago
and the zapatista benefit on friday there were four acts and many folks had
come to see the other acts besides the girls.  nothing wrong with that, but
it detracts from the intensity of a regular ig show.
        interestingly, the skies above austin and southern texas on friday
were covered with smoke from forest fires in mexico, somewhat symbolic of
the turbulent situation between the zapatistas and the mexican government --
i.e. where there's smoke there's fire :o
        my biggest gripe about the backyard show was that the volume was too
low.  several of the acts, especially ricki lee jones were very difficult to
hear and the venue is small too!  i think this is partly related to it being
a mixed show, and that people who weren't interested in particular artists
talked through their performances.  young female fans about 14-17 seemed to
be the most vocal.  i figured they were probably ig fans and not interested
in the preceding acts so they socialized with their friends instead of
listening to the music.  i'm a bit disappointed that these ig fans were not
respectful of all the fine musicians playing friday night :(
        shawn colvin opened the show and had a very good set, better than in
dallas.  the crowd for the most part was into her performance and seemed to
really enjoy it, although the sound was a bit low.  sunny came home was of
course a real crowd pleaser!  towards the end of her set steve earle came on
and sang fearless heart with shawn, an earle song colvin has covered for a
long time!  it was great...
        then a&e came out and gave an exceptional introduction to ricki lee
jones.  i had been looking forward to her set, but the sound seemed the
lowest or perhaps just muted by the conversation of the audience.  she first
sang about 5 to 6 songs from her self-titled album and from what i could
hear they were not performed brillantly.  in fact the crowd seemed so
unfamiliar with her music that hardly anyone applauded at the end of her
songs.  i think she just didn't feel the "right vibes" when she took the
stage and she never found a groove with the audience.  so she'd just ended
one song and started into another without much if any space in between, so
the audience wouldn't even catch the fact that a song had ended and think to
applaud.  and rlj's performance seemed to deteriorate from there... :(
        her voice wasn't very strong either.  her voice cracked noticeably
on several occasions. later she did some newer songs which also seemed to
flop with the audience.  she did have a little girl (about 8 or 9) sitting
onstage with her, and i presume it was her daughter.  they both left the
stage after the initial set and ricki lee jones did not return for an encore.
        then a&e came out and introduced a women from mexico (sorry, don't
remember her name) and she gave a gripping speech about the situation in
chiapas in both english and spanish.  at then end of about a 20 minute talk,
she had the crowd shouting together, "viva la zapatista, viva la zapatista!".
        then steve earle came on and had a stunning performance!  he sang
south nashille blues, i feel alright, cckmp, devil's right hand, and
christmas in washington among others :)
        then the girls came on.  by this time many people had left the venue
but there was a strong core of ig fanatics remaining! :)  the girls sang
soy, with steve earle on harmonica and vocals and amy seemed to really enjoy
stressing the line "the only thing that keeps us distant is that i keep
fuckin up!" ;)  they did the singalongs lc, galileo, and it's alright.
emily did a beautiful rendition of ghost!
        they didn't play chickenman or closer to fine, though :0
        my favorite song of the evening was amy's new karla faye tucker song
combined with scooter boys and the accompanying intense jam! :)  ms. saliers
proved once again friday night that she is one of the best slide gutarists
performing today.  she scorched the audience with about an 8 minute electric
guitar demonstration on her "cheesy old national", while ms. ray frantically
beat out rhythm on her black martin, dancing feveriously the whole time!
surprisingly, i didn't see amy break a string in either dallas or austin.
this must be some kinda record or something! ;)
        the girls thanked the audience and left the stage.  they returned to
the stage with sc and se, but i didn't see rlj.  i was expecting ctf, but
the encore song for the evening was goodnight irene which was a pleasant
surprise :)  they all seemed to enjoy having an open jam on this song which
lasted a good ten minutes!  steve earle led the song mostly, while shawn
colvin had an exquiste solo (she was really beaming!)  the girls were all
smiley and seemed quite happy, but they took a lower key role in the last
song and then the concert was over... :(

goodnight irene, goodnight irene, i'll see you in my dreams~

i       tony doolittle - houston, texas, usa            g
n                                                       i
d       not content to bow and bend to the whims        r
i       of culture that swoop like vultures eating      l
g       us away to our extinction -  emily saliers      s
o

------------------------------

date: sun, 10 may 1998 13:32:07 -0400
from: sb <sharonb@geocities.com>
subject: [ig-news] irmo concert!!!

[sherlyn's note: this message was originally sent to the indigo
girls mailing list at netspace.org. i thought you folks might be
interested in reading a first-hand account of the irmo show...]

sorry this review is a little late, but i've been gone all weekend and
haven't had time to write one...

alright, i know this is going to be long...but i just have to brag about
this concert.  it rocked!!!!  it was incredible.  this is the concert
that was resceduled from the one that was canceled at irmo high school.
first of all, i'd just like to say how proud i was of all the high
school students.  there were soooo many there for one thing.  for
another thing, many of them wore rainbow ribbons, or had even made
shirts that said "i love lesbians", with a rainbow coloured heart.  i
was so proud!

ok...it started off incredibly.  i got there early (of course) and there
were already news cameras and several people there.  there were also
several men who were holding signs and protesting homosexuality.  one
sign said "parents, save your children from government schools"  and one
that said "crusade against homosexuality...find god" (or something like
that) and one huge sign that said "sodomy is a sin"  (*sigh*)

ok...before the concert:  i was waiting for my friend to show up and was
just mingling...then at about 3:30, sulli came out and started talking
pictures of people.  so, i said "hey sulli" as she walked by and she
stopped and she and i chatted for a while!  then, it happened.  =)  amy
herself came out front and started taking pictures of people and the
protestors.  she walked over to one of the men who was holding the
sodomy sign and he began yelling about how homosexuality is wrong.   he
"quoted" a bible verse at amy, saying "homosexuality is wrong?"  to
which amy replied "does god actually say that?  does he actually use
that term?"  and then....amy turned to me (i was standing right beside
her) and we start talking about the bible and how if he is going to
quote the bible he should have one with him to prove it.  it was pretty
funny....amy was asking everybody around "do you happen to have a
bible?"  and she kept laughing and smiling at me every time the man said
something ridiculous.  by the way, a local news station was taping part
of this conversation between me, amy, and the guy...so i made sure to
tape the news that night and was soooo excited when they showed amy and
the man and i was standing right next to amy talking to her!  =)
the concert, like i said was awesome.  i didn't get a setlist (i asked
sulli afterwards for one, but she said she was in a hurry)  so i don't
know all the songs they sang.  i'll try to remember the highlights
though...
they started out with it's alright, and when they got to the line "hate
me cause i'm gay..." everybody screamed and cheered really loud, and
some of the kids help up signs with rainbows and pink triangles. =)
at the end of scooter boys was the most incredible stream of
consciousness.  she was obviously referring to the whole cancellation
and irmo saga.  the soc went something like this:
"when i go to sleep tonight, cause i sleep too....
when i dream tonight, cause i dream too....
when i pray tonight, cause i pray too.... (she kinda gave a tiny laugh
and everyone cheered)
you can hate me..you can hate me.....but i can still love you"

i don't think i've ever heard an audience that small cheer as loud as
they did after that!  amy is just brilliant...
one thing that was cute...several kids yelled for galileo and amy said
"we're gonna sing galileo in a minute, but you have to suffer through
the rest first..."
the encore rocked too.  they sang (i'm sure of the correct title) "i
might just check you out" with danielle and the tantrums.  it was
incredible...really rocking..the whole audience was dancing and hearing
amy sing the verses....."i might just check you out..." and "everybody
sing ahh-ahh..."  it was great! =)

after the concert:  i have to brag just a little more....  afterwards,
we went to wait for them to come out to their busses.  the security
guards, however, closed the gate to keep us out.  however, after amy
came out and got into a red pick up truck, a few of us got smart and
decided to go over to the other side of the gate where it was still
open--the only place they could come out.  so, when they got there, they
stopped and amy actually rolled down her window and talked us.  she
signed all our ticket stubs, and i shook her hand again! =)
well, that about concludes my looooong review.  i'm going to try to
remember the setlist and if anyone has it, please tell me.  also, if
anyone happened to bootleg this concert or the one in greenville a week
before, please tell me, since i was at this one too and would love a
copy of either of them.
well, everyone take care and have a happy indigo day.  =)

sharon (who is now in amy withdrawl....)

------------------------------

date: sun, 10 may 1998 23:14:53 -0500
from: tony at mendina <mendina@utdallas.edu>
subject: [ig-news] announcing: indigo texas mail repeater

[sherlyn's note: this message was originally sent to the indigo
girls mailing list at netspace.org and relates to a new list
which has just been set up for indigo girls fans in texas.]

while i must admit it's hard to get feedback from folks at exam time, the
comments i got were all flame free and supportive. it appears that there is
somewhat more support for having a texas list, and since most of us in
dallas try to make austin/sa concerts that's good. here's the details:

list policy:
this mail redirection system was created because of the trouble in passing
around piles of email with 15 people's addresses at the top before concerts
and meets in the area. so, the list is for passing around concert and meet
information, plus other local information like ticket outlets, music
stores, and driving directions for fortunate ones in texas.

the list is not for random free-ranging discussions on nigc issues, or for
igc issues that are nationwide and belong on the regular list. a certain
amount of chit-chat will happen, especially right before/after concerts,
because i'm not nearly as hardnosed as i sound in the rest of this
document. however, we are going to keep the nigc to a out so that those who
can't subscribe to the general discussion list can feel free to subscribe
to this one.

this list is also not for attachements, including vcard.vcf and msmail.dat
files if you can possibly stand to turn them off. i will be happy to
explain how to turn those off if need be.

anyway, remember that this is a low traffic list among friends. be
considerate, don't annoy your friends, and have fun.

see you at our next meet....

tony

instructions:

to subscribe or unsubscribe:
send an email to indigo-texas@usa.net
place the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the subject line

to send mail to the list:
send an email to indigo-texas@usa.net that does not contain the words
subscribe, unsubscribe, or send policy in the subject line. it will take
5-30 minutes to make it through the mailserver, and then up to six hours
before my machine dials in and processes the mail.

to get a copy of this policy:
send an email to indigo-texas@usa.net
place the words "send policy" in the subject line.

to complain or get help:
send an email to tony a.t. mendina <mendina@utdallas.edu> or
send an email to the list and ask for help.

********************
tony at mendina          ideas are not responsible for the people
mendina@utdallas.edu     who beleive in them. (dark avenger)
dss key id: 0xb704cee3   rsa key id: 0xe69ec611

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end of ig-news-digest v1 #72
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