NOLA’s Siberia Bar Plays it Safe and Changes Portland Band’s Name To B.P. on Show Flyer/Website
Yesterday it was announced that the stoner rock band from Portland with one of the most talked about names in music over the last week had their gig canceled at The Pourhouse in Raleigh, NC….get up to speed here, if you wish.
Today we are noticing that Siberia Bar in NOLA has gone on to referring to Bl*ck P*ssy by their initials only(see show flyer on the right). We’ve reached out to the bar but so far we’ve had no response. We are going to assume the bar is trying to avoid the impending shit-storm.
The Facebook event page only refers to the Rose City band as B.P.
(Portland, OR Rock-N-Roll!!) and although the event page posts links from the other bands playing tonight, Like The Coathangers, Jesse Tripp and The Nightbreed along with Pope, there are no links to “B.P.”
The website falls in line and does not mention the band by name either and a quick search of the Bar’s Facebook page turns up some public backlash
Of course since we wrote our original piece about the subject yesterday, white dudes from all over are crying foul and saying they are not offended by the name, no shit?
From our article yesterday:
We here at Northwest Music Scene can certainly see both sides of the coin. While we strongly defend the right to freedom of speech, there are times when it seems to go too far and this could be one of those times. Just because I don’t find something offensive, does not mean it isn’t offensive to someone else. And remember Freedom of Speech does not always come without repercussions. The same way we have the right to make really shitty decisions and while we have that right, if the decision is shitty enough, we may have to deal with the consequences. That said, we don’t advocate violence in any way, shape or form and definitely not over a band name.
If you are not in the demographic that the name suggests you can’t possible understand if it is, or how offensive it could be. Whether it is meant to be derogatory or not is irrelevant. If people in that demographic find it offensive then it is.
Back in February “B.P.” singer Dustin Hill told Williamette Week that he never thought the name would be controversial. When he bestowed the Google-unfriendly name on his stoner-rock project three years ago, he swears it wasn’t for shock value. To him, it was simply the perfect fit for the songs he was writing at the time. It sounded, in his words, “sexy and ’70s.” Click HERE to read that article.
We’ll be updating this as we go along.