photo by Daniel Pagan

What’s Up With The Warped Tour?

Last year’s Warped Tour brought controversy by allowing a pro-life tent on the festival grounds. This year, founder Kevin Lyman explained why he thinks this is a cool, punk rock thing to do: "I use them to drag out the pro-choice groups… We couldn't get the pro-choice groups out until we had a pro-life group out here. That's been the thing to stir it up a little bit. That's what punk rock was always about.” The fest has received even more negative press for the misogynistic onstage rant unleashed by the Dickies' frontman against an audience member who held up a sign protesting the band's controversial lyrics, banter, and general attitudes. Read a full account of the incident written by War On Women’s Shawna Potter here.
Silent Barn Gets A Liquor License, But Needs Your Help

Yes, it’s true: you can legally buy shots next time you visit the Bushwick DIY venue. That’s good for you, if you like to drink, but we can also assume it’s good for the venue, because they’ll be earning money from an uptick in alcohol sales. Speaking of money, in order to keep operating, they need it. It’d be incredibly sad if Silent Barn went the way of Shea Stadium or Palisades, so if you have a moment, consider reading about their financial situation, which was presented in depth (and somewhat bluntly and humorously) this week. An important takeaway from the piece:

"The lemonade stand needs to close, and in its place we need to open a Jamba Juice franchise, essentially...When that moment comes, I will gladly sip my stupid Jamba Juice in defiance of all the things that almost prevented us."
Other Highlights

RIP John Blackwell and Pierre Henry, watch Nirvana perform in a RadioShack, the muppet and hip-hop mashups continue with Sesame Street + the Beastie Boys, check out a surreal video from Japanese Breakfast, rock legends get their own comic book covers, Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes forms new supergroup, a Biggie Smalls basketball court is coming to NYC, is Soundcloud floundering? and Kesha is back.

NEWS ROUNDUPWarped Tour Controversy, DIY In NYC and More