Dear Dickheads – August 2014

So I just read your review of the SLC Punk 2 concert on the SLUG website, and while it’s adequate (if a bit dry), I’m a lot more upset by the actions of Ben Weasel than your reviewer seemed to be. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t give two shits of a dick about SLC Punk, but I was super excited to see one of my favorite bands in the world, Screeching Weasel, even if their frontman has proven to be a human sack of shit on several occasions. The first few songs started off great! Ben Weasel had recruited a solid band, and they had a ton of energy, and there was lots of pogo-ing and singing along. But then Ben Weasel talked. And in the midst of a ten minute tirade, he managed to state that Native Americans don’t really care about racist sports team mascots, insult the marriage equality movement, glorify the suicide of sports athletes, and piss off a bunch of people. Some of my friends were visibily upset and left the show, and they weren’t the only ones. THEN Weasel insulted trans-people and disabled people, and later on in the show bragged about the incident that got his band kicked off of Fat Wreck Chords (wherein he assaulted two women from a stage at SXSW a few years back) and bragged about only agreeing to play the show because of a hefty paycheck. Needless to say, my first time seeing one of my favorite bands was a little tainted. When Screeching Weasel was playing, they were awesome. When Ben Weasel spoke, I wondered why I cared about this band at all. I understand trying to get a rise out of people and the shock factor of punk rock, but this was some Glenn Beck/Rush Limbaugh/Ann Coulter type shit that is totally out of place in punk rock, especially in the innocuous (vapid) pop punk of Screeching Weasel. So basically, my question to you, is, should bands and their catalogues be judged based on the actions of their members? Or am I just a sensitive dork who isn’t punk enough?

-Jiminy Rocket