[kj] OT: NMA US tour cancelled...My Ass Burns Even Hotter

[Jiri]

Wow, at the original news I was going to make a lame joke about the word 
"Army" being the trigger. I wonder if that part is true. I wouldn't put 
anything past U.S. immigration officials.

Christof hamille wrote:

> Found this posted somewhere else...............

>

> 80s Band in a Post-9/11 America!

> by Guymon Adams

> September 5, 2007

>

> The widely popular late 80s post-punk band New Model Army was 

> scheduled for a U.S. tour beginning this September. Based out of 

> Europe, New Model Army has written dozens of underground hits since 

> the 1980s, including their revolutionary anthems "I Love the World" 

> and "51st State of America" and have been consistentlly hard working 

> musicians, releasing their latest full length CD "High" earlier this 

> year. As a staple of the independent post-punk scene, they have toured 

> the States multiple times throughout their extensive career.

>

> However, in 2007 post-9/11 America, their passports have now been 

> denied! The official reason for this was due to their name, the word 

> "Army" apparently raising some manufactured red flag. The State 

> Department literally stated "they may incite terrorism."

>

> While it is well known that New Model Army has always had 

> socio-politically driven lyrics and themes, they have never once 

> incited violence towards anyone. Indeed, while quite intellectually 

> provoking, their lyrics might be considered tame by many people's 

> standards when compared to any number of wildly popular, multi-million 

> dollar, platinum selling artists actually residing in the U.S.

>

> So the question to ask is, what kind of precedent does this set? 

> Freedom of speech? Well, apparently even artists with a long, 

> successful history, and millions of fans in the U.S. are not permitted 

> to exercise such rights. Was this merely a case of an overzealous 

> fledgeling graduate from some "Criminal Justice" course at ITT? Or is 

> this a fresh example of the State Department specifically 

> discriminating against a musical group based outside of the U.S. for 

> their political statements, and their potential influence thereof? And 

> perhaps even more so, what does this say about our treatment of 

> legitimate working foreigners when compared to our otherwise wide open 

> Southern borders?

>

> John Wickham of Elysium Night Club in Austin, TX, among many other 

> club owners across the country, have now begun writing letters of 

> reference to the U.S. State Department on behalf of New Model Army, 

> demanding that they be allowed to travel to the U.S. and perform as 

> any other artist would. In the meantime, all U.S. tour dates have been 

> cancelled, and are expected to be rescheduled for no later than the 

> spring of 2008.... Approval pending.

>

> The official statement from New Model Army's website:

> "We have regrettably been forced to cancel the North American tour 

> that was due to start this week. The US Citizenship and Immigration 

> Service have denied the visas that the band require to travel to the 

> USA and so until this matter is resolved all shows are on hold.

>

> The band and management are extremely disappointed by this result as 

> the tour was destined to be one of the greats. The new album is out, 

> there is media attention in every city and the expectations are (were) 

> high from the thousands of fans who had bought advance tickets.

>

> The dates will be re-booked once the Immigration situation is 

> resolved. In the meantime, ticket refunds are available from the point 

> of purchase."

>

>

>> From: "Christof hamille" <wessidetempest at hotmail.com>

>> Reply-To: "A list about all things Killing Joke (the 

>> band!)"<gathering at misera.net>

>> To: gathering at misera.net

>> Subject: Re: [kj] OT: NMA US tour cancelled...

>> Date: Thu, 06 Sep 2007 08:44:51 -0500

>>

>> Shit....Sit shit fucking shit.  I jumped through some tight hoops to 

>> try to get them in Detroit.  Damn it.

>>

>> Burn the system down

>>

>> UUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

>>

>> Chris

>>

>>

>>> From: Michael Garcia <sandstorm_mg at yahoo.com>

>>> Reply-To: "A list about all things Killing Joke (the 

>>> band!)"<gathering at misera.net>

>>> To: "A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)" 

>>> <gathering at misera.net>

>>> Subject: Re: [kj] OT: NMA US tour cancelled...

>>> Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2007 21:51:17 -0700 (PDT)

>>>

>>> I agree damnit. This isn't the first time they've had

>>> problems with their visas too. I was about to buy my

>>> tickets right before I checked their website again

>>> becaus eI had heard the first 3-4 shows were already

>>> postponed due to visa problems....

>>>

>>> MIchael

>>>

>>>

>>> --- Alexander Smith <vassifer at earthlink.net> wrote:

>>>

>>> >

>>> >  From their MySpace bulletin. We Yanks really do

>>> > suck, don't we:

>>> > - Alex in NYC

>>> >

>>> >

>>> > Our apologies to anyone who has already received

>>> > this message...

>>> >

>>> > We are sorry to deliver this bad news...

>>> >

>>> > VISAS Denied. North American tour cancelled.

>>> >

>>> > We have regrettably been forced to cancel the North

>>> > American tour

>>> > that was due to start this week. The US Citizenship

>>> > and Immigration

>>> > Service have denied the visas that the band require

>>> > to travel to the

>>> > USA and so until this matter is resolved all shows

>>> > are on hold.

>>> >

>>> > The band and management are extremely disappointed

>>> > by this result as

>>> > the tour was destined to be one of the greats. The

>>> > new album is out,

>>> > there is media attention in every city and the

>>> > expectations are

>>> > (were) high from the thousands of fans who had

>>> > bought advance tickets.

>>> >

>>> > The dates will be re-booked once the Immigration

>>> > situation is

>>> > resolved. In the meantime, ticket refunds are

>>> > available from the

>>> > point of purchase.

>>> >

>>> > At present time we are still awaiting the reason for

>>> > our denial from

>>> > the proper authorities.

>>> >

>>> > Check back for updates as we will be further

>>> > investigating this matter.

>>> >

>>> > Despite all the gloom there is a light at the end of

>>> > the tunnel...

>>> > "HIGH" was released in the US on Tuesday and reports

>>> > are that sales

>>> > are brisk..>

>>> _______________________________________________

>>> > Gathering mailing list

>>> > Gathering at misera.net

>>> > http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering

>>> >

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> ____________________________________________________________________________________ 

>>>

>>> Looking for a deal? Find great prices on flights and hotels with 

>>> Yahoo! FareChase.

>>> http://farechase.yahoo.com/

>>> _______________________________________________

>>> Gathering mailing list

>>> Gathering at misera.net

>>> http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering

>>

>> _________________________________________________________________

>> A place for moms to take a break! 

>> http://www.reallivemoms.com?ocid=TXT_TAGHM&loc=us

>>

>> _______________________________________________

>> Gathering mailing list

>> Gathering at misera.net

>> http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering

>

> _________________________________________________________________

> Share your special parenting moments! 

> http://www.reallivemoms.com?ocid=TXT_TAGHM&loc=us

>

> _______________________________________________

> Gathering mailing list

> Gathering at misera.net

> http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering

>