Ever the rebellious, politically-charged punks, the reunited (sans lead singer Jello Biafra) Dead Kennedys have pulled out of the "Waking The Dead" Halloween punk extravaganza at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles on October 29, 2005 due to sponsorship of the show by the Coors Corp.
Dead Kennedys — whose pivotal Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables is getting the Special 25th Anniversary Edition reissue treatment by Manifesto Records on October 25 — announced yesterday that they had not been informed that there would be corporate sponsors when they agreed to play the show, and were specifically unaware that Coors would be a major sponsor until advertisements for the show appeared in LA Weekly. The band said they then immediately contacted the organizers of the event to object to, and discuss the removal of Coors' sponsorship, but a "suitable arrangement" could not be made.
The "Waking The Dead" show will go ahead as scheduled with Suicidal Tendencies, the Germs, Flipper, and Marky Ramone.
"Dead Kennedys have always been wary of corporate sponsorship and steer clear of lending our name to promote a product," said Dead Kennedys guitarist and founding member East Bay Ray. "Because we were not alerted to the ultra conservative, right-wing sponsor for this event, we could not see a reason to go ahead and perform at this show in good conscience. Dead Kennedys want nothing to do with this event or Coors and I am disgusted that they are now sponsoring punk shows, something they are politically at odds with."
The band accused the Golden, Colorado beer giant of funding "right-wing groups such as the Nicaraguan Contras, the anti-gay Moral Majority, and the notoriously anti-punk Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC). Coors has also broken numerous unions, is anti-environment, and has funded lawsuits against affirmative action," they said.
The Special 25th Anniversary edition of Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables — besides containing the indelible punk standards "Let's Lynch the Landlord," "California Uber Alles," "Viva Las Vegas" and "Holiday In Cambodia" — also includes a bonus DVD of interviews and previously unreleased archival footage.
Article comments
1 - baby jebus
aren't these the same guys that sold the rights to their song for use in a Levi's commercial? Isn't that why Jello didn't want to give them the rights? And now they want to get on some political high horse? puh lease.
Take this band and shove it.
and take the Misfits sans Danzig and shove them too.
2 - Eric Olsen
Jello is hardly without sin. Ithink the issue here is more specifically Coors than the general idea of corporate sponsorship. A lot of people go pretty insane about Coors
3 - BARNABY
Is jellow in DK,s anymore,how are his legs?B
4 - Eric Olsen
He was standing at the Wahsington peace march a few weeks ago - not in the DKs