This was my second time seeing The World Is, the first being this summer opening for mewithoutYou. I got there in time to see The Hotelier open, another wonderful band. The Hotelier recently made some noise when they (and The World Is, who they were touring with at this point as well) moved three tour dates in Texas to different locations to work with different booking agents after a woman on Tumblr spoke of of physical and emotional abuse against her by the booking agent for their Texas shows. They very openly said why they were moving the shows, and shared this status on Facebook with fans (she later asked them to remove the full explanation, as she said it was a matter between her and him). The World Is shared The Hotelier's status as well. I thought it was a kind and supportive gesture.
Before The Hotelier started their last song they announced very seriously that after their set The World Is was going to make an announcement. I wondered what it could be and was terrified they were about to announce they were breaking up on stage in front of me. They decided to wait until right before their set when a spoken word poet they've collaborated with named Chris Zizzamia began to read from an iPad his thoughts on the Ferguson protests and the death of Michael Brown. I can't do justice to all that he said, but essentially it was an emotional call to action to support the protestors fighting for fair treatment and an end of the oppression of black people in places like St. Louis. I don't know if this has been the regular way in which The World Is has been opening their shows on this tour, but it hit home very deeply here. Zizzamia, who is half black and half white, challenged the predominantly white crowd to recognize their privilege and sympathize with the oppression of the black community. He also said that after the show he would be collecting donations to give to a charity in St. Louis to help the protestors with supplies like posters.
I have to admit his message hit home for me. The Grand Jury decision for police officer Darren Wilson is expected within the next few days, and violent unrest is being predicted by all sides. There had been rumors that the decision could have come this night, and I'm ashamed to admit the fear had crossed my mind that the walk to my car after the show (which was several blocks away in a "rough neighborhood") could have potentially been unsafe. Zizzamia, and The World Is, reminded me that I am not the one that has to feel unsafe, and that I am not the one who has been subjected to racial oppression for years and years. My city here in St. Louis is hurting right now, and white people claim to feel unsafe. But we need to remember why there are protestors, and why these riots began in the first place, because we have made made black communities feel unsafe, and made the police and the judicial system their oppressors and not their protectors.
On an unrelated note, the practice of "moshing" is a very hot topic right now in the punk community, something which Avery can probably speak more intelligently of. Punk band Joyce Manor really got things going after this confrontation with a fan at a recent Houston show:
Later they posted this statement on Facebook:
I wasn't able to watch people being hurt so I asked people not to act in the way that was hurting people. If that means you don't support the band, I respect that. If you don't want to attend the shows, we respect that. If you've bought a ticket to the show and want your money back because you want that to be your experience, we will refund you.
I don't have an issue with anyone's lifestyle. I apologize to losing my cool in Houston. I saw someone whose full intention was to harm people and was upset.
I was at one of their shows a few weeks before this happened, and it was a packed house with a wild crowd. There were probably as many as six stage divers at any one time, and people jumped into the crowd in every way possible. At one point someone kicked a ceiling tile out of place with their foot. And several times between songs the band asked people not to stagedive, and within a song or two people were ignoring their requests. This has been something Joyce Manor have been fighting against at their shows consistently, and people aren't listening. Read the comments on their Facebook statement. This is not something people are all taking well, and it's really causing people to second guess their behavior at shows, or violently defend what "punk shows" mean to them. It's a tricky issue, and not one with an obvious solution I don't think, but one that The World Is did weigh in on when I saw them.I look forward to playing music in a safe environment for everyone from here on out.
Around halfway through their set they asked the crowd to be respectful of their fellow concert goers as they enjoyed the show. The World Is aren't the sort of band that draw a ton of moshing (and quite frankly the crowd was much too small to consider stagediving), but there had been some activity in the crowd up to this point, nothing (in my opinion) too excessive or dangerous. They simply asked kindly that people not make hurting others a part of their concert experience. One of the vocalists remarked that he weighed over two hundred pounds, and what if he wanted to mosh? He would hurt someone, he said, and so he asked us to be careful with our bodies and if we wanted to mosh to take it to the back where no one was standing, or to a bathroom stall.
I think the crowd listened. Like I said, I do not think the crowd had been out of line up to this point, but people did settle down. I found it interesting to look at the guys (I believe it was all guys at the very front) who were the most targeted audience of The World Is's request. I'm used to being a young guy at shows; I've been to a lot of shows where I felt like the youngest person there. But I wasn't at this show, I was the average. I saw kids who looked like they were still in high school. And when the band played, there was something very genuine about how they listened, and about their behavior. These weren't drunk grizzly guys with neckbeards, these were kids. How should we expect them to behave?
But that's all the better really, because these are the people that need to hear about stuff like this most. These are the people that most need to hear their heroes standing up for their fellow concert goers, but also for the Ferguson protestors and victims of abuse. Moshing is the least one-sided issue of course, but the music community, as fans young and old, and particularly the punk fanbase, has to relearn how to express itself. Men and women of all sizes should feel safe at shows, but people need the escapism that punk music can give them. I don't have the answer to this problem, but I think bands in positions of power asking the community to think about what they're doing is a huge step in the right direction, and I was excited to hear The World Is advocating their position on it with no prompting whatsoever.
This is what we need right now, bands like The World Is who will stand up for all people who are being treated unfairly and boldly using their stage for good. Oh, and they're killer musicians too, with a ton of energy live. Check out Whenever, If Ever or their recent collaboration with Chris Zizzamia, Between Bodies:
Also the Hotelier's excellent new record, Home, Like Noplace Is There: