Gossip Blackblackface?
posted by on February 6 at 12:45 PM
In my column this week I’ll be delving into the minor controversy caused by the openers at last Thursday’s Deerhoof show, Blackblack. Not to give too much away, but the band played painted all black, something a lot of people understandably interpreted as blackface. Here’s a somewhat blurry picture:
A ton of people were at this show. What did you think? The band says they were “shadows,” and a couple of LARPers I asked thought they looked more like Drow, but damn, that is a dangerously stupid makeup choice. (Also, the band was pretty dull.)
what the hell?!
What about artistic freedom? Is it tacky, sure. Might want to hold off on sounding the alarm just yet.
Yes, yes, artistic freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, all good. They can wear blackface, I can tell them it's stupid. It's all in the circle of life or the Constitution or something. Or did I censor them while I wasn't looking, Mardy?
Eric, you are incapable of censorship. That's the government's job.
Just wondering what the audience's reaction was? Was anyone so offended that they confronted the band?
A quick peek at their band page reveals they've used this gimmick before. If their intent was to cause a stir I'd say they failed, because up until now no one has mentioned it.
Glad to see a post on this. I was wondering what the story was behind the blackface. I definitely interpretted it as 'blackface' and hoped they had a really good reason for it. Being a dolt, I didn't notice they were called Blackblack until the next day. I hope that wasn't the only reason behind it. Seems like a dumb move to me.
YES! A LARP joke! You know how to make a girl happy, Eric.
I must admit that at the show I was rather confused by it. It is indeed a poor choice of wear, but I never thought it was blackface, as they didn't seem to be playing the part and their name was blackblack after all. Their guitarist didn't have a blackface but was hiding behind a black hood, so "black" seemed to be the theme, not "blackface." The whole time I was just trying to figure out whether they put that stuff on everyday right before the sho or whether they just walked around painted black all the time. At the end it was clear that they amounted to a novelty act with bad taste in stage wear. At least I hope they only wear that on stage.
plus it took them like an hour to put it on
they were indeed asked about it and their responses were 'it's other people's problems if they get offended" "we don't care" "seattle is so pc" and "we'll do what we like". so yeah, not so rad.
they dress as different things each night - sometimes as animals, sometimes in white, etc so I don't think it's blackface to be blackface but I do believe they are aware of what it means and that it might offend people and just don't care. which is a bummer.
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