Pearl Jam Silenced
November 5, 2007 by Jo Minor · Leave a Comment
Pearl Jam, the influential grunge band from Seattle, was handling the closing duties at the three-day Lollapolooza Festival in Chicago when a bizarre set of events forced AT&T, the live webcast provider, to pull the plug on the band?s set.
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During the band?s song Daughter, vocalist Eddie Vedder made some critical comments on George W. Bush during the band?s interlude - which played Pink Floyd?s Another Brick In The Wall. Apparently, Eddie said ?George Bush, leave this world alone?. He then proceeded to repeat the line and added ?George Bush, find yourself another home?, when the webcast was taken off the networks.
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The band cried foul over the incident, stating that the act of censorship was ?troubling?, and also voiced their concerns over the power of corporations over the control of media.
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AT&T was quick to respond, however, and stated that the cut-off was exected by an overzealous editor who was hired by a production company in charge of the event, and went on to explain that the service only filters obscene stage banter, nudity and inappropriate crowd behaviour.
