October 22

Fri September 27th - Girls Against Boys / Radio 4 - NEW LOCATION TO BE ANNOUNCED
THURSDAY EVENING On Friday July 12th at approximately 8:30pm, The City of Philadelphia
sent four officers from the Department of Licenses and Inspection along with
Philadelphia Police Department to "cease operations" at the First Unitarian Church,
located at 2125 Chestnut Street. The publicly open and welcoming church, established
in 1796, has been in existence for over 200 years. However, the city contends that
the space was not legally allowed to hold entertainment events for the general public.
Essentially, the city has decided that it is illegal for anyone to host, play or to
attend an all ages show at the First Unitarian Church. The First Unitarian Church has
graciously allowed us to host all ages shows in their basement for over eight years now.
In those past eight years, there has never been any police activity or misconduct,
inside or out. There was never a single citation, misdemeanor, fine or warning issued
to us. Instead, thousands of people came from all over the Philadelphia area, and
surrounding suburbs, to take part in positive entertainment. The church, and
subsequently these shows, stood as an alternative to bars, clubs or various other
alcohol related options. Local business have continued to grow and prosper as those who
were attending these events were buying food, drink and other refreshments from
the surrounding shops. One such business even changed it's "focus" to provide food
specifically for the people attending the church shows. Only logically, one would
think the City of Philadelphia would welcome the idea of providing alcohol free,
culturally diverse music and art programming. Programming which is completely self
sufficient and existed independent of any city or state funding. On the contrary,
the city has deemed these shows to be a nuisance and have continued to prohibit these
events from happening. The First Unitarian Church is just one of many rooms in Philadelphia,
which have been shut down in the past ten years by the city because of hosting these
all ages shows. In the state of Pennsylvania and the city of Philadelphia, the liquor
laws state it is illegal for anyone under the age of twenty-one to be in an establishment
serving alcohol. Unfortunately, because of this law, club and venue owners in the city
are uninterested in hosting all ages shows, as they are unable to make a large profit
on the crowds. The end result is an absence of smaller to medium sized venues that will
host a steady calendar of events for people under (and over) the age of 21 to attend.
As the nations' fifth largest city, this leaves those who are under the age of 21 in
Philadelphia with little or nothing to do within the city. These shows, as many who
are receiving the e-mail can attest to, were positive and safe. With no elements of
drinking, drug abuse, fighting etc. The shows created a positive and supportive community
for those who wanted to something a little bit different than "everyone else".
Given the current financial climate, especially in center city, it is almost impossible
to open a smaller to medium sized "legal" all ages club. Commercial real estate prices
for buildings that can legally hold three hundred people generally range between eight
to twelve thousand dollars a month. We only charge five to eight dollars for each show,
that five to eight dollars pays for the four bands (80% of which are from out of state),
the evening rental fee, the rental of a sound system, the hiring of adequate staff and security,
the cost of flyers and promotions as well as the various other costs associated with booking a show.
With this small amount of money being taken in and an even smaller amount of money that is
left over after paying all the expenses, it becomes literally impossible to be able to pay
thousands of dollars a month in rental fees. This is why for years, all ages shows have
taken place in various "alternative" locations and buildings such as The First Unitarian Church,
Rotunda, Killtime, Stalag 13 etc. As I am writing this, there are currently ZERO options
left remaining for us. All we would like is for there to be a steady, stable and permanent
location where these and like minded positive artistic activities could take place.
Unfortunately, the city seems unwilling to cooperate or even listen to our concerns and
positive attributes which such a building and service could provide. Over the next few days,
we will be gathering various community support and feedback concerning this issue.
Already several parents, former and current show attendees and community leaders have voiced
their great distain of the way the city has been handling this situation. We will be presenting
a package to various members of city council and community leaders, illustrating the need for and
benefits of having these events take place. We ask if you could take a few minutes out of your day,
and write a letter, be it a few sentences or paragraphs or pages, explaining the positive affect
that these or other shows have had on your life. If these shows have ever prevented you from getting
involved in precarious activities, created a positive experience for you as a student in Philadelphia,
or, if as a parent you greatly value these shows as an encouraging activity that your son and or
daughter has decided to partake in. Even if just as a resident in Philadelphia you want to make
sure that these events continue to happen in the city, please take the time to help.
You may not think these letters will make a difference, but three years ago, when a similar
request was made, within 12 hours we received over 1200 letters which actually did make a change
in West Philadelphia. Please write, compose or forward any letters to: SaveAllAgesShows@aol.com
All letters will be printed out and bound together to be presented by the end of the week.
Your help and support is greatly appreciated and was never needed as much as right now.
As far as upcoming scheduled shows at the church, we are currently relocating them.

Thanks to Jeffery for posting this on 7Seas

Just got garbage's new three-disc single for Breaking Up the Girl and
they put eli's Cherry Lips he did for them (it was first released as an
internet-exclusive thing but later released on only one uk promo cd, i
think).

but here's the info:

Breaking Up the Girl 03 (mushroom mush101cdsxx)

1. breaking up the gil (acoustic)
2. confidence
3. CHERRY LIPS (Go Baby Go!)  (DJEJ's Go-Go Jam)  [6:08]

you can also find the remix on part1 of the australian 2-cd single set.

Their Jade Tree debut, entitled "You Can't Fight What You Can't See" 
will be the seventh album for the band, their first full length release 
since 1998's lauded Freak*on*ica (Geffen). It will be released on May 14, 
and available for pre-order on March 19.

Girls Against Boys will be doing select dates over the next couple months, 
and hitting the road in March, which includes a performance at SXSW. 
The album release will be supported by extensive touring, in the US and 
overseas, throughout 2002.

Sat 01/26/02   New York, NY  Bowery Ballroom  
Sat 02/23/02   New York, NY  Knitting Factory
Sun 03/10/02   Bowling Green, OH  Howard's Club H  
Mon 03/11/02   Cleveland, OH  Grog Shop  
Tue 03/12/02   Chicago, IL  Empty Bottle  
Wed 03/13/02   Kansas City, MO  The Hurricane  
Thu 03/14/02   Norman, OK  Opalis  
Sat 03/16/02   Dallas, TX  Trees  
Mon 03/18/02   New Orleans, LA  Shim Sham Club  
Tue 03/19/02   Atlanta, GA  Echo Lounge  
Wed 03/20/02   Carrboro, NC  Go! Rehearsal Studio  
Thu 03/21/02   Washington, DC  Black Cat  
Fri 03/22/02   Philadelphia, PA  First Unitarian
Sat 03/23/02   Brooklyn, NYC  North 6th