No one is outright saying that the Sound Strike musicians boycott of Arizona is over, but on Friday one of its staunchest backers and biggest names announced it is coming back to Arizona.
The announcement that Chicago punk rock band Rise Against has scheduled a pair of Arizona shows in the fall signals the movement has reached its conclusion.
Rise Against will play a benefit for The Florence Project Sept. 27 at Flagstaff’s The Orpheum; and a show the next night at Tempe Beach Park. It’s their first trip to Arizona since playing a Mesa Amphitheatre show in July 2009; the following May it joined the Sound Strike of artists boycotting the state over its controversial SB 1070 anti-immigration law.
In a statement on its website, the band said it was returning to Arizona in light of Sound Strike’s “recent announcement of shifting strategies.” Sound Strike, while not saying the strike is over, is now encouraging artists to take their fight against 1070 to Arizonans by discussing the issue during performances and meeting with proponents “on the ground,” according to a statement on its website.
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“Almost every single act that has protested us is now playing,” said Club Congress entertainment director David Slutes. “Our position has always been that it’s better to come out here and bring the message to Arizona rather than deny us.”
“I think the Sound Strike got as big as it was going to get, then they had pretty much nothing more to do,” said Curtis McCrary, the Rialto Theatre’s general manager and event booker. “But does it mean that everyone is going to come rushing back here? I don’t think so. It’s still a pretty sensitive issue for those involved.”
Read more in Saturdays Arizona Daily Star.
