In one of the most bizarre stories of the year, actress and model Tila Tequila was accosted by Insane Clown Posse fans at an the Gathering of the Juggalos festival in down-state Illinois. The star of shows like A Shot At Love and FuseTV’s Pants-Off Dance-Off was scheduled to perform and, soon after taking the stage, was pelted with beer bottles, rocks, firecrackers and even human waste. Pictures confirm multiple lacerations to the performer’s face, and according to Tila herself, after she was taken off-stage she was followed to her trailer, which was then attacked before police were able to finally break up the mob. What’s most disappointing about this story, really, is just how unsurprising it is.
-Chris Bosman
Once upon a time, before The Hold Steady and before The Arcade Fire, there was a superior band (in this author’s humble opinion) that did the Springsteen thing, way before it was even hip to do so. They are/were called Constantines and the verb confusion is due to rumblings from lead singer Bry Webb via a CBC Radio 3 interview in which he responded to the question of what the band was up to nowadays by saying, “We’re in our early thirties and we have some different priorities than we did 10 years ago, personally anyway. It’s time to focus on other things. We’ll just say, ‘See you around.’” This is sad (but of course completely understandable) for a number of reasons – first and foremost because they put out two perfect rock albums in 2003’s Shine a Light and 2005’s Tournament of Hearts and two above-average records in their 2001 self-titled debut and the semi-disappointing but still completely worthwhile latest effort, 2008’s Kensington Heights. It’s also too bad because once the Canadian five-piece started going under the radar after their popularity peak with Tournament, they took with them a lot of the cojones and sweaty work ethic of the indie rock scene. Now it’s all keyboardists with mustaches and political theatrics. Boo.
-Chris Polley