Black Pussy Cancels Show In North Carolina After Protesters Threaten Venue

The Portland-based band is the subject of an online petition declaring its name "racist and sexist."

Dustin Hill (right) and Black Pussy.
By MATTHEW SINGER

A few weeks ago, Willamette Week declared Black Pussy "Portland's most controversial band," a designation based pretty much entirely on its moniker. 

At that point, it was a controversy mostly contained within the Portland music scene. Since then, as the band has departed on a countrywide tour in support of its new album, it has come under fire on a national (and even international) level. And now, the outrage has started to affect the band in tangible ways: It's been forced to cancel an appearance in Raleigh, N.C., after the venue was threatened by protesters.  

"[I]t is with deep regret that we must announce that there have been serious threats of violence and vandalism against the promoter, the staff, and the venue of The Pour House in Raleigh, North Carolina," the band wrote in a statement to the Web site Metal Sucks, "and out of respect for the venue and the safety of everyone involved, the March 25th show has been cancelled."  

Last week, an online petition was taken up against the stoner-rock outfit, calling for the group to change its name and for a boycott of any venue that books the band. The petition, started by a woman in San Francisco, accused the band of being "racist and sexist." As of press time, the cause has 1,068 supporters. 

The band and its name have also been the subject of pieces on The Daily Dot and Daily Life, a women's lifestyle site based in Australia.

Adam Lindstaedt, the talent buyer who booked the band at the Pour House, told Willamette Week's North Carolina-based sister paper Indy Week that he began receiving calls last week, urging the venue to cancel the show, and confirmed that some were threatening in nature. 

This isn't the first time the band has been stopped from doing a show over its name. While touring with Kyuss spinoff Vista Chino in 2013, Black Pussy was prohibited from playing the Disney-owned House of Blues in Anaheim, Calif. The band cancelled another gig earlier this month at San Francisco's Bottom of the Hill, though the cause in that case was van trouble. 

Here is the band's full statement on the North Carolina cancellation: 

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