Thursday, June 11, 2009

OK, That Works...

When I saw that The Pretenders were slated to play at the zoo, my first thought was..."Whaaaa?"

OK, I actually had a couple of more thoughts, but they all sort of circled around the "whaaa?" thing.

I don't know about you guys, but when I think of this band, I don't necessarily think of quiet summer evenings, seated in an amphitheatre. Or a 10:30 curfew.

So, I'm kinda glad this is moving...and to my friend Mellie Mel, don't worry, you will see them before you die. :-)



The Minnesota Zoo pisses off Chrissie Hynde
By Andrea Swensson in
Upcoming Shows
Wednesday, Jun. 10 2009 @ 2:57PM



The Pretenders concert, which is also slated to feature openers Cat Power and Juliette Lewis, is being moved to another venue after frontwoman Chrissie Hynde wrote a critical letter to zoo officials. Hynde was upset over the way the zoo handles its Family Farm exhibit.

"How can a zoo invite children to touch and play with and express joy over animals for their uniqueness, only to turn around and sell those very animals to slaughter?" Hynde wrote in a letter to zoo director Lee Ehmke. The zoo says that they have always been very open about the process that they follow in the exhibit, which includes graphics portraying the processing of animals. "Goats, sheep, calves and pigs from the exhibit are sold at livestock auctions at the end of each summer season, just as they would be on a regular farm," the Star Tribune writes.

The band was originally slated to play the zoo's Weesner Amphitheater on August 13. According to the Star Tribune, concert promoter Sue McLean is searching for an alternative venue, possibly the Orpheum Theatre.

McLean says that Hynde's disapproval of the zoo's practices is only one aspect of their decision to move the show. Other reasons for the shift included "high ticket demand, the size of the show -- two warm-up acts are also on the ticket -- and the zoo's 10:30 p.m. curfew."

5 comments:

  1. If wonder if the people who visit the little farm area thought the baby animals just stayed that way..... or if they went off to live out their lives in a pasture somewhere......

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  2. Wouldn't it be great if they could just stay babies forever?

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  3. OOO - And as a person who spent MANY a summer on the real live working farm I have to say I think people NEED to see where their food comes from.... and yep I played with those little piggies & chickies that eventually became dinner. maybe if people were more aware corporate farming techniques would be more like the farm I spent time on.

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  4. can you tell Chrissie hit a nerve....

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  5. I agree. The "horror" stories that you see all involve huge corporate farms, where it is all VOLUME, VOLUME, VOLUME and things do tend to get ugly (read: heartless-looking?). In my opinion, the sheer size of these places leads to less than excellent care of the livestock. Family farms are quite different. If you want to oppose something, boycott those very large venues (fast food) that buy the stuff--and it should also be noted that less than adequate care of livestock leads to crappy (and a bit scary) product. Chickens who can't walk around on their own because they are hormoned up to produce bigger breast pieces, are one thing that comes to mind.

    I'm a carnivore--no apologies.

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