Before the South by Southwest music festival, 2011 was shaping up to be a fine year for Screeching Weasel. The reunited punk band released an accomplished comeback album this month, First World Manifesto, and was set to play a run of 25th anniversary shows in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend. All that has been overshadowed, however, by frontman Ben Weasel's well-documented altercation at a SXSW performance. Video of the fight shows the famously temperamental singer throwing punches at two women.
In the wake of Weasel's altercation, the remaining four-fifths of the bandincluding veteran player Dan Schafer and Milwaukee-based bassist Justin Perkinsannounced their resignation from Screeching Weasel yesterday in a letter posted on Punknews.org that apologizes for and denounces Weasel's behavior at length. The letter leaves the door open for an eventual return to the band, but doesn't make it seem likely any time soon:
The un-calculated act put forth by Ben Foster leading up to and including the violence that erupted on stage is seen by the band as shameful and embarrassing. The sentiments and actions expressed were completely out of our control and in no way represent the band members' view points or moral compasses. As a result, the band has discussed at length and has come to the conclusion that as a group we will not likely be able to muster the dignity to attempt a live performance as "Screeching Weasel" in the for-seeable future. We each look forward to re-evaluating our involvement in the band as we move forward if we are given the opportunity.
Collectively, as musicians, we feel that it is imperative that the music do the talking. We have made every effort as a group to ignore the gossip, Internet feuds, and general negativity that has (at times) overshadowed what we believe being in a band is really about. It is pointless to try to place the blame where those actions are concerned and we don't care to get involved other than to say we don't condone or support any of it. We are very proud of the effort we put forth in creating what we believe to be a fantastic new album in "First World Manifesto" and it deeply saddens us that we will not be able to bring that excitement to audiences around the world in the form of a live show in the coming months.
We all feel extremely deflated following this public spectacle and would no doubt be doing the music an injustice if we were to force a performance. As friends and band mates, we are absolutely positive that Ben regrets his actions last Friday night. We have no doubt that his apology is sincere and that if he could take it all back, he would. We don't wish to place any more hardship upon him with our decision to discontinue our involvement at this time, but it is something that can not be avoided.
In the future we would love to see these wounds heal and for the opportunity to play together in a positive light materialize. If Ben feels the need to immediately carry on with a new cast of characters--we support his right to do so. Again, we would like to thank our fans for all of their past support and hope that they will continue to support us should the opportunity to perform as "Screeching Weasel" present itself again in the future.
