Oct 6
Suicide gig gets murky
Via CMU
Well, it’s a bit unclear where things stand with the controversial Hell On Earth gig that was due to take place this weekend in the Florida town of St Petersburg. According to local press there is no evidence the concert, or the live suicide of a terminally ill fan, took place at all. However a Chicago based website is promising exclusive coverage of the event, though it is vague as to whether than event has taken place.
As previously reported Hell On Earth planned to allow the suicide to take place during one of their gigs in a bid to raise publicity for the ‘right to die’ campaign. Despite being known for their OTT publicity stunts many in St Petersburg took the band at face value and hit out at the proposed event. So much so the owners of the venue where the gig was due to take place cancelled, and local authorities passed a new law to make it quite clear the band would be breaking the law if they staged a suicide as ‘entertainment’. But as late as Friday the band claimed the event would take place in St Petersburg at a secret location in front of a small selected audience, confirming it would be webcast for the world to see.
However since Friday the band’s website has been out of action most of the time. Some reports reckon the band’s ISP has closed it down, others alleged the site had been hacked. Either way, when the site reappeared briefly on Saturday night pointing fans to another site www.evilnow.com. That site is still live but is vague about whether or not the gig and suicide took place, and if not if it is to be rescheduled. The site simply promises an interview with the band’s frontman Billy Tourtelot at 11am local time today. Fans and local authorities will be hoping that that interview will tell them whether or not the gig and suicide did, or will, take place.
