BBTF's Newsblog Discussion :: ‘Duk: Rays apologize to fans for Avril Lavigne’s obscene concert

Baseball Primer Newsblog
— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand

Monday, May 30, 2011

‘Duk: Rays apologize to fans for Avril Lavigne’s obscene concert

Karla Maddog DuPlantier laughs at this wanky ####.

That’s the question that the embarrassed Tampa Bay Rays should have thrown back at Avril Lavigne after the punk rawker let loose some profanities during the team’s summer concert series at Tropicana Field on Saturday night.

Instead the red-faced Rays just apologized directly to their fans in a statement on Sunday.

Said spokesman Rick Vaughn (via The Heater):

“The Rays demand profanity-free performances from all of our concert performers and we are extremely disappointed by the language used in last night’s show. It is not consistent with the family-friendly atmosphere that Tropicana Field is known for.”

...Still, Avril should have known better because this was a family atmosphere the Rays were paying her tor perform at. And it was filled with the very same families that Lavigne and her marketing companies have targeted over the past decade by being just the right kind of punk rawk dangerous (which is, to say, usually not dangerous at all).

Were words she uttered probably no worse than the kids in the expensive seats hear from the ballplayers on the field all the time? Probably not, but that still doesn’t excuse refusing to drop even a quick “earmuffs!” before her tirade.

Repoz Posted: May 30, 2011 at 12:13 AM | 54 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: business, media, music, rays

Reader Comments and Retorts

Go to end of page

Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.

1. philevans3154 Posted: May 30, 2011 at 12:33 AM (#3840684)

Avril Lavigne... the punk rawker

From the "if you call yourself a punk three times, you're a punk" school of punk music.

2. Walt Davis Posted: May 30, 2011 at 12:43 AM (#3840686)

Was it really a tirade? Cuz that would be kinda cool.

Ozzie Guillen -- Avril Lavigne ... separated at birth?

3. 57i66135 is a hard word for me. Posted: May 30, 2011 at 12:52 AM (#3840690)

Avril Lavigne... the punk rawker

From the "if you call yourself a punk three times, you're a punk" school of punk music.

yeah, i think she has more of the heroin chic look.

4. Dale Sams Posted: May 30, 2011 at 12:53 AM (#3840692)

(shrug) Avril's been around long enough as to not annoy me. Kei$ha's appearance on some Disney program recently led me to believe that Disney Execs live in another dimension....maybe it was Nick Jr.

5. JP Ricciardi Posted: May 30, 2011 at 01:13 AM (#3840701)

Poor Avril. I suspect if she's banned from the Trop, her career's toast.

6. cHiEf iMpaCt oFfiCEr JE

Posted: May 30, 2011 at 01:31 AM (#3840706)

What's this? A musician used profanity or showing a boob/testicle in a public setting? Could it have been prompted at least in part by the hope that such a display would rocket him/her back into the media spotlight? Nahhhhh!

7. Justin T's pasta pass was not revoked Posted: May 30, 2011 at 01:38 AM (#3840708)

The Rays have a spokesman named Rick Vaughn.

8. bobm Posted: May 30, 2011 at 02:11 AM (#3840721)

[7]

The Rays have a spokesman named Rick Vaughn.

and he's quoted via The Heater. Just awesome.

9. RollingWave Posted: May 30, 2011 at 02:16 AM (#3840725)

Comming next summer: Rays apologize for profanity filled concert from Eminem

10. Random Transaction Generator Posted: May 30, 2011 at 02:20 AM (#3840728)

One of my secret shames is that I find Avril Lavigne attractive, but abhor her music.

11. The District Attorney Posted: May 30, 2011 at 02:25 AM (#3840735)

That's far less shameful than the other way around.

12. Pat Rapper's Delight (as quoted on MLB Network) Posted: May 30, 2011 at 02:33 AM (#3840742)

If a singer utters a profanity but the entire audience turned their hearing aids down the moment that garbage they call music these days started, did it really still happen if no one heard it?

13. SteveM. Posted: May 30, 2011 at 02:37 AM (#3840744)

Wait-in today's world Avril Lavigne is considered punk? I know today's music sucks, but have we really come that far from The Clash or The Ramones?

14. Swoboda is freedom Posted: May 30, 2011 at 02:41 AM (#3840748)

Next weeks musical guest, John Valby.

15. RollingWave Posted: May 30, 2011 at 02:43 AM (#3840750)

Having RTFA though, Avril's already made some rather noticable attempt to look familyish for this event it seems.

16. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: May 30, 2011 at 02:55 AM (#3840758)

Fortunately, no one was around to be offended by her salty language, as it was a Rays game.

17. JoeHova Posted: May 30, 2011 at 03:01 AM (#3840763)

Will a ############ please tell a ############ what the #### this ##### ####### said at the ############# Rays game? ####.

18. Tripon Posted: May 30, 2011 at 03:19 AM (#3840773)

Avril gets marketed as punk because its a less crowded genre than pop.

19. Mark Edward Posted: May 30, 2011 at 03:39 AM (#3840779)

One of my secret shames is that I find Avril Lavigne attractive, but abhor her music.

I definitely had a crush on her circa 2002.

I'll go a step further and say I liked the song Complicated for some time; I just listened to it though, and it hasn't aged well.

I'll take it a step further and say the Girlfriend remix featuring Lil Mama was one of my Jams of 2007. This song has aged better than Complicated.

On that note, is Lil Mama's song Lip Gloss the best song about lip gloss? I think so, yes.

20. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: May 30, 2011 at 03:40 AM (#3840780)

One of my secret shames is that I find Avril Lavigne attractive, but abhor her music.

I didn't like her when she first became popular, but yea, she's a lovely woman now. She needs to be cross-bred with say Regina Spektor.

21. Robert in Manhattan Beach Posted: May 30, 2011 at 03:44 AM (#3840782)

One of my secret shames is that I find Avril Lavigne attractive, but abhor her music.

Nothing wrong with that. At all.

22. Dog on the sidewalk has an ugly bracelet Posted: May 30, 2011 at 03:54 AM (#3840784)

If "Sk8r Boi" isn't punk, then I don't know what is.

23. JimMusComp misses old primer... Posted: May 30, 2011 at 03:59 AM (#3840787)

#22 - whether sarcasm or not - your comment is gold. That's a tricky thing to pull off. Kudos.

24. Hugh Jorgan Posted: May 30, 2011 at 04:31 AM (#3840794)

If "Sk8r Boi" isn't punk, then I don't know what is.

This must be sarcasm. If not, you've just scored around 98 on the old Bill Simmons unintentional comedy scale.

25. shozzlekhan Posted: May 30, 2011 at 04:37 AM (#3840797)

Not being punk is hardly an insult.

26. Dog on the sidewalk has an ugly bracelet Posted: May 30, 2011 at 05:15 AM (#3840804)

first of all avril lavigne is on great singer look at sk8r boi and complicated and i will be with leona lewis. so in three years became on the a-list of singers and avril is in demand now, now she is touring black star the great with illscarlett. and she also worked with randy jackson on american idol which was great by the way. and bruce willis in over the hedge. so she worked with alot of great big actors. and was great in minority report with tom cruise. and the flock and the villian beatrice bell with claire danes. and avril was the best thing in the movie and the critics agree. so avril is a way better actor then ben affleck. im responding to the post from jim and hugh about at least stephen malkmus got some credit under his belt but avril is hotter and a better actor and she is getting alot more movies then stephen. so please did you see stephens last album with the jicks called real emotional trash. need i say more the album sucked as hell and even the critics said the worst album of the century. it only ranked #45000 on amazon now thats sad.

27. Daunte Vicknabbit! Posted: May 30, 2011 at 05:48 AM (#3840808)

That's not one you see too often anymore, #26. Kudos.

28. JoeHova Posted: May 30, 2011 at 08:46 AM (#3840820)

tina!

29. Walt Davis Posted: May 30, 2011 at 09:09 AM (#3840821)

so avril is a way better actor then ben affleck.

No argument here.

Probably goes to her left better than Jeter too.

30. True Blue Posted: May 30, 2011 at 11:52 AM (#3840830)

I didn't know that she was still alive.

31. simon bedford Posted: May 30, 2011 at 12:26 PM (#3840831)

I read the headline and thought for a sec she had performed a set of anal ##### greatest hits, i feel cheated.
she is about as punk as jimmy osmond.

32. Leroy Kincaid Posted: May 30, 2011 at 12:50 PM (#3840834)

#25 wins the thread.

Saw this chick performing live on TV some years ago. Think it was that Complicated song. She wasn't very good. Maybe she was just off that day.

33. RollingWave Posted: May 30, 2011 at 03:13 PM (#3840874)

I've seen her perfrom once live (in Taiwan no less) and once on TV, she was ok (but not particularly good ) in Taiwan but horrible on the TV apperance. This is relative to her album I mean.

Generally it's hard to respect artists who can't match live events with studio works. though I'm far from into pop music (or celeberties in general), be them English onces or local onces.

34. Tricky Dick Posted: May 30, 2011 at 04:00 PM (#3840905)

Some of her music uses the F word. I'm not sure that the Rays should be that surprised. I like some of her music (e.g., Complicated) but that's mostly because I hear it on a soft rock radio station I sometime listen to when I'm driving. So the punk rock label surprises me.

35. Mr. Hotfoot Jackson (gef, talking mongoose) Posted: May 30, 2011 at 04:19 PM (#3840913)

She's about as punk as my mother.

Who's been dead 27 years.

And wasn't punk before that, though her son was & I suppose still is, to whatever extent.

I do own her first album. (Lavigne's, not my mother's; even though she was married to Bill Bailey & had Pearl Bailey as a mother-in-law, she wasn't even remotely musical, not that I play anything other than the stereo or the radio myself.) It's OK, & she's not exactly repulsive.

36. Dan Evensen Posted: May 30, 2011 at 06:33 PM (#3840966)

I definitely had a crush on her circa 2002.

I wanted to crush her circa 2002.

If "Sk8r Boi" isn't punk, then I don't know what is.

mfw.

37. Hombre Brotani

Posted: May 30, 2011 at 06:53 PM (#3840982)

I wanted to crush her circa 2002.

Me too. With my body. C'mon, she's hot.

38. BWV 1129 Posted: May 30, 2011 at 11:07 PM (#3841109)

Dudes, the article is calling her "punk rawk". "Rawk". Not "punk rock". It's saying her music is marketed and designed to include punk-like substance. No one's confusing this for X.

39. vortex of dissipation Posted: May 30, 2011 at 11:26 PM (#3841119)

No one's confusing this for X.

Speaking of which, here's a lovely acoustic version of "See How We Are" by John and Exene.

See How we Are (live on KEXP)

40. Pepe Posted: May 30, 2011 at 11:57 PM (#3841146)

@bobm ... LOL, noticed the Rick Vaughn via The Heater bit as well. That's good stuff.

And I'm not sure what the Rays are embarrassed about - they need to do *something* to bring in the fans as they don't have enough of them despite having a contending team. There's too many geezers in the stands, if this helps to bring in some younger viewers, how is that such a bad thing?

41. Mr. Hotfoot Jackson (gef, talking mongoose) Posted: May 31, 2011 at 12:11 AM (#3841162)

No one's confusing this for X.

Who certainly did some nice, nice stuff, but who also certainly aren't to be confused with capital-P Punk, y'know. The Bad Brains or Angry Samoans they weren't.

42. vortex of dissipation Posted: May 31, 2011 at 12:35 AM (#3841189)

Who certainly did some nice, nice stuff, but who also certainly aren't to be confused with capital-P Punk, y'know. The Bad Brains or Angry Samoans they weren't.

X certainly expanded their palette in later years to encompass all sorts of music, but I don't see how anyone could call Los Angeles or Wild Gift anything but punk. One of the great American bands, IMO...

43. Guapo Posted: May 31, 2011 at 02:27 AM (#3841279)

Chass: WHY YOU HAVE TO GO AND MAKE THINGS SO COMPLICATED, MR. PRESIDENT

44. IronChef Chris Wok Posted: May 31, 2011 at 02:45 AM (#3841292)

I like her because she's Canadian

45. OsunaSakata Posted: May 31, 2011 at 10:51 AM (#3841372)

No one's confusing this for X.

I was surprised to learn Viggo Mortensen was once married to Exene.

Who's been dead 27 years.

At least. That would be 1984. I thought It's Hard in 1982 was the nail in the coffin.

46. Flynn Posted: May 31, 2011 at 11:15 AM (#3841375)

Who certainly did some nice, nice stuff, but who also certainly aren't to be confused with capital-P Punk, y'know. The Bad Brains or Angry Samoans they weren't.

The Bad Brains who did tons of reggae tracks? That one? The Angry Samoans aren't more than a footnote in the annals of punk, nice bad they were. Plenty of punk bands expanded their repertoire as time went on because there's only so many times you can play the same songs (or why nobody listens to later Ramones stuff, because they'd heard it all before). X are punk as ####, case closed.

47. Mr. Hotfoot Jackson (gef, talking mongoose) Posted: May 31, 2011 at 12:12 PM (#3841391)

Oh, I know. Only saying that X didn't fit the stereotype (which, in retrospect, the Bad Brains pretty much created when not playing reggae) of "Loud Fast Rules" U.S. hardcore.

Rest assured, as they developed, some of my favorite bands expanded their repertoire beyond all recognition, with the Mekons being probably the most obvious example. Hell, Wire did it from album to album ... pretty much from song to song, almost.

48. villageidiom Posted: May 31, 2011 at 12:19 PM (#3841397)

At least. That would be 1984. I thought It's Hard in 1982 was the nail in the coffin.

People forget.

49. OsunaSakata Posted: May 31, 2011 at 12:20 PM (#3841400)

I still find this picture pretty funny. Probably SFW. No Madeline Albright.

50. toratoratora Posted: May 31, 2011 at 12:34 PM (#3841404)

The Bad Brains who did tons of reggae tracks? That one?

Yep-that one. Bad Brains were the kings of the late 70's, early 80's DC punk scene and were highly influential nationally(See Grohl, Dave and Fugazi)...and they were all sorts of hard core when they wanted to be.

51. Mr. Hotfoot Jackson (gef, talking mongoose) Posted: May 31, 2011 at 12:37 PM (#3841406)

And of course I tend to cite the Angry Sams (who were capable of a stylistic shift or two themselves in their prime; "I'll Drink to this Love Song" is no "Right Side of My Mind," but both are great) because Metal Mike is probably my native Arkansas' only somewhat lasting contribution to punk*; his mom's address in Little Rock used to show up as his merch contact on his solo stuff, & I played basketball on Sundays a couple of blocks from her place for pretty much the entirety of the '90s.

*Well, along with Gary Floyd ("Dicks Hate the Police" is probably one of my top 10 songs ever, period), who even better is a fellow native SW Arkansan, but damn if he didn't up & move to *shudder* Texas in fourth grade, I've read.

52. Andere Richtingen

Posted: May 31, 2011 at 12:52 PM (#3841421)

X was what I call "reformed punk." They were great musicians and songwriters who made well-crafted pop records. They otherwise fully embraced the punk sound, aesthetic and, to a large extent, lifestyle. And like most of the bands who fit this bill, they expanded far beyond the punk sound as their career progressed.

53. zack Posted: May 31, 2011 at 02:50 PM (#3841488)

Plenty of punk bands expanded their repertoire as time went on because there's only so many times you can play the same songs

Rest assured, as they developed, some of my favorite bands expanded their repertoire beyond all recognition

they expanded far beyond the punk sound as their career progressed.

I.E. they learned how to play their instruments.

54. Mr. Hotfoot Jackson (gef, talking mongoose) Posted: May 31, 2011 at 02:56 PM (#3841495)

Probably you're just being cute, but of course it's more than that. To cite the Mekons again, they didn't swerve from full-on postpunk to hard country with an occasional zydeco twist (they've since changed genres, more or less, about 10 times) just because it took them 8 years to learn out to tune their guitars. The Cure didn't go from "Killing an Arab" to "A Forest" to "Why Can't I Be You?" purely out of proficiency. Etc. etc. etc.

You must be Registered and Logged In to post comments.

<< Back to main

Monday, May 30, 2011

‘Duk: Rays apologize to fans for Avril Lavigne’s obscene concert

Reader Comments and Retorts

BBTF Partner

Support BBTF

Hot Topics