Front Porch Step Suspends Upcoming Tours, Tourmates Speak Out

There have been major developments in the Front Porch Step controversy over the last few days, some that will majorly affect those who had tickets or were planning to see shows where he would be performing at.

Allison Weiss announced she would no longer be touring with Jake Mcelfresh on the United Kingdom tour they were scheduled to be on, but she did say that there was hope the tour would go on without Mcelfresh.

Now, Mcelfresh has spoken out once again, revealing that he has suspended not only the U.K. tour, but has also, willingly, dropped off this year’s Vans Warped Tour.

“As I posted 3 days ago, I am taking the appropriate time to assess these very serious allegations against me and I am not taking them lightly. Until I can do that in a complete manner with all the information I have at my disposal, I will not be continuing with any current touring activities for the time being.”

But Mcelfresh isn’t the only one speaking out against the allegations and the impact it’s had on his tour schedule. Have Mercy and Head North have released statements about the issues at hand.

From Have Mercy:

“We have been receiving your emails, tweets, and posts regarding us not responding to the allegations brought upon Front Porch Step.  While we have been planning to disassociate ourselves from FPS for several days, we have been working very hard behind the scenes to book our own tour so we are not left stranded for the spring. 

We, Have Mercy, in no way condone the alleged actions that have come to light over the past week, and hope that message above all is clear to our fans. Safety in music, and life, should never be risked for selfish decisions. We were incredibly excited at the opportunity to hit the road this spring, and that is still our top priority.

Over the coming weeks, we hope to have news about a new tour with Head North and other trusted friends.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.”

From Head North:

“We are sorry to have remained silent about this issue for so long.  We do not in anyway condone the situation at hand with Front Porch Step regarding the recent allegations that presented themselves this past week.  

The whole situation is incredibly upsetting and our thoughts go to anyone at all affected by this. We are very sorry to anyone planning on coming to a show, but have been working on an alternative plan to make sure we can still come to towns this spring with new music in hand.

We will post more information about that as it becomes available.”

The petition on Change.org against Mcelfresh has received over 12,000 signatures from supporters since it was started last week.

Anberlin Asked About Cell Phones at Shows

We can all agree unanimously that cell phones have their place and time, but when you go to concert, doesn’t it get annoying, fast, when you have people (mostly “younger” audience members) watching the show completely through the screen on their telephones? Or worse, when they spend the vast majority of the time taking “selfies” with the stage and band in the background.

Now, we know some are saying “well then, don’t look!” but it’s kind of like going to watch a movie and seeing this bright light coming from someone around you in a dark theater who thinks they’re clever enough to put the display brightness down to zero.

As someone who is guilty of taking pictures at shows on their phone, we have to take some of the blame. Once upon a time, it was just cameras, but now things have gone beyond ridiculous with audience members bringing tablets and iPads to shows to film.

Considering that recently artists have been speaking out about this, just a few weeks ago at our stop on the Vans Warped Tour Yellowcard frontman, Ryan Key called out audience members who were in the pit with their cell phones out the entire time, unamused and yawning at the band’s fantastic performance. Key told them to either put the phones down and enjoy the show or to get out of the pit and let someone who wants to be there take their spot.

In a recent interview with Real Feels, fellow Warped Tour alum, Stephen Christian from Anberlin was asked about cell phones at shows and Christian made some valid points about his position on the matter.

Check out his interview below.

Rick Ross Underfire Over Rape Lyric

We all know that rappers have the tendency to put their foot in their mouths when it comes to rapping on their tracks, but now it looks like Rick Ross has done the same, but ten ties worse.

Ross is coming under fire when the lyrics to his song, “U.O.E.N.O,” appears to condone date rape. The line, “put Molly all in her champagne, she ain’t even know it / I took her home and I enjoyed that, she ain’t even know it.” Now the rapper is trying to back pedal during a radio interview on 93.3 in New Orleans.

“Woman is the most precious gift known to man. And there was a misunderstanding with a lyric, a misinterpretation,” he said. “I would never use the term rape in my records, in my lyrics. And as far as my camp, hip-hop don’t condone that, the streets don’t condone that, nobody condones that,” the rapper added.

Currently there is petition being passed around to encourage Reebok to drop Ross as a spokesperson due to the line from the song.

“We are appalled that Reebok would pay a spokesperson who brags about enjoying drugging and raping a woman,” said Nita Chaudhary, co-founder of the women’s rights group UltraViolet, in a recently released statement. “Reebok devotes a lot of time, energy and money to marketing to women—and now they are paying a man who is literally bragging about raping us while absurdly insisting it can’t possibly be rape if he doesn’t use the word ‘rape.'”

The petition which was started by Chaudhary’s UltraViolet group, currently has accumulated 51,000 signatures in less than 15 hours. No word from Reebok about the petition or the controversial lyric.