New law passed to block concert suicide

droolymutt

ahhhh - shut the fork up, Mike.....

Listen to music... - Relax......

And stop being so forking hard on yourself.....

OK?

We all love you just the way you are....

MIKE BURN

Quote:
Monday, September 29, 2003 Posted: 1702 GMT ( 1:02 AM HKT)

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (AP) -- The St. Petersburg city council passed a law Monday designed to scuttle a rock group's plans to feature an onstage suicide.

The hard-rock band Hell on Earth had said that a suicide by a terminally ill person would take place during a concert Saturday to raise awareness of right-to-die issues.

In response, the city council met Monday morning to unanimously approve an emergency ordinance making it illegal to conduct a suicide for commercial or entertainment purposes, and to host, promote and sell tickets for such an event.

"While I still think it's a publicity stunt, we still couldn't sit idly by and let somebody lose their life," council member Bill Foster said.

Tampa-based Hell of Earth, known for such outrageous onstage stunts as chocolate syrup wrestling and grinding up live rats in a blender, created the furor by announcing the suicide would happen Saturday at the Palace Theater in downtown St. Petersburg.

But the theater's owner, David Hundley, promptly canceled the band's show, and another venue also turned away the event.

Band leader Billy Tourtelot has vowed that the concert and suicide will still take place at an undisclosed location in the city, broadcast live on the band's Web site.

"This show is far more than a typical Hell On Earth performance," Tourtelot said in an e-mail last week. "This is about standing up for what you believe in, and I am a strong supporter of physician-assisted suicide."

A message left for Tourtelot was not immediately returned Monday.

A Florida law already makes assisting in a suicide manslaughter, a second-degree felony.

Hell on Earth is playing clubs in support of its independently produced album, "All Things Disturbingly Sassy."

MIKE

MIKE BURN

That's a really cute picture!

WHEN was that???? :sensational

Bobby J Currie · Joined: 09 Jul 2003 Posts: 68

Good promo but, having everyone talking about them, good or bad, will raise awareness!!!

Maybe we should try something similar!!!

www.standbyproject.co.uk

StandbY@getmemusic.com

StandbY@SoundClick

StandbY @ IC-musicmedia

admin@standbyproject.co.uk

CrAzY j65 · Joined: 24 Jun 2003 Posts: 13

Those guys are assholes. The whole point of assisted suicide is death with dignity. What is dignified about what they are doing with this person?

Anyone who would pay to see that is as sick as they are. I'm sure their music sucks ass too. If they were any good, they wouldn't need the sensationalism to sell tickets.

Sadly, there will probably be young people who think it's "cool". As if there aren't enough problems with kids taking their own lives.

Get Goosed!

MIKE BURN

Today it's SHOWTIME!!! :evil

Band leader: Suicide show will go on

Quote:
Saturday, October 4, 2003 Posted: 12:10 PM EDT (1610 GMT)

TAMPA, Florida (AP) -- The leader of a band called Hell on Earth said Saturday he would defy threats of criminal charges and hold an Internet-broadcast concert featuring the suicide of a terminally ill fan.

Billy Tourtelot said in a phone interview that the concert and suicide would take place Saturday night in two separate, undisclosed locations in St. Petersburg. He wouldn't give any details about the venues but said the band would broadcast the events on its Web page.

Tourtelot's announcement of the plan last month led the city to ban the event with an ordinance and prompted a judge to issue an injunction against it.

Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist has said that anyone who assists in a suicide could be charged with a felony and face up to 15 years in prison.

The person threatening suicide has said he is dying and wants to promote his right-to-die views. Tourtelot, 33, said he was standing up for what he believed in to grant his friend his dying wish.

"There's nothing bad about that. It's giving the right to die with human dignity and compassion for those that we love," he said.

Kevin Hayslett, an attorney for Tourtelot, said the band leader wanted to go ahead with the show despite the lawyer's advice that he not do so.

Tourtelot said the opposition only helped the band promote the concert. "I think they wasted a lot of people's tax dollars," he said.

Neither city officials nor a police spokesman returned phone messages Saturday.

Jason Trindade, the operator of a San Diego-based technology company that hosts the band's Web site, said he would continue serving the site and carry the concert until he receives complaints from law enforcement officials to shut it down.

"They haven't broken any law and I can't just turn them off," he said. "Myself, I think it's pretty twisted."

MIKE