Ain't Gonna Play Sun City

(Sun City, Arizona. Image via)

Clever how I did that with the title, right?* But it's true, Rage Against the Machine's "Boycott Arizona" campaign is a lot like Steven Van Zandt's 1985 "Sun City" thing: not just a little grand-standy and self-serving. But there's another similarity; see if you can catch it:

So far, artists to sign on for the boycott include major acts like Cypress Hill, Kanye West, Chris Rock, Connor Oberst, Rage Against the Machine, Serj Tankian, Nine Inch Nails, Rise Against, Maroon 5, Massive Attack, Sonic Youth, Anti-Flag, Ozomatli, Tenacious D and many others.

Here are some other lists these same artists could all appear on: Musicians Unlikely To Perform In Arizona In The First Place (Massive Attack?), and Musicians Unlikely To Lose Out On Much By Going Straight To San Diego From Albuquerque.

So just like the Sun City thing, yes, they mean well and blah, blah, blah, but just as with South Africa, it isn't exactly an impressive, praiseworthy sacrifice to avoid an out-of-the-way, secondary market.

So anyway, sorry Arizona, no Los Faggots or Jesus Chainsaw Massacre for you.

*Also hilarious because Sun City, also known as the "spirals of death," is a retirement community.