Accountability in Music [ARCHIVED] • Page 884

Brand New reportedly reunite for intimate secret show and debut new material

Getting picked up by outlets...

 

Personally, I don't quite believe in a comeback tour. As a poster above said -- it was a private charity event for Mom's Skate Club, a charity in honor of their late son. I'm sure they'd sell out the tour if they announce it and I'm fine with it honestly. There are a lot of BN fans out there, those that find it uncomfortable would not go regardless.

 

If they didn’t plan on doing anything else I truly doubt they’d be playing new songs.

 

this is kind of what has my tinfoil hat on. small set of covers and old songs, sure, makes sense. new shit feels weird, especially for a charity thing where i assume not everyone is necessarily a fan.

 

If nothing else, these private shows over the last couple years prove the band has no problem standing by him. Well if their silence didn’t say enough already.

If they don’t care about standing on stage with him again, why would they care about making easy money off a reunion tour? No clue what will end up happening, but it’s not that far of a reach to see it happening.

 

And while I still do remain skeptical they will return they certainly are doing everything to make it look like they will return...new merch, secret shows with new songs, and Interscope repressing Devil and God Vinyl

 

I've been hesitant to ask this, but what would it take to "forgive" (for lack of a better word) Brand New? I'm not really even a fan of theirs and don't care either way. But I always thought it was weird that while Jesse did some horrid shit, he was already in therapy and working on that well before the accusations came to light. Is that not the point of accountability?

 

Hobo Johnson arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and resisting arrest

https://recentlybooked.com/CA/Merced/FRANK-LOPES~1200_257780

 

Shaking my head at hobo johnson, doing my part to hold him accountable.

 

there's absolutely something to be said about the importance of self-work, course-correction, advocacy/education, and centering/uplifting the voices of survivors in the accountability process. but it's probably not anyone's place but survivors themselves to determine whether "forgiveness" can/has take(n) place (and some might never feel like offering that forgiveness). and even then, i think the consequences of Jesse's actions (i.e. being deplatformed and not having the level of fame you once did) speak for themselves. just because you've gone through some form of rehabilitation doesn't mean you automatically deserve an audience again. he should have to live with that shame for the rest of his life.

 

there is no way his drunk driving could be worse than his music (sorry)

 

youre at the movies, how is this doing your part?

 

This has been debated on this site for a while, and everyone will have their own personal thoughts on the matter. I think the main thing is he never apologized to the victims

 

Yeah I would say he needs to be held accountable for his music more than anything

 

I know we don't talk about music quality in this thread, but...he can be the exception

 

yeah they just disappeared as if they always planned to end at that time (they had been foreshadowing an end around that time anyways), never even acknowledging that the 'alleged' behavior was with fans that were underage who were at the time of the misconduct.

if they were to just come back on their own terms it would leave a bad taste in my mouth

 

One of the victims (at this point, I forget how many there were) came forward on Reddit a few months ago and said that their goal was not to cancel them, but to hold Jesse accountable. That said, that didn’t really happen. He got to keep on raking in money from music and merch, never apologized, disappeared and left the victims to be harassed by their rabid freak fanbase. He could have done the easiest thing of admitting what happened and calling off the dogs, but he couldn’t even do that.

With all that said, I think we’ve said multiple times, but we really have to be prepared for them to reunite, go on a massively popular sold-out tour and likely be let down by the bands that will tour with them and/or fully embrace their return.

 

let's also not forget reframing his misconduct as solely sex addiction

 

Ah that’s right!

 

It feels like a reunion is inevitable at this point. With no apology for incidents that happened over 20 years ago and the band having been inactive for 7 years now, I think that ship has sailed.

 

Once the reunion actually happens and it's sad to say but they will be bigger than ever.

 

if they end up coming back in any capacity, i think it would be a pretty cheap move. before the allegations ever came out they made such a big deal about breaking up in 2018, so to do a reunion now (even if it was just a couple gigs) would be a massive eye roll. i feel like i see stuff about a brand new reunion every few months and it hasn’t yet led to anything substantial, so i’ll save my anger for if that actually happens, but i hope it doesn’t.

 

It hurts differently when it's a band whose music you loved. I was all in on Brand New and ready to see them close out their career on their own terms until the allegations broke, a big enough story it prompted the creation of this very thread. What I have seen from Jesse (and notably the utter silence from the other members of the band) tells me that this band is going to reclaim their platform without ever properly or accurately addressing what took place (it was not 'sex addiction', it was grooming and flat-out paedophilia); the blanket apology for his behaviour was never enough for me, and it likely wouldn't have been enough for those he hurt, especially if you factor in the the rabid portion of the fanbase's defence of his disgusting actions. If they stage a proper comeback with nothing said whatsoever—and I'm sorry but even if Lacey has put in the work over the past seven years he is still not owed a platform—then they will have confirmed themselves as the spineless cowards I suspected them to be at the time the news broke.

I remain sceptical unless and until it happens but even if what @Azz said happens I have no need to welcome this band back into my life again.

 

I don't need this band back in my life as well but there's no denying if well only a matter of when this reunion officially happens, it's gonna be massive and they r gonna be bigger than ever but I would rather spend my hard earned money on seeing bands/acts that r not problematic instead of them.

 

While the silence, and sidestepping acknowledgement back in 2017 is/was frustrating, nobody is going to come out publicly and literally admit criminal action(s). My guess is his statement (and most public statements in these type of situations) was read over and over and over by legal teams before being released.

You will likely never get another public statement from JL ever again that alludes to anything other than maybe going through therapy and being faithful to his family or some shit.