Pere Ubu/Gagarin/This Moment In Black History

Founded in Cleveland in 1975, Pere Ubu recorded some of the most influential post-punk records before punk rock even really happened. Their early self-released singles, “The Modern Dance” and “Dub Housing” are, without question, art rock/new wave classics. But some bands get no respect. After nearly 40 years of touring and releasing records for labels as major as Geffen, two of Pere Ubu’s British members had their visa petitions rejected by the United States Customs & Immigration Services due to the band’s refusal to seek approval from the American Federation of Musicians. To tour the U.S. with British citizens, Pere Ubu had to prove that it is of “world class” caliber and has a respected international reputation. Also required was the approval of an appropriate labor union. When the band refused to seek AFM approval, the visa petitions were rejected. After the visa rejections, Pere Ubu quickly enlisted the services of Cleveland guitar veteran Dave Cintron (Terminal Lovers) and kicked off its U.S. Tour in support of Lady of Shanghai on September 6th at the Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh, NC. Former Scene writer and Pere Ubu leader David Thomas had this to say about the “U.S. version” of the band after several gigs: “It's maybe tougher, has a more American sense of where the beat lies — some other things. What it amounts to is that the ‘European’ version and the ‘U.S.’ version each have a different take on the same songs. One is not ‘better’ than the other but they have distinctive and separate perspectives.” (C.J. Klasa)