Reverend Billy and the 'Church of Stop Shopping' Gospel Choir
'Not Buying It' Band Coming to Shelburne Falls and Brattleboro, April 21-22
Following sold-out performances in April 2006 in Brattleboro, Greenfield and Northampton, nationally-known playwright and performance artist Bill Talen, a.k.a. 'Reverend Billy,&' and his NYC-based 'Church of Stop Shopping' gospel choir and 'Not Buying It' band, will be returning to the area with their anti-consumerist service of 'Fabulous Worship!' to Shelburne Falls, MA, and Brattleboro, VT, on April 21-22.
Known for their stop-shopping 'interventions' at national chain stores, The New York Times reported that "[Rev. Billy] has made himself a thorn in the paws of Walt Disney, Nike, Home Depot, Barnes & Noble and any other chain he views as casually destroying the essence of neighborhoods." Rev. Billy has been arrested for preaching the gospel of stop shopping at Disneyland and a court injunction forbids him from being within 250 yards of California's 1,481 Starbucks franchises. Starbucks' advice to their store managers resulted in a paperback book by Rev. Billy entitled What Shall I Do If Reverend Billy Is in My Store?
A feature-length documentary film about Rev. Billy and his Church of Stop Shopping, entitled, 'What Would Jesus Buy?', premiered in Austin, Texas, in mid-March of this year and is soon to be available in theaters nationwide. A book by the same title is soon to be released.
'Before Reverend Billy can be dismissed as yet another prankster-activist with a megaphone,' wrote The NYTimes' George Hunka of 'Reverend Billy's Tent Revival' at the South Street Seaport in NYC last year, 'one must note that there is something more here, far more. [His 'Revival'] projects an additional note of tragedy and loss: it reminds its audience that when large corporations decide to leave their imprint on local areas, neighborhood identity and self-sovereignty are destroyed.'
Rev. Billy and his Church of Stop Shopping will be appearing at Memorial Hall Theater, Bridge Street, Shelburne Falls, at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 21st. They will be at The Church, 120 Main Street, Brattleboro, at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 22.
There will be a suggested donation of $10.00 at the door, though no one will be turned away.
These performances are sponsored by Pioneer Valley War Tax Resisters, Windham County Tax Resisters of Conscience, Post Oil Solutions and others.
For further information about Rev. Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir, go to: www.RevBilly.com.
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Quotes from Rev. Billy:
"Lord, save us from the Shopocalypse!"
"We are drowning in a sea of identical details!"
"The product needs you more than you need it!"
"Let us pray to the God that is not a product...."
"Remember, children, love is a gift economy!"
"Like crack cocaine..., shopping is an annihilating addiction that must be slowed down to be stopped. Or flooded with a new and different light. But people, please--DO SOMETHING!"
'Now children, we are all Shopping Sinners. Each of us is walking around in a swirl of gas and oil, plastic and foil. We should all hit out knees and weep and confess together. We are not evil people, but somehow we have allowed the Lords of Consumption to organize us into these mobs that buy and dispose, cry and reload. Yes, the Rapture of the Final Consumption, the Shopture, is underway.'
NEWS RELEASE 3/22/07
For further information, please contact:
Randy Kehler, (413) 624-8858 rkehler@crocker.com
Bob Bady, (802) 254-9098 elkaye3@juno.com