Lilith Fair, the grrl-powered music festival founded by Sarah McLachlan, suffering lackluster ticket sales canceled their Arizona date. The GoGos were scheduled to headline.

The day after tickets went on sale  GoGos’ lead singer Belinda Carlisle posted this on her Facebook page:

AZ Central and Phoenix New Times both reported that Carlisle had posted on her Facebook page–an update since removed–that she wanted Lilith Fair organizers

to move the phoenix date in protest of the new immigration law in ARIZONA. the gogo’s [sic] condemn the law and want the date moved.

Then last week the Go-Go’s issued  this press release:

The Lilith Fair date scheduled for July 8 in Phoenix has been canceled and refunds can be made at point of purchase. At this time, The Go-Go’s have not been informed as to why the show was canceled. We regret the loss of the date on our farewell tour as we know we have many devoted fans in Arizona.

Well, yeah, I guess lips are sealed on the matter, but it’s  perfect storm of politics, economics and a bill that might not be that exciting.

Ticket ranged in price from $25 to $250 for the fest which featured Loretta Lynn, Heart, Norah Jones, Cat Power, La Roux, Sheryl Crow, Tegan and Sara, Erykah Badu, Brandi Carlile, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Meaghan Smith, Metric, and of course founder Sarah McLachlan.

I have mixed emotions about bands boycotting AZ. 1987, then-Governor Meacham issued a rescission of Martin Luther King Day and U2 was scheduled to kick off their Joshua Tree tour in Tempe. Rather than canceling the shows, the band made a contribution to the campaign to recall Meacham and had petitions and information booths on site.

U2 frontman and anti-poverty activist Bono has returned home to Dublin after emergency back surgery performed in Munich just days after his 50th birthday. The band’s second phase of the mega-band’s 360 Degrees tour through the US scheduled to begin June 3 in Salt Lake City has been put on hold as he recuperates.

U2.com states that Bono was

admitted to a specialist neuro surgery unit in a Munich hospital, and is under the care of neurosurgeon Prof. Dr. Jorg Tonn and Dr Muller Wohlfahrt.

Over 400 hundred crew members and hundreds of thousands of fans in the US have put their concert plans on hold as Bono recovers.

For decades Bono has worked to alleviate poverty and eradicate HIV/AIDS in Africa. U2′s performance at the first LiveAid concert was a standout, and throughout the 80s the band also performed benefits for Amnesty International and to create jobs in Ireland, as well as recording songs for the very Special Christmas albums benefiting the Special Olympics. Since his father’s death, Bono has helped raise funds for the Irish Hospice Foundation.

Bono cofounded DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade Africa) an African relief fund; ONE, a grassroots campaign and advocacy organization committed to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease; and (RED), which partners with consumer goods to create jobs and raise funds to provide HIV/AIDS medication in Africa.

On their tours, the band stresses human rights and during their Elevation tour after 9/11 screened a memorial list of names of those killed.  To show thier support for New Orelans, the band played Super Bowl there. They rock, they are great guys and Godspeed to Bono for healing.

Bono at World Economic Forum

U2 singer and anti-poverty activist Bono has undergone emergency back surgery in Munich after an injury sustained during training for the next leg of U2′s world tour, a spokesperson for the band said, adding:

He was admitted to a specialist neuro surgery unit in a Munich hospital. Bono will spend the next few days there, before returning home to recuperate. Once his condition has been assessed further, a statement will be made regarding the impact on forthcoming tour dates.

The US leg of the 360 Degrees summer tour was due to start June 3 in Salt Lake City and continue to  Europe in August, kicking off in Turin.

Bono’s energetic performances are legendary, are are the band’s successes and good works.  Bono  himself has long been committed to debt relief and the eradication of poverty and AIDS in Africa, co-founding ONE and  (RED) as well as actively supporting the Irish Hospice Foundation. Godspeed in healing, Bono.

Elvis Costello has canceled his two concert dates in Israel June 30 and July 1 to protest the Israeli treatment of Palestinians. On his website, Costello wrote:

Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

U2 singer and activist Bono met with President Barack Obama and showed off some dance moves in the Oval Office. He and Bob Geldof also interviewed POTUS for one of Canada’s leading newspapers Globe and Mail. Here’s their exchange about the upcoming G8:

Bono: You’re going to be in Canada in June for the G8. It’s not straightforward to get eight people to agree on anything, let alone eight countries. What do you think you can achieve?

Obama: At this year’s summit, we need to recommit ourselves to making serious and sustainable progress toward the Millennium Development Goals. We can, and should, celebrate the progress we’ve made, but we also need to be frank about where all of us – developed and developing countries alike – have fallen short.

The MDGs provide us with the goal posts; the challenge now is to make sure that we honour the aid commitments that are critical to development, and that we also look at:

• how we can bring additional sources of capital to the table;
• how we can foster the innovations that can be the game-changers in development;
• how developing countries can seize the moment by putting in place the right policies and institutions;
• and how, together, we can find new ways to accelerate progress in the years ahead.