Black Lips Avoid Arrest In India

Indian concert promoters don't appreciate the wholesome family entertainment that a Black Lips show provides, and the Atlanta garage rockers had to flee the south Asian country to avoid being arrested because of it.

Well, at least that's what their MySpace blog post on Saturday would have you believe. The truth, apparently, doesn't involve quite as much espionage — but it's still a valuable cautionary tale.

"Unfortunately, we have had to flee the country of India due to having our whole tour canceled and having to escape being held by police for indecent exposure during our most rawkus set in Chennai at the Campus Rock Idol showcase," the band wrote in their blog.

"When we got to the hotel our tour guide informed us that the that the Campus Rock Idols sponsors were pressing charges and that the police would make their arrest. At that point our tour driver informed us we would have to drive six hours to get to the next town and cross state lines where we would be out of the Tamil [Nadu, an Indian state] authorities jurisdiction, because apparently the jail in Chennai is no joke. Word on the street said that it was teeming with tuberculosis, violence and live maggots so instead of risking going there we fled the scene. The drive ended up taking 10 hours because of a horrific accident on the road. We were also informed that all of the shows on our tour had been canceled effectively fucking all funds for the trip. This was a cultural clashing shit storm."

The Black Lips flew from India to Berlin, Germany, where they stayed with King Khan to work on an EP. If you've ever been to a King Khan show or heard about some of his antics, it could be a toss-up on whether or not that would be safer than spending time in an Indian jail.

Vice magazine talked to Black Lips drummer Joe Bradley, who divulged more details on what happened at the Chennai show. He said bassist Jared Swilley got the crowd riled up with a call and response of "weak ass" and "bitch" before guitarist Cole Alexander mooned the audience, kissed guitarist Ian Saint Pe and then dove into the crowd.

This upset the tour manager that the band had been assigned and tour promoter Only Much Louder. Bradley claims the tour manager and Only Much Louder's accountant took the group members' passports, and he believes they were cooking up some sort of scheme against them. Their passports were returned after a heated argument, but the tour manager and accountant said the band owed them $10,000. That was reduced to around $3,000, but Bradley said they didn't owe anything because there was no contract.

"They were paranoid about the Tamil [Nadu] police," Bradley told Vice in response to a question about the claim they'd be jailed. "I suppose it's a more conservative part of the country.

"They kept saying if it had happened in Delhi it would have not been such a big deal, but since we were in Chennai they told us that if anyone filed a complaint with the police, the festival people would inform the authorities of our location and it would have been about a week dealing with jails and embassies and so on.

"It's really hard to say what was going on, it certainly wasn't a calm atmosphere. I would like to think that we would have been OK in Chennai and we could have gone on to finish the shows in Calcutta the next day, but the company was so paranoid they booked us overnight cars to drive out of the state. Who knows what the right decision was. Either way, we're outta harm's way now. We were so happy to arrive in Germany, you have no idea."

The Black Lips' 200 Million Thousand will be released by Vice Records on Feb. 24. If they can stay out of jail, they'll play these shows:

Feb. 3 Nijmegen, Netherlands @ Doornroosje
Feb. 4 Rotterdam, Netherlands @ Watt
Feb. 5 Munich, Germany @ 59:1
Feb. 6 Berlin, Germany @ Festsaal Kreuzberg
Feb. 7 Hamburg, Germany @ Molotow
Feb. 8 Cologne, Germany @ Gebaude 9
Feb. 11 Lille, France @ Club Aeronef
Feb. 12 Dijon, France @ Generiq Festival At La Vapeur
Feb. 13 Brussels, Belgium @ Botanique
Feb. 14 Paris, France @ Super Mon Amour Festival at Maroc
Feb. 15 London, England @ O2 Academy Islington (NME Awards)
Feb. 16 Bristol, England @ Fleece N Firkin
Feb. 17 Glasgow, Scotland @ ABC 2
Feb. 18 Manchester, England @ Deaf Institute
Feb. 19 Brighton, England @ Audio
Feb. 26 Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree Cafe
Feb. 27 Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
March 4 Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle
March 5 Washington, DC @ Black Cat
March 6 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's
March 7 Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East Restaurant & Nightclub
March 9 New York, NY @ The Bowery Ballroom
March 10 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg
March 12 Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom Concert Hall
March 13 Detroit, MI @ The Magic Stick
March 14 Chicago, IL @ The Logan Square Auditorium
March 15 Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom
March 16 St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club Inc.
March 17 Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room Lounge
March 18 Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck
March 20-21 Austin, TX @ South By Southwest Music Festival
March 23 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks
March 25 Tallahassee, FL @ Club Downunder
March 26 Tampa, FL @ Orpheum
March 27 Miami, FL @ Churchill's
March 28 Gainesville, FL @ Common Grounds
March 29 Jacksonville, FL @ Jack Rabbits
March 30 Orlando, FL @ The Social
April 15 Costa Mesa, CA @ Detroit Bar
April 16 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
April 17 Tempe, AZ @ The Clubhouse
April 18 Tucson, AZ @ Plush
April 20 Colorado Springs, CO @ The Black Sheep
April 21 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theatre
April 22 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
April 23 Boise, ID @ Neurolox
April 24 Portland, OR @ Berbati’s Pan
April 25 Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s
April 27 Eugene, OR @ Wow Hall
April 28 Sacramento, CA @ The Blue Lamp
April 29 Santa Cruz, CA @ The Blue Lagoon
April 30 San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
May 1 Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre
May 2 Pomona, CA @ Glasshouse
May 3 Costa Mesa, CA @ The Detroit Bar