Jennifer Finch's Army: Music Fans and Pros Show Up for L7's Bassist
Plus: An L7 Punk Rock Father-Daughter Bonding Tale
Inside This Issue
An L7 Punk Rock Father-Daughter Bonding Tale
Jennifer Finch’s Army
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An L7 Punk Rock Father-Daughter Bonding Tale
“Hello, my name is John. This is not a prank, do not hang up. I’m calling to let you know that your postcard was pulled from the ticket lottery for the Pearl Jam concert at Constitution Hall this Saturday, January 14th.”
“No way, are you serious?”
“Yes, again this is not a prank call. Do you plan to attend the show?”
“Oh my God, YES! YES!” [now jumping up and down, screaming]
“Okay. You have to pick up your tickets tomorrow morning at the address I give you. If they are not picked up during the designated time, the tickets will go to the next entry on our list. Do you understand?”
“Yes! I have a pencil and paper. Give me the information.”
It’s 1995, when Pearl Jam tried to tour without Ticketmaster while pursuing legal action to break up what they called a ticketing monopoly. By all accounts, it was a logistical nightmare for the band and their fans. A postcard lottery attracted over 175,000 mail-in entries for Constitution Hall’s ~3700 capacity for two nights. Real people notified lottery winners and verified they were picking up/paying for their tickets. If not, the phone jockies called the next name on the list. The experiment should have proven Pearl Jam’s point about Ticketmaster’s ticketing monopoly to the federal government. Their legal case against the ticketing agency unfortunately went nowhere. Here’s a Rolling Stone recap for those who are interested.
Some fans submitted 20, 50, 100 postcards in hopes of winning the drawing for this intimate show (by Pearl Jam standards) benefitting Gloria Steinem’s Voters For Choice nonprofit.
I mailed in one postcard.
The art was from Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel fresco “The Creation of Adam” zoomed in on God’s hand about to bestow Adam the gift of life. Here is Wikipedia’s look at the complex meaning of the fresco and Michelangelo’s intellectual defiance and depictions of women’s equal and important role in creation. My 26-year-old mind thought it appropriate for the pro-choice event.
It just so happens that my biological father had flown in that day to visit me for the weekend. It was his first trip to the D.C. area from metro Detroit and I already wrote off the concert as wishful thinking. We had just walked in the door from the airport when the phone call came.
Turning to my roommate, Dad declared, “I haven’t seen her this excited since she was a kid. What the hell is going on!”
I hung up the phone and feverishly blurted out “I won tickets to a concert, Dad! We’re going to see Pearl Jam on Saturday!”
He thought about it for five seconds and asked, “Who is she?”
He wasn’t keen on going (insisting I take someone else) until I mentioned that Neil Young and Crazy Horse were also on the bill. To which he replied, “Now, him I like. Okay, let’s go.”
That was the start to a once-in-a-lifetime bonding tale that my dad still talks about today. For years he joked with his buddies on the Ford assembly line: “Dear Old Dad is in DC for five minutes and winds up at a pro-choice rally with Pearl Jam, Neil Young, and women taking their shirts off!”
The women he’s talking about would be the punk band L7. They performed after Lisa Germano and before Neil Young and Pearl Jam. Controversial front woman Donita Sparks earned a rep for thrilling (or shocking) audiences by producing tampons from her loins and tossing them into the crowd or yanking down her pants and underwear on live TV.
You could see the wheels turning in Dad’s head throughout their set, but he never vocalized his thoughts. It wasn’t Sparks but bassist Jennifer Finch who unexpectedly freed her boobs during the set finale. Dad’s surprise burst from his mouth:
“Oh my god, they’re WOMEN!”
According to Rolling Stone, Jennifer instructed the audience to “stick your hand down your pants. And remember that’s yours, and nobody can fucking tell you what to do with it.” Dad and I either didn’t hear the directive or protectively blocked it from our collective memory.
This was an odd bonding experience for a father and his daughter, if you ask me. It’s weird standing next to your blue-collar dad witnessing live nudity and commands to stick your hands down your pants. You gotta hand it to my dad, he rolls with the punches and finds the humor in everything. In his own Boomer way, he’s pretty punk rock.
A few more Dear Old Dad (that’s what he calls himself, btw) quotes as I remember them from that crazy night:
“You’re not going to stop shaving your armpits, are you?”
“What’s up with all the loud fuckin’ screeching noise? I don’t remember Neil sounding like this.”
“I need a beer.”
“That Pearl Jam, they’ve got that sound kids these days like.”
Jennifer Finch’s Army
If you told me in 1995 that Jennifer would become an acquaintance on Substack and offer divey L.A. club suggestions for my trip to the GRAMMY’s, I would have been skeptical at best. There’s no way that sassy icon would give me the time of day. But that’s the kind of woman Jennifer is: no pretense, eager to support the music and photography scenes, fan friendly, and still stickin’ it to the man.
Her last activity on Substack praised the work of other musicians and photographers. Always generous with her encouragement.
Now it’s time to boomerang that positive energy back to Jennifer— the musician, artist, writer, photographer. She’s been in and out of the hospital battling an aggressive brain cancer. Multiple surgeries and unforeseen setbacks mean that medical bills are piling up, which adds incredible anxiety to an already stressful time. That’s where we, her fans and friends, come in.
Aubree Miller organized a GoFundMe campaign to cover her medical costs. The campaign details what costs are involved and updates on Jennifer’s progress. The numbers may seem astronomical. After dealing with my own brain-related medical issues over the past year, I can assure you that their goal is reasonable, if not low balled. Right before hitting this article’s “publish” button, an anonymous donation of $44K pushed the campaign to its $350K goal. AMAZING!!!!
That’s no reason to stop the momentum — we know medical bills continue to pile up.
Learning Moment: Approximately 43% of U.S. musicians do not have health insurance. Even when signed to a label, most musicians are classified as independent contractors so health insurance is not a required benefit. Unions and the open market (AFA) offer options. Unfortunately, many artists don’t make enough money to afford insurance or cannot afford the high deductibles. “…the artist must generally make enough in covered earnings — currently the threshold is $27,540 — during a given year to qualify,” Hollywood Reporter writes. Roughly 20% of musicians live at or below the poverty line per NEA research.
Aside from the $44k anonymous donor, the music scene is showing up! Over 4700 donors and messengers are spreading the word, including: L7, Bikini Kill, Joan Jett, Garbage, Kathy Valentine, REM, Adrienne Armstrong, Jeff Ament, Alice Bag, Courtney Love, Kevin Lyman, I Speak Machine, She Wants Revenge, Bad Cop Bad Cop, Melanie Vammen. Plus gads of photographers, print and digital media, LGBTQ+ groups, music nonprofits, and more.
Let’s join Jennifer’s Army and help one of our Herizon Music sisters heal knowing that she will beat cancer and not drown in debt doing it. We can get Jennifer’s team to the $375,000 mark.
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Together We Rise,
Thea ❤️🧡💛
