Anyone who read her rambling, off-kilter Spin interview already knows this, but it appears that Michelle Shocked may be a little bit crazy. The recently shunned singer staged a sit-in Thursday night outside one of the many venues that cancelled her show, after the folk singer went off on a strange homophobic tangent at a San Francisco club earlier this month.
Clad in what appears to be a Tyvek safety suit and white balaclava, the singer sat outside the Santa Cruz, California venue Moe’s Alley with a piece of tape across her mouth reading, “Silenced By Fear.” She invited passersby to tag her suit with a Sharpie marker, communicated only via Etch-A-Sketch, and displayed signs that read things like “Does speech really scare you that much?” and “Is it possible Michelle Shocked was a target of fear mongering in the name of a protection racket?” The club’s owner, Bill Welch, talked with Shocked and said later he wouldn’t bash her, but would instead “celebrate music, diversity, and send some healing Santa Cruz energy her way.”