Alvvays’ Molly Rankin Shares PSA to Stop Groping at Concerts
Photo by Matt Cowan/Getty Music News Alvvays
Alvvays frontwoman Molly Rankin is sick and tired of groping at concerts, and on Thursday, she posted a “begrudged public service announcement for concertgoers” on the band’s Instagram.
The post reads, “if grabbing someone on or offstage without their consent is in your playbook of potential behavior, please stay home! For many, this will be a no-brainer but for some it clearly is not. Thank you to the kind people of San Luis Obispo who’ve reached out to us.” Rankin referenced Alvvays’ recent show with The Drums in San Luis Obispo, Calif., where, according to Reddit, a man stage-invaded and pushed Rankin during their song “Archie, Marry Me.”
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Rankin, unfortunately, is no stranger to creepy men stage-invading at Alvvays’ shows. Last September, a man got onstage and tried to kiss her in the middle of a show in Belgium.
Hollywood has experienced a reckoning in wake of the #MeToo movement, but people have been wondering when it will be the music industry’s turn. While stories like Kesha and Dr. Luke have been much more publicized, issues like these still get pushed to the side and somehow become normalized. Whether it’s female musicians being sexualized by male journalists, being asked what it’s like to be a woman in a band, or female musicians and fans being sexually harassed and assaulted on stage and in the crowds at shows, this is, disgustingly, what comes with being a woman in music in 2018.