Boo to the business world

The music and show biz industries sure underwent its share of setbacks following last week’s terrorist attacks. A slew of concerts were postponed, as were the Emmys, and the Latin GRAMMYs were outright canceled.

Here in Philly, deferrals began on the night of the attacks with Nonpoint’s TLA gig and The Thievery Corporation’s show at the Troc. Other shows ranging from Aerosmith and Fuel to Nikka Costa were either put off or called off in the days that followed. Some were out of respect for the tragedy, others because flights were grounded; touring Cali-based goth-punkers AFI actually found themselves stranded in Japan for a few days.

In addition to the initial craziness, here are some of the long-term effects the attacks had on the entertainment world:

• New York electronica duo I am the World Trade Center have shortened their name to “I am the…,” with hopes to someday return it to its original state.
• The makers of Men In Black 2, now in post-production, plan to re-shoot scenes involving the interior twin towers, and digitally remove their exteriors from the footage.
• The Strokes’ much-anticipated debut LP Is This It has been pushed back from its Sept. 25 release date to Oct. 9. The band is nixing the vile-spewing “New York City Cops” from the final cut (a shame, ’cause it’s a damn good song), and replacing it with an as-yet unknown new track.
• The season premiere of NBC’s “Third Watch,” a series dealing with police and firefighters in NYC, has been bumped up to Oct. 8.

But perhaps the biggest effect — at least in the music world — has yet to be seen. It’s probably in poor taste to be mentioning this so soon after the attacks, but it’s been in the back of my mind since day one. The Gulf War killed the New Kids. This will kill *NSync. The most exciting musical movements are historically born from social turmoil; the Vietnam War sparked the hippie revolution of the ’60s, Reaganomics begat the U.S. portion of the late ’70s / early ’80s punk movement, and grunge grew out of the post-Gulf War Bush Era. Music and politics both move in cycles, and we have reached another beginning. It’s an era of grave seriousness, and the months to come won’t likely be too friendly toward mindless pop music. Which, sick as it might sound, is something to be thankful for.