The Roots have pulled out of a pair of David Bowie tribute concerts scheduled for March 31 and April 1, Questlove announced Wednesday.
The drummer wrote a lengthy Instagram post about the gigs, attributing the band’s cancellation to a dispute over sharing equipment. He deemed the situation a display of “bitchassness.”
“Mood. I’ve never been so insecure or petty as to deny a fellow musician use of ANY of my equipment (or my band’s equipment—-or resources or contacts or knowledge or ANYTHING) it angers me when that same courtesy is not reciprocated,” he wrote. “(Believe you me I was about to get #TomPetty or #PettyWap or#PetRockAndCLSmooth or #BlackPetty or however you wanna roll wit it)—keeping a level head and not being self destructive is a weak point I’m working on. But I’m also keeping it true: The Roots/Bilal/Kimbra (w/ Wendy Melvoin, DD Jackson & Ray Angry) pulled out of these Bowie gigs. We have patience. But we do NOT have patience for the #Bitchassness. Enjoy your precious equipment.”
Questlove shared his sentiments along with a photo of Diddy in a T-shirt emblazoned with “No Bitch Ass.” He also included a spate of brilliant music-related puns around the word “petty.”
The Pixies, Cyndi Lauper, the Mountain Goats, Michael Stipe, Heart’s Ann Wilson, Debbie Harry, Perry Farrell, Flaming Lips and Jakob Dylan are all slated to perform at the tribute to the Starman. Bowie himself had been scheduled to attend before his death.
Variety has reached out for comment.
“The Music of David Bowie” will unfold at Carnegie Hall on Thursday night and Friday night.
