Remember that controversial E-40 concert that got called off at the Pantages Theater back in March, and the picketing that followed? Well, on Thursday a lawsuit will be filed on behalf of Rottweiler Records' Kyle Nephew and Tracy Miller, the couple behind said show, seeking an unspecified damages from the Pantages and the Tacoma Police Department, according to the couple's lawyer, Thaddeus Martin.

In case you’re not up to speed, Nephew and Miller booked popular rapper E-40 to headline the Pantages in March. The couple said they paid for extra security for the event, hiring 19 off-duty police officers and 25 security guards, a force they felt excessive for an even that would have drawn about 1,000 fans. But Broadway Center pulled the plug just days before the show would have taken place anyway, citing Tacoma police concerns about safety and possible gang-related imagery in ads and on performers' MySpace pages.

Miller said she and her husband lost around $40,000 altogether, and the fiasco has left them in financial shambles.

“Kyle and I have been pretty much been ruined and haven’t done a show,” Miller said today. “We couldn’t get a venue (for E-40.) My credit is just ruined. We’re probably filing for bankruptcy. We’re pretty much barely hangin’ onto a roof over our heads.”

Martin supplied the News Tribune with a copy of the lawsuit he planned to file in Washington Superior Court, which seeks unspecified damages for “emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, humiliation, pain and suffering, personal indignity, embarrassment, fear, anxiety and anguish, economic loss, damage to career and other general and special damages which will be proven at the time of trial.”

A claim asking for $400,000 in damages was filed on the couple's behalf on Aug. 18, according to the City Clerk's office.

Broadway Center has taken steps to warm up to the local hip-hop community since the March incident and subsequent protests, beginning with a series of hip-hop summits aimed at alleviating safety concerns and figuring out the best way to include hip-hop at their venues.

The Tacoma Hip-Hop Coalition came out of those meetings. The group is looking for performers and financial backers for a local hip-hop gala it plans to host at Broadway Center in 2009.

“Hopefully this will be a groundbreaking event,” group spokeswoman Tiffany Sanders said.
The group’s next meeting starts at 8 a.m. Saturday at the Dash Center for the Arts, 1504 Martin Luther King Jr. Way; 253-306-6615 for more details.

I've put in calls to the city attorney's office and also plan to follow up with Broadway Center. I'll post more details as I learn 'em.

Today, Pearl Jam announced a forthcoming reissue of its smash 1991 debut, "Ten," to be released on March 24, 2009. The reissue will include the original recording, a remastered version of the album, remixes by producer Brendan O'Brien and demo versions of "Alive," "Once" and "Footsteps" from a long-lost cassette called "Momma-Son."

“The band loved the original mix of Ten, bu were also interested in what it would sound like if I were to deconstruct and remix it,” said O’Brien, quoted in a related press release. “The original Ten sound is what millions of people bought, dug and loved, so I was initially hesitant to mess around with that. After years of persistent nudging from the band, I was able to wrap my head around the idea of offering it as a companion piece to the original – giving a fresh take on it, a more direct sound.”

The deluxe versions of the band's debut will be available in four packages, and are part of a planned 20th anniversary reissue series. Descriptions of the four packages available for pre-order through the band's web site, taken from the press release:

THE FOUR EDITIONS OF TEN: ALBUM EXTRAS PER PACKAGE

1. Legacy Edition (2-disc set in mini-LP style slipcase):
• Disc 1: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered (original mix)
• Disc 2: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered and remixed by Brendan O’Brien, plus six bonus tracks: “Brother,” “Just a Girl,” “State of Love and Trust,” “Breath and a Scream,” “2,000 Mile Blues” and “Evil Little Goat”
• Re-designed packaging

2. Deluxe Edition (2-disc set plus DVD specially designed hardbound package):
• Disc 1: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered (original mix)
• Disc 2: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered and remixed by Brendan O’Brien, plus six bonus tracks: “Brother,” “Just a Girl,” “State of Love and Trust,” “Breath and a Scream,” “2,000 Mile Blues” and “Evil Little Goat”
• DVD of Pearl Jam’s previously unreleased 1992 MTV Unplugged performance including never before seen bonus performance of “Oceans” with 5.1 surround sound audio remix

3. Vinyl Collection (2-LP set)
• LP 1: original Ten tracklisting remastered for vinyl
• LP 2: original Ten tracklisting remastered for vinyl and remixed by Brendan O’Brien
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4. Super Deluxe Edition (2-disc set plus DVD, 4 LPs and replica cassette in linen-covered, slip-cased clamshell box):
• Disc 1: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered (original mix)
• Disc 2: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered and remixed by Brendan O’Brien, plus six bonus tracks: “Brother,” “Just a Girl,” “State of Love and Trust,” “Breath and a Scream,” “2,000 Mile Blues” and “Evil Little Goat”
• DVD of Pearl Jam’s previously unreleased 1992 MTV Unplugged performance including never before seen bonus performance of “Oceans” with 5.1 surround sound audio remix
• LP 1: original Ten tracklisting remastered for vinyl
• LP 2: original Ten tracklisting remastered for vinyl and remixed by Brendan O’Brien
• LP 3 & 4: Drop in the Park – Live at Magnuson Park in Seattle on September 20, 1992 (audio mixed by Brendan O’Brien)
• Cassette: replica of original “Momma-Son” Pearl Jam demo cassette featuring “Alive,” “Once” and “Footsteps”

• Package also includes an Eddie Vedder-style composition notebook filled with replica personal notes, images and mementos from the collections of Eddie Vedder and Jeff Ament, a vellum envelope with replicated era-specific ephemera from Pearl Jam’s early work and a two-sided print commemorating the Drop in the Par concert.