(This is not) Hotel California

UNA BRUTTA STORIA di controlli alla frontiera americana. C’è una band italiana, Soviet Soviet, che doveva andare a suonare gratuitamente (a scopo promozionale) in un festival piuttosto famoso, il SXSW, che ormai è diventato mainstream. Se si suona gratuitamente servono certi tipi di documenti, se si suona a pagamento ne servono altri.

Ai controlli di frontiera semplicemente non li hanno creduti e sono diventati “immigrati illegali”, con tutte le conseguenze del caso (notte in prigione ed espulsione il giorno dopo).

Money quote: “They took us to the customs office we were in the previous day and we waited for our return flight which was scheduled for around 1:00pm local time. Only a short while prior to taking off were we able to get back our cell phones and bags and we were escorted right up to the airplane. We were relieved to fly back home and distance ourselves from that violent, stressful and humiliating situation. We left Italy headed towards the US with all necessary documents, passports and various declarations in which we clearly explained the purpose of our tour, confirming it is was strictly promotional and that we were in no way going to earn money from it or receive any form of payment. We knew that if we were to receive any compensation we would have had to apply for work visas. This was not the case and the people we spoke to for information told us we would be fine.”