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PHILADELPHIA - One Life Crew, the Cleveland-based band whose music has been seen as promoting sexism, racism and homophobia, and has commanded a fan base among neo-Nazi circles, has pulled themselves out of a show they had planned for June 6 at the First Unitarian Church after widespread complaints to the Pastor and church board members.

Rev. Nate Walker, the pastor of the church, noted that after speaking with members of One Life Crew about their music and the controversy surrounding the show, the band decided not to perform at the church to quell the concern. Rev. Nate, as he is often referred, had spoken with the band to discuss those concerns, and was put off particularly by them laughing at the idea of them being seen as racist simply because their singer is Turkish and the drummer is Jewish. When Rev. Nate made note of their more racially charged lyrics, they dismissed them as not being hate speech, but rather "free speech".

The cancellation came after two weeks of correspondence via phone calls and emails to the church by people concerned with the show from all over the country. Rev. Nate said he received "four dozen" phone calls to his cell phone in two days, some angry and some respectable. Many of those calls came this week when Rev. Nate responded in a May 27 pastoral statement to the activism around the show launched by the Trenton and Philadelphia chapters of Anti-Racist Action. During a meeting Saturday evening which included members of Philadelphia Anti-Racist Action, One People's Project, Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations and First Unitarian Church Board members, all parties agreed that there was a breakdown in communication among all that were concerned with the show that led to the Church feeling as it was being unfairly attacked and activists against the show feeling as though they were not being heard. It resulted in tensions being raised to the point that the meeting was called at the church to ease those tensions.

One Live Crew's history with controversy is nothing new. Its lyrics have sparked outcry in the nineties from activists in their hometown of Cleveland, and their response has been with violence or threats of violence. A female activist was threatened with rape by the band, and a riot famously broke out during the performance of one of their more racist songs, during which someone in the audience objected and band members jumped off stage. That incident resulted in the band being dropped from their label Victory Records, who by that time was receiving letters and phone calls about the band routinely. One Life Crew broke up in 1998, although in 2004 a split 7-inch with the North Carolina band Empire Falls was released. At the time of that released, rumors swirled about the politics of Empire Falls and their lead singer Bryan Scorch. In recent years however, Empire Falls is seen performing at white power concerts, which for many put to rest questions about the nature of the band.

The One Life Crew show that was to take place in Philadelphia was one of two reunion shows that had been promoted since January; the other show is to be held on June 5 at Peabody's Café in Cleveland. Although there was heavy internet promotion of the shows, it was originally unclear if the show was happening in Philadelphia or who was promoting it. R5 Productions are in charge of promotions at the First Unitarian Church, and in the fifteen years of doing shows there turned it into the biggest venue for punk shows in the city. Although they announce all their shows on their website, they never announced the One Life Crew date, and the church, when first asked about the show, sent an email saying the show was not on their schedule. When asked, R5 Productions informed people that the show was "100% on" and was being promoted by Joe Hardcore of Friends Stand United (FSU), an anti-racist crew originally formed in Boston to keep neo-Nazis out of the punk scene. Recently, that stance has been compromised because the Philadelphia FSU came into an agreement with the local neo-Nazi outfit Keystone State "Skinheads" (KSS) sometime in 2007 that they would be allowed to come to shows provided they don't wear their colors, don't engage in violence and don't recruit. Members of KSS have since engaged in violence outside the Church and have indeed attempted to recruit, despite the agreement. In addition, KSS member Keith Carney, who Joe Hardcore grew up with, had been seen photographing crowds at other shows and gathering information about who attendees were. He and a few other KSS members were expected to attend the One Life Crew show in Philadelphia.

Rev. Nate noted that R5 Productions, as they are the only ones with the insurance and the agreement with the church, were indeed the promoters of the One Life Crew show and Joe Hardcore was working through them. He had met with not only the promoters, but also with Carney, who told him he had been going to shows at the church for ten years, and that he is not the person he is depicted as. He noted that Keystone State "Skinheads" had recently changed their name to Keystone United and that they are not about white power but rather white pride. Rev. Nate has noted that the controversy and the eventual cancellation have left the promoters "furious".

No other venue for Philadelphia has been announced, and according to Rev. Nate One Life Crew was unsure of their availability for June 6 event after playing the night before in Cleveland.