NEW YORK — 1990s folk punk icon Phoebe Buffay announced her first live performances in over two decades which will take place this summer in cities across the US, according to the artist’s publicist.
“I’m so excited to be playing music again! I didn’t stop for any reason other than I lost my guitar. As it turns out it was under my bed,” explained Buffay in the announcement, who is dedicating her upcoming tour to the memory of her late friend Chandler Bing. “I know rumors have been swirling about a tour for a while. But now the fans know that I know that they know that I’m going to play songs dating all the way back to the early ‘90s. The first show is secret but will be held at a place that rhymes with ‘Zentral Burk.’ In fact, 75% of my upcoming shows will be played here. The other 25% will be right outside the location’s entranceway.”
Fans of Buffay expressed their excitement at finally being able to hear her influential songs of class struggle and animal rights performed lived.
“‘Smelly Cat’ inspired me to go vegan, and I’m currently saving up $4,000 to buy the new Phoebe Buffay signature Gibson Hummingbird guitar with a little stinky cat on the pickguard,” declared diehard fan Rhonda Tates. “I often just throw on Phoebe Buffay’s entire catalog of music videos on the TV as my comfort background noise, so I can’t wait for the concerts. Who can blame Phoebe for avoiding the spotlight after all the allegations that surfaced against her friend and actor Joey Tribbiani? Not me.”
Folk punk historians debate the real influence of Buffay’s music on the wider scene.
“Phoebe is one of the biggest forces in folk punk to date, and anyone who disagrees is a moron,” says Luke Reynolds from The Folk Punk Archivist, a website cataloging the history of the genre. “She erupted from the early ‘90s Greenwich Village scene to have a lasting effect on everyone that followed. Without Phoebe, there is no AJJ. There is no Against Me! There is no Gaslight Anthem. My life and yours would be meaningless.”
Buffay also announced that her shows will feature an opening act of interpretive dance by fellow New Yorker and friend Elaine Benes.