Woman Gone Wild

When Sally Ball of Battle Creek picked up her newspaper on Friday, she said the front page article detailing the "Girls Gone Wild Rocks America" tour's Feb. 17 stop in Battle Creek immediately caught her eye.

"It was just terrible, all the details that were printed," Ball said, referring to descriptions of a wet T-shirt contest that was filmed on stage. "Kids read the paper, too. The article should have never been printed."

But Ball's shock turned to anger when she realized the event described in print was the same one her two adult sons attended. She and her husband, Jerry, had purchased the tickets as a birthday gift.

SallyBall said she would have never bought tickets if she knew that "Girls Gone Wild" was involved. She and her husband were under the impression it was only a concert.

"I told the boys that I was just disgusted with them," she said. "I said, 'Is this what we bought for your birthday?'"

The concert featured critically praised national acts Faktion, Hinder, Revelation Theory and Default. But the "Girls Gone Wild" sponsorship, and the local girls who were filmed partially naked, have led the public and a local bar owner to question whether such an event belonged in Battle Creek.

"I was trying to bring some great bands to Battle Creek," said Ted Keaton, owner of Planet Rock, which hosted the event. "After this, I don't think I'll have 'Girls Gone Wild' back again."

"Girls Gone Wild" is the raunchy California-based video series and Web site that features young amateur women stripping, flashing and engaging in sex acts, often in public locations.

Joe Francis, 32, founded the "Girls Gone Wild" in 1997 by selling low-budget videos of young women flashing their breasts at Mardi Gras and on spring break. In the past eight years, Francis has expanded the Girls Gone Wild empire to include more than 200 video titles, a clothing line and a music album; a Hooters-style restaurant chain also is in the works.

Since Friday's article, the Enquirer has received dozens of phone calls, e-mails and letters expressing anger about the event and the publishing of the story.

"I thought that the event was unfairly portrayed in the article because it really only focused on the "Girls Gone Wild" stuff, which was not what the night was about," Keaton said. "We had some great bands there and this event was always about the music for me. I would have never booked it if it wasn't for the amazing bands."

Austin Suedmeyer, owner of Battle Creek's Rock Cafe — which sold tickets for the tour — said many of the people buying tickets referred to the show as the "Default concert," and not the "Girls Gone Wild" tour.

Suedmeyer was at the event and said the actions of the girls, which included exposing buttocks and breasts, were pretty tame.

"I've been to a lot of bars in Battle Creek when they have nights sponsored by beer companies and things get crazier than that," he said. "This wasn't as bad as what I've seen at local bars and clubs."

Battle Creek resident Manuel Fox, who attended the show, agreed that having big-name bands like Default and Hinder was the main attraction for him.

"At least half of the people I talked to while standing in line said they were here for the bands," Fox said. "The 'Girls Gone Wild' show was just a bonus."

Though Keaton said "Girls Gone Wild" was not the focus of the event, to Dewitt resident Joan Colder, the fact that any girl appeared seminude on stage to be filmed is deeply disturbing.

Colder said she was not aware of "Girls Gone Wild" until after reading the article, but now she is set on trying to stop the film company from "taking advantage of young girls."

In an effort to notify lawmakers about "Girls Gone Wild," Colder has called Gov. Jennifer Granholm's office and contacted Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox to see what can be done to stop "Girls Gone Wild" from filming girls in the state.

"I think the fact that they take girls on the bus and film them doing sexual things with each other is just disgusting," Colder said. "If these girls have had alcohol to drink, then they don't clearly know what they are doing."

Bill Horn, a spokesman for Mantra Films, which distributes the "Girls Gone Wild" videos, was clear that cameramen are instructed not to shoot visibly intoxicated girls and that footage of girls who appear drunk is not used.

Horn said every girl who is filmed must prove she is at least 18 years old by providing a legal form of photo identification. According to Horn, all girls who are filmed are asked if they understand they are being filmed for the "Girls Gone Wild" video series and must sign a legal release form.

"We don't want anyone to be on our videos who doesn't want to be," Horn said. "That would just cause a lot of trouble for us."