Dave Hundley, one of the owners of the theater, said he found out about it via an e-mailed press release Monday. He said he was hoping to talk with band members to determine whether they planned to carry out the stunt or were trying to generate publicity."If I have an inkling that this is for real, I need to worry about it," Hundley said Tuesday. He stopped short of saying he would cancel the gig, for which the band paid to rent the downtown St. Petersburg theater.
In the Rolling Stone article, he claims that it is not a publicity stunt or illegal. If he didn't want publicity, he would have kept it secret until it happened on-stage. Now the press will pump it up. I can guarantee he wouldn't have gotten ink in Rolling Stone magazine without it.
That Rolling Stone article also had this detail that was missing from the AP one:
...whose past stage stunts, according to Tourtelot, include having intercourse with cows...
- Florida Band to Stage Suicide (terminal fan)