WASHINGTON, July 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Thousands of fans waited eagerly to see Lloyd Stuart Casson close the 40th Annual National Smoke-In at the Washington, D.C. Mall July 4th, 2009 celebration, only to find the feds pull the plug as he began to play the national anthem in a Hendrix-style tribute, according to sources at CalPOP.

Lloyd Stuart Casson, guitarist for controversial band CalPOP, had only played a handful of notes in his tribute to Jimi Hendrix's National Anthem when the feds pulled the plug, leaving thousands of fans angry. Stuart ripped his American flag T-shirt from his chest, threw it to the angry crowd and yelled out "all plants are created equal" to close the 40th Annual Smoke-In on July 4, 2009.

CalPOP, who only a couple months ago released the controversial album Best Record In The World (still available on Apple's music download website iTunes.com) has been wrought in controversy, having been banned completely from popular music download website LALA.com.

The Best Record In The World album is a concept album similar to Pink Floyd's THE WALL, only it is about a Linux hacker who sells his soul to get a girl he meets on MySpace.com.

One of the hit songs on CalPOP's controversial album is Purple Flowers, which rumor has it may be about a purple-colored marijuana called "purps".

Lloyd Stuart Casson had just finished a tour with Bad Brains band Human Rights, who also played the 4th of July celebration. Local and state laws are still at conflict with federal laws which prohibit medical marijuana.

"All in all, it's almost ironic that on a day where people are celebrating their freedom that even those who meet to hear their favorite artists perform still have to feel the wrath of feds who have nothing better to do but ruin what would have only been a great musical performance by one the greatest guitar players of all time," says a CalPOP spokesman.

    Media contact:
    Tony Wagoner
    213-627-1937

SOURCE CalPOP