Country Stars Wrong About Big Shows, Right About Hypocrisy

If there are three personalities in country music who you should decidedly not listen to when it comes to their opinions on not just COVID-19, but really any subject matter regardless of what it is, it would be Chase Rice, Morgan Wallen, and Brian Kelley of Florida Georgia Line.
Chase Rice and Morgan Wallen are quite literally the #1 and #2 offenders from the mainstream for doing dumb things during the pandemic, which regardless of how you feel about lockdowns or restrictions, have significantly injured the ability for all artists to return to live settings by displaying irresponsible behavior.
Chase Rice was the perpetrator of arguably the biggest offense in country music when he shared video from his June concert at Brushy Mountain near Knoxville, TN where fans had rushed the stage, and it appeared that he had played a regular concert. It wasn’t a regular concert. Multiple media outlets falsely reported that he played to a crowd of 4,000, when the actual crowd was 809 who were supposed to be socially distanced in a 10,000-capacity outdoor venue. But when fans crashed the stage, Chase Rice was dumb enough to capture the moment and present to the public. That incident alone and the international outrage that ensued put the kibosh on scores of safe, socially-distanced opportunities for artists and fans alike.
Then of course Morgan Wallen coughed up his Saturday Night Live gig when he decided to suck face with half a dozen coeds in early October in another viral moment.
Now they have supposedly become the spokespeople for a return to normal concerts in the wake of the mass gatherings that transpired on the streets of many major American cities after Joe Biden was projected to become the President-Elect of the United States this last weekend.
“Time to start booking shows,” Wallen said on his Instagram story, with the image of a crowded downtown celebration. “The hypocrisy is unreal. If you don’t agree with me, fine. We can still be friends. But I have a family, band, and crew that need to be provided for and taken care of. If it’s OK for us to party in the streets with no ‘social distancing’ then we can book shows right now.”
Chase Rice posted a picture on his Instagram story of Notre Dame football fans rushing the field after their team defeated Clemson on Saturday (11/7) with the caption, “Great news y’all. Concerts are comin back.”
Then Brian Kelley of Florida Georgia Line posted a photo of a Biden celebration to his Instagram story saying, “Knew we were waiting on the election since March when this shit show started. Time to go back to work AMERICA. Booking shows ASAP.”
Mainstream country artists Scotty McCreery, Michael Ray, RaeLynn, Chris Lane, and Jason Aldean’s wife Brittany also also chimed in on their Instagram stories agreeing with the sentiment of hypocrisy musicians are facing while throngs of political revelers took to the streets, and sports fans celebrated victories.
When it comes to the idea that country artists or anyone else should be allowed to participate in events at the moment where absolutely no social distancing requirements are observed similar to the crowds seen in Joe Biden celebrations, this is inappropriate to assert. With the amount of COVID-19 cases spiking, and certain areas reaching capacity limits at hospitals, it’s just not the right time to be lobbying for a return to normal. Even if you think the COVID-19 concern is overblown, there is just no public will to be putting on full-blown concerts at this moment.
Furthermore, it looks like we are rounding a corner with COVID-19 due to the recent announcement of a safe and effective vaccine on the way. As as sign this will significantly effect live music and usher in a return to major concerts, the stock of LiveNation—who promotes most of the shows from the aforementioned artists and many others—spiked over 22% on the news. Obviously, the shutdowns have been devastating to the music industry. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel for how and when live music can return to normal safely.
But when it comes to the claims of these artists of hypocrisy, they’re completely right. Since the beginning of the pandemic there has been a glaring double standard in how social distancing is demanded, and excused.
Rolling Stone Country criticized the artists for speaking out by saying they were drawing a “false equivalency between spontaneous election parties and organized concerts.” But the spontaneity of the street celebrations is what makes them so dangerous.
Chase Rice, Morgan Wallen, and Florida Georgia Line did not play full blown concerts. Nobody was put at risk for COVID-19 by their Instagram posts. Whether they were truly advocating to play full-blown regular shows with no social distancing or not is also fair to question. It appears they were just trying to use irony to point out hypocrisy.
Meanwhile, the street gatherings involving thousands, and sometimes tens of thousands of people, and likely involving millions of people in totality all bunched together chanting, singing and raving after Joe Biden won the election? They actually did happen. People were put at risk. People did and will get COVID-19 because of these events. It’s also very likely some will get sick, and some will die.
Yet these actions are considered forgivable, while ironic hypotheticals posted on Instagram stories that disappear after 24 hours are considered problematic. Chase Rice, Morgan Wallen, and Florida Georgia Line couldn’t book massive concerts even if they wanted to. Local restrictions at the moment would make that difficult to impossible, while they would be hounded down by many in the media and the public if they did.
What Rolling Stone Country and others are right to point out is that none of these artists spoke out when President Trump was holding massive rallies, and that you’re much more likely to see mask wearing at an impromptu Joe Biden celebration than a country music concert. Clearly, many of the posts from these artists were politically motivated and the squeezing of sour grapes, especially from Brian Kelley of Florida Georgia Line. Also the flippant nature of the posts could be taken wrongly by fans, resulting in them not taking COVID-19 as seriously as maybe they should.
But that doesn’t make a few artists speaking out on social media wrong, and Joe Biden supporters right. Gathering in large crowds is discouraged by all health professionals and is a nonpartisan stance. Country artists and fans did not participate in this activity. Joe Biden supporters did. But regardless of politics, all mass gatherings are wrong, regardless of the occasion. Drawing a moral stance between any of them is the false equivalency.
But this issue goes to something deeper that is roiling country music and the greater culture at the moment, which is the active attempt to suppress perspectives and speech that does not fit the rigid ideology of woke media. Last week, the CMA Awards sent out a harmless social media meme promoting the awards show Wednesday evening (11-11), promising potential viewers that it would be a way to forget “the weight of the world” for a while.
This was unethically and falsely twisted into a pronouncement that artists were being actively suppressed from speaking out during the CMA Awards by freelance journalist Marissa R. Moss, and picked up by major artists and personalities such as pop star Sara Bareilles, and Margo Price who said, “Once again, the CMA’s are censoring/white washing their show…”
As the CMA Awards later clarified and Saving Country Music was able to verify through the camps of numerous performers and nominees, the CMA Awards had made no attempt whatsoever to censor artists, let alone demand what they could or could not say during the presentation. It was just a simple meme in a series of them promoting the show. “We welcome every artist’s right to express themselves,” the CMA assured.
However, when it comes to artists speaking out in ways that run counter to the collective woke media groupthink, journalists actively work to publicly shame and cancel those artists, often using verifiable lies to do so as they attempted with the CMA Awards and Chase Rice’s June concert, as opposed to working to engage and persuade individuals or entities to their viewpoint. They use bully tactics and gang up on people on Twitter in pretentious displays of moral preening and virtual signaling to discourage those with opposing views from speaking at all.
In 2017, Rolling Stone Country broke its promises and assurances to not get political in its country music coverage, and demanded that artists needed to speak out politically. As Saving Country Music warned at that time, be careful what you wish for. When journalists and activists say that country artists need to speak out more, they’re making the assumption these artists will speak out on their side of political issues since many of these individuals never interact with anyone who doesn’t hold their dogmatic views in the echo chambers that pervade the media landscape on Twitter.
What Chase Rice, Morgan Wallen, Brian Kelley and others did is exactly what Rolling Stone Country and many journalists in country music have been demanding they do, which is speak up on political matters. Now that they have done so, they want to shame them into silence.
But the truth is always that actions speak louder than words, and the words of these artists in fleeting Instagram posts did not give COVID-19 to anyone. The rallies celebrating Joe Biden’s win did.
But regardless of the politics, all mass gatherings should be universally condemned until we can get COVID-19 under control. When you politicize the virus—whether it’s pop country artists you shouldn’t be listening to anyway, or otherwise intelligent journalists who should know better but have been blinded by political ideology—it’s an insult to all the people who have died, and all the sacrifices that have been made to save others.
Quit blaming people on the other side for a virus that shows no partisanship on who it infects and kills, and understand we’re all in this together.
November 10, 2020 @ 7:25 pm
It is how it goes.
The left side can do whatever it wants and there will be some excuse for it. Mass protests and mass celebrations are OK. Wanting to attend a concert and rushing the football field is not.
Pretty obvious to anyone paying attention.
November 10, 2020 @ 8:12 pm
Bingo. They would be calling out the Trump rallies if Trump and his supporters were the ones who say we shouldn’t have concerts or reopen. Its the Democratic governors with the strictest rules on what can and cannot be open. We hear from the left that we need to have a nationwide lockdown. Yet, they riot and destroy our cities and have massive “celebrations” for a washed up politician.
November 11, 2020 @ 9:22 am
It doesn’t work like this, you can’t snap your fingers and have it back to normal because you want it to be. The Trump supporter who goes to the indoor rally, then heads to the supermarket, and puts at risk all the people who chose not to go to the rally. People who go to the rally and get sick, or get others sick, go to the local hospital, and take up hospital beds. You want to go to an indoor packed rally, and then not leave your house for two weeks, go for it…but that’s not what the right wants to do. So then you’re making choices for others.
If we choose to open restaurants, and bars, and have concerts, and cases spike, schools don’t open. So you have to prioritize. And people travel, a rally in one location, can lead to cases in others. But instead of getting together and figuring out common sense measures as a country, everyone decided to do their own thing, which leads to everyone suffering more for longer.
November 11, 2020 @ 10:29 am
Unfortunately (at least in my area) the cat is out of the bag. People are so totally done with this quarantine business. Even though most understand science evolves and changes they are tired of each week having different rules so the government can say what it wants and the CDC can recommend ad nauseum but the did the soft open it was all over. Most people around me will not go back inside though they will wear masks.
November 11, 2020 @ 12:02 pm
Glad to read that you and the people you know are at least willing to wear masks! That is a huuuuge part of the problem. And we’re all sick of quarantines and life not being like it had been. But on Veterans Day, I’m glad that a generation of people who sacrificed so much more than we are being asked to do (wearing a mask is a bigly sacrifice?) didn’t decide they were tired of fighting Germans and chose not to.
November 14, 2020 @ 10:41 am
Since when did ‘the left’ riot and destroy cities? You’re just talking out of your ass like most neocons do.
November 15, 2020 @ 6:40 am
Hey now – that’s not fair to neocons!
Those guys didn’t hold up a fat, blubbering loser who spends thousands of dollars a week on cosmetics as their icon of masculine strength.
Dubya and Cheney may have done a bad job…but at least they were men.
November 11, 2020 @ 9:13 am
Uh, maybe it is because those on the left are intelligent enough to listen to scientists and wear masks. Most of those on the right are not. That is why at big “left” rallies you do not have COVID outbreaks. Meanwhile, how many right wing politicians have caught it? Yeah, a lot. How many on the left? I can’t even think of one. You can’t fix stupid.
Science should not be political.
November 11, 2020 @ 10:21 am
JF:
So, you never heard of Raul Grijalva?
You never heard of Jahana Hayes?
What about Salud Carbajal or Joe Cunningham?
Those are just a FEW of the Dumbocrat politicians who have contracted the coronavirus.
You are correct in stating that science should not be political, but you should direct that statement to Fauci and all the other panic-mongers.
When you stated, “I can’t even think of one,” you should have left off the last two words.
November 11, 2020 @ 11:02 am
Ralph Northam, (D), governor of Virginia…
Several aides to Kamala Harris…
Two off of the top of my head, without looking it up.
You say science should not be political, yet you made it political.
November 15, 2020 @ 6:43 am
…what are you talking about, haha?
Do you know why Kamala didn’t get it, despite a few of her aides testing positive?
Science. They were all wearing masks, any time they were within 6 feet.
If a group of people are vocally anti-science, and bad, easily preventable, things happen, it’s not “political” to point that out…or to call them fucking morons.
November 10, 2020 @ 7:33 pm
@ Trigger:
I think you are spot-on on every single point you’ve raised, and that neither side should blame the other for a viral pandemic the likes we’ve not seen for a century-plus. I would only add to that, however, that people are going to say and write what they will, especially if they’re being paid to do so.
The words of the great writer Upton Sinclair apply: “It is hard to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on him NOT understanding it.”
November 10, 2020 @ 7:45 pm
Meh. Cut your losses. Real country plays smaller venues anyway. Open up the honky tonks and dives.
November 10, 2020 @ 7:46 pm
A gathering of a large crowd is a gathering of a large crowd. Period. Apparently if your reason for gathering is a woke enough, you’re allowed to congregate. Otherwise, stay at home until further government notification.
November 11, 2020 @ 6:36 am
Correct. Both are irresponsible. I heard as many criticisms about those crowds as about rallies. But a spontaneous burst of enthusiasm from a bunch of stupid young people is different than a planned event where someone organizes and promotes the irresponsible behavior.
November 11, 2020 @ 9:03 am
Different, how?
November 11, 2020 @ 2:04 pm
Imagine I came to your house, tripped, and accidentally knocked over a precious heirloom. Now, imagine instead that I came into your house, picked up your heirloom and smashed it on purpose. Your heirloom is broken in both scenarios. Is there a difference in those scenarios?
November 11, 2020 @ 2:51 pm
Chris,
Not sure you meant to reply to my text.
November 11, 2020 @ 3:25 pm
“Imagine I came to your house, tripped, and accidentally knocked over a precious heirloom. Now, imagine instead that I came into your house, picked up your heirloom and smashed it on purpose. Your heirloom is broken in both scenarios. Is there a difference in those scenarios?”
Okay, i’ll play.
1) If you came to my house and intentionally smashed an “heirloom”, let’s say for instance, a/an Pre-Colombian aftifact, i would most likely beat your ass to a pulp.
2) Might, or might not, call the cops to come and greet you.
3) While you were shaking it off, waking up, as it were, i would then probably start educating you on said “heirloom.”
Offer you a nice cool glass of iced tea.
Now, i will pose the same question to you, as i did Liza.
Different, how?
November 10, 2020 @ 8:00 pm
I understand the industry need for massive concerts, and huge shows; but over the last month I’ve been to 3 socially distanced shows ( Robert Earl Keen and Pat Green, both of those at Floores Country Store, and Randy Rogers at Gruene Hall ) all three were phenomenal. With the Randy Rogers show probably being the best concert experience I’ve ever had. I hope this trend opens the door to more smaller type shows, they cut down on the drunks making fools of themselves, you can actually sit have a beer and appreciate great music. Paying a little more for the tickets is definitely worth it, especially if it means supporting the artists and venus I love.
November 11, 2020 @ 5:37 am
The only real show here since March was Whitey Morgan playing acoustically to about 100 of us in a 1000 seat venue on a Sunday night 4 weeks ago. Best time I’ve had during all of this. True Grit is doing their best to bring us some intimate shows in the coming few weeks with Sunny, Ward Davis, Alex Williams, and Josh Morningstar playing separately at a very small venue an hour and a half south of me. I thank all of them for the effort.
November 10, 2020 @ 8:08 pm
Quote: “What Rolling Stone Country and others are right to point out is that none of these artists spoke out when President Trump was holding massive rallies, and that you’re much more likely to see mask wearing at an impromptu Joe Biden celebration than a country music concert.”
The difference is, its the left and the liberals trying to keep everything locked down. The Trump rallies are made up of people who WANT things to reopen. The narrative on the left is keep everything closed. That is why its hypocritical for them to go out and celebrate on the streets when they are the ones who say we can’t have any gatherings/concerts. If it were up to Trump, concerts would be back. If it were up to the left, we wouldn’t have any concerts indefinitely. This is the difference.
November 10, 2020 @ 8:12 pm
Rolling Stone Magazine. LOL. The’ve always had a political slant, but watching them turn into the intolerant morality police is pretty funny.
November 11, 2020 @ 3:28 am
…and sad…
November 11, 2020 @ 2:21 pm
Jake Cutter…
Rolling Stone Magazine 2020…..
“Sex, Drugs and Rock-n-Roll, Man…Oh…and….masks and social distancing……”
November 10, 2020 @ 8:19 pm
On a slight tangent, Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson did drive-in shows this summer, but I haven’t seen much mention of such shows since. How successful were the drive-in shows, and should we expect more in 2021 ?
November 10, 2020 @ 8:56 pm
I went to the Blake Shelton movie one, it was beyond sold out (mine was at a retro actual drive in movie theater, in Vegas, and they had to show it on 2 screens cause they over sold the event). People were tailgating and had a great time. It’s not like a regular concert but it was still a fun date night with my husband, we really needed one.
November 10, 2020 @ 8:33 pm
Never thought O would semi-agree with FLG and Morgan Wallen.
November 10, 2020 @ 8:58 pm
JFC…turn off the news and walk outside. Do you see a “pandemic” anywhere? The government and media wouldn’t have to work half this hard if it were an actual thing-we could just see it for ourselves.
November 11, 2020 @ 6:33 am
In Eastern KY, Hospitals are currently full of covid patients. That’s an actual thing I have seen.
November 11, 2020 @ 9:47 am
I know multiple people who have died from it here in North Carolina. Including my buddy Jason, 42 years old and a firefighter. I’m no liberal, but y’all cheapening the deaths of my friends because you happen to live in a place where it hasn’t really hit yet grinds my gears.
November 11, 2020 @ 1:07 pm
I’m sorry to hear that, Cackalack. My 51-year-old sister – who is a nurse – caught it from one of her patients and might have died if she had waited much longer to go to the hospital. I couldn’t even get her into my truck. I had to call 911 to come get her. Luckily, she survived, after a long fight. I’m sorry that your younger friend did not.
November 11, 2020 @ 2:22 pm
Thank you. I am glad your sister made it. Nurses are heroes, now more than ever.
November 11, 2020 @ 11:34 am
Telling people to walk outside and ask if they “see” a pandemic is the definition of anecdotal. Is the media overblowing this because it’s good for ratings? Of course. That doesn’t mean the disease is a hoax, or fabricated, or not concerning.
November 10, 2020 @ 10:08 pm
Hypocrisy is a defining trait of extreme political stances, whether left or right. All of those remaining in the middle (seems to be fewer each year) must be wondering what the hell is wrong with our society
November 11, 2020 @ 9:48 am
Yuuuuuuup.
November 11, 2020 @ 4:56 am
If you want country music news you come here and not Rolling Stone.
November 11, 2020 @ 5:21 am
Wearing a mask matters.
– Science.
Any comparison between masked crowds and unmasked (often indoor!) crowds comes from either ignorance or bad faith.
BLM rallies in MA (where there’s a ton of testing) didn’t result in any meaningful uptick in the virus, because everyone was outside and wearing a mask.
There’s no middle ground, here. Just data.
November 11, 2020 @ 6:01 am
A classic post hoc fallacy.
November 11, 2020 @ 7:29 am
…do you know what either of those things mean, haha?
Some people followed the advice of medical professionals and scientists when gathering. Their event didn’t spread COVID.
Some people ignored the advice of medical professionals and scientists when gathering. Their event did spread COVID.
No “post-hoc” logic necessary, to say, prima facie, that any comparison of the two situations is nonsense that would only be spouted by the ignorant or liars.
November 11, 2020 @ 8:55 am
Lester, I’m afraid the person who doesn’t know what it means is you.
Masks have not had any discernible effect on the Gompertz curves. Sweden is the baseline. Go and do your homework before commenting.
We *want* to spread the virus as widely as possible among those least likely to be made seriously ill by it. This is called “herd immunity.”
Protect the most vulnerable, and let life return to normal for the vast majority of people.
Unless, of course, you’re a CCP member or one of those icky Davos globalists who want Global Government. In which case, F you very much.
November 11, 2020 @ 9:40 am
Bahahaha.
Sweden has had 5 times as many deaths as the rest of Scandinavia put together, sweetie…but at least their economy is worse off, because the virus is still completely out of control over there!
They aren’t particularly close to herd immunity, either. The RNA vaccines will be ready long before it arrives.
But yes, I am part of a shadowy cabal of Davos globalists! Our 5G waves, and the fluoride we’re putting in the water supply, are why you have all those impure thoughts about Mark Wystrach…and why your wife needs your neighbor(s) to satisfy her
November 11, 2020 @ 6:54 am
Then why can’t we open up fully if it just takes wearing a mask? Why did Bumbling Biden say he would lock it down fully?
The side that uses the mask excuse to justify their rallies is the same side that wants a national lockdown.
Typical hypocrisy and typical excuse making when they are called out for their hypocrisy.
November 11, 2020 @ 7:22 am
“BLM rallies in MA (where there’s a ton of testing) didn’t result in any meaningful uptick in the virus, because everyone was outside and wearing a mask.”
What does “meaningful” mean and who decides that? And if there is a meaningful amount of acceptable death, then great, that’s a mature conversation to be having, but every time i’ve tried it so far it’s gotten me called a granny killer and I’ve been told that even one life matters. The “science” and the “data” was not available at the time the “protests” started, AND it was suggested it was dangerous by health professionals. No matter your politics, unless you’re a partisan hack, it seems reasonable to admit there is some hypocrisy in this. Watching people pretend there isn’t is laughable, but not surprising, because they’re complicit in not only the hypocrisy, but the sheeplike acceptance of talking point narratives.
November 11, 2020 @ 7:50 am
Happy to answer!
“Meaningful” means “caused an increase in the 14-day positive test rate.”
And the person who announced that was our Republican governor.
I actually shorted the market when it started, expecting another surge from the virus, and lost money. Thank God I made it all back on Monday.
COVID stuff isn’t that tricky, or up for debate, haha.
A fat, illiterate failure just likes to constantly lie about it, because he genuinely doesn’t care about whether Americans live or die.
(“But Sweden!” Sweden has 5 times more deaths than the rest of Scandinavia put together…and is doing worse economically, too.)
November 11, 2020 @ 8:25 am
Here’s the difference between someone who is open minded and a partisan hack. A partisan hack talks in simple cherry picked talking points to confirm their bias. Someone who is open minded and not a sheep will admit there is more under the surface.
Beyond your shallow talking point about Sweden is the average excess mortality rate of the past several years, which does matter. Too much to go into here, but you should look into that.
But here’s the thing. None of what I just said is my final thought on this. It’s just something to consider. There needs to be some unpolitical and rational discussion about this. Something impossible to do when partisan hacks (on both sides) just like to throw out “the data” that is cherry picked to support their shallow worldview. There definitely seems to be some truth to what you’ve said about outdoor / indoor, masks etc. But for SURE there is more to the story on all of this Including the millions of forgotten people in 3rd world countries that will die due to the lockdowns. Strange how they are barely mentioned. And without a doubt there is hypocrisy here, especially considering the part of my comment you didn’t answer (what was known at the time).
November 11, 2020 @ 9:30 am
Here’s “What was known at the time” (according to the science and data available):
Gathering isn’t a good idea. If you are going to gather, do it outside, wear a mask, and spread out.
Groups who followed that guidance didn’t increase the spread. Groups who ignored it did (and have continued to do so).
There’s no need for cherry-picking, either. What it comes down to is that only one “side,” such as it is, has listened to the non-partisan, international coalition of scientists, while the other decided to make it a political issue to rile up the base of morons and children whose anger provides their income.
November 11, 2020 @ 1:25 pm
I must nitpick you and state that a subset of one side decided to make it a political issue. The vast majority of Republicans aren’t running around maskless like spreader monkeys.
November 12, 2020 @ 6:56 am
Yeah, the “side” I’m describing isn’t “Republicans/conservatives” – it’s “Fucking morons who worship at the altar of a fat, lying loser, because he gives them someone else to blame for the fact that they’ve never satisfied a woman.”
I’ve voted for plenty of Republicans in my time, haha – I’m the cranky conservative in my friend group!
November 11, 2020 @ 7:39 am
lol.
It’s continually impressive how thoroughly you refuse to allow facts and data to get in the way of braying opinions copy-pasted from charlatans and grifters, whose entire income depends on riling up children and morons with obvious lies that wouldn’t pass the sniff test of a reasonably bright 12 year old.
Every claim in this comment can be easily refuted by anyone willing to actually think for themselves, and take 30 seconds to look up the primary sources.
You definitely complain about “My generation’s music” in the YouTube comments section.
November 12, 2020 @ 6:28 am
So you don’t have an answer for the hypocrisy? Just grade school insults.
Typical.
One side wants to shut it all down but then they have no problem protesting and celebrating in large groups but damn anyone who wants to attend a worship service or live life.
November 12, 2020 @ 6:50 am
You didn’t list a single example of “hypocrisy,” champ.
You just parroted a bunch of lies that most children aren’t dumb enough to believe.
November 11, 2020 @ 8:44 am
Not everyone is wearing a mask at these gatherings whether it’s a Biden celebration or outdoor concert. Social distancing is being violated by everyone at these gatherings,.
I’ve seen people say “bUt tHeY’rE wEaRiNg mAsKs” after seeing an aerial shot from 1,000 feet in the air where the people look like ants.
FOH with that nonsense.
November 11, 2020 @ 9:44 am
Anyone not wearing a mask is an asshole, and should be wearing a mask.
It really is that simple.
To be clear, though, my “They’re wearing masks” take comes from the footage taken on the ground at these rallies…where everyone I could see *was* wearing a mask, and groups were leaving space between each other.
November 11, 2020 @ 7:12 pm
Sure they were, Lester.
Because video footage of a small sample size from ground level is representative of a crowd of thousands.
November 12, 2020 @ 7:00 am
Do you have any proof to the contrary?
Seriously – I’ve seen several ground shots from several different areas of several different cities, and everyone is wearing a mask and moving around, without being on top of each other.
Surely you can cherry-pick at least one shot from Saturday of a bunch of folks standing around without masks.
November 12, 2020 @ 8:31 am
“Surely you can cherry pick at least one shot from Saturday of folks standing around without masks.”
Says the guy cherry picking from a small sample size of thousands of people.
L
O
L
November 12, 2020 @ 6:26 pm
Ah, shit – the reply below that sent sweet, stupid Baby Texy into a hysterical screaming fit was supposed to be for you, haha.
If you wont at least throw a vid or image of (spontaneous, unplanned) Biden block party goers being unmasked and/or crowded and indoors, I’m gonna assume it’s because you can’t find any, and are just looking for a reason to bitch.
November 14, 2020 @ 8:50 am
Careful, Lester. Your initial is causing permanent blindness.
Google “Lori Lightfoot.”
The video will even be “from the ground” and I counted five no-maskers.
Six if you include Lightfoot.
November 15, 2020 @ 6:54 am
Lightfoot had her people create a 6 foot perimeter around her, so that she could maintain the physical distance necessary to avoid spreading COVID, when she took her mask off.
The other 5 people, in that crowd of over a hundred, are assholes who should be ashamed of themselves, and need to wear their fucking masks.
The block parties were not a good idea.
They were also spontaneous, and even that video shows the vast majority of the crowd wearing their masks (with the exception of a few assholes).
It’s not going to be a super spreader event like, say, a Trump Garden Party, or an unmasked mosh pit at a country concert, or a frat party.
People like Morgan Wallen crying “hypocrisy” over that just exposes them as the punks they’ve repeatedly proven themselves to be.
November 11, 2020 @ 12:43 pm
Coolboy:
Are you aware of the Norwegian study which states that 200,000 people would have to wear surgical-grade masks to prevent ONE Covid-19 infection PER WEEK?
It must be AWFUL to be a victim of fear-mongering.
November 12, 2020 @ 7:55 am
Yes, in June.
Since I actually read the article, rather than just parroting what I saw on Parler, I also know that it’s not “200,000 mask wearers will stop 1 infection per week.”
It’s an equation: “If there are 100 new cases per week, 200,000 mask wearers will decrease that number by one. If there are 1,000 new cases, only 20,000 mask wearers will drop that number by one.”
It’s a proportional relationship.
Last week, the US had 240,000 new infections.
I’m guessing you’re not great at math, so I’ll walk you through it:
240,000 is 2,400 times larger than 100. Therefore, the number of mask wearers necessary to stop a single infection is 200,000 divided by 2,400.
200,000/2,400=83.
Perhaps this model falls apart at higher numbers, but I’m not the one who brought it up.
All I know is that, according to the paper you cited, 83 people wearing a mask will reduce infections by 1 per week.
November 12, 2020 @ 11:47 am
Coolboy:
So, by ANY standard, it takes DOZENS of people wearing SURGICAL GRADE masks – not the flimsy paper that most everyone wears – to stop ONE Covid transmission, and that transmission has has approximately a 2/10 of 1% chance to cause a death, and, even then, those deaths are OVERWHELMINGLY in people with VERY SERIOUS, ONGOING, CHRONIC, ultimately life-threatening illnesses.
This information is brought to you by me as a result of the research I conduct, as opposed to the left-wing propaganda you mindlessly and unquestioningly ingest with glee, never stopping to wipe the drool from the corners of your mouth.
By the way: I don’t recall you posting that you wore a mask recently when seasonal influenza killed 56,000 in this nation. Guess your handlers didn’t instruct you to do so, then. Correct?
DON’T YOU CARE ABOUT THOSE 56,000 WHO DIED?
November 12, 2020 @ 6:18 pm
Is your keyboard broken, hon?
There are a lot of capital letters, here, but zero evidence of reading comprehension.
Maybe have a glass of warm milk, and try again when you’ve calmed down.
I’ll wait.
November 13, 2020 @ 9:36 am
FAIL, Coolboy!
You FAILED to answer the question about the 56,000 Americans who died in one of the recent seasonal flu outbreaks. Did you wear a mask in an effort to prevent those 56,000 deaths?
If not, WHY NOT?
Put down the milk and cookies and answer the question.
November 15, 2020 @ 7:04 am
I can’t believe we’ve gotten to the “It’s just the flu, except it’s several times as deadly, there are long term complications, and there’s no available vaccine” stage of the hissyfit!
I’ll be done with your mother soon, spanky, then she’ll be right over to let you nurse.
November 12, 2020 @ 9:27 am
So…what I’m getting from this reaction is…you don’t even have anecdotal evidence to offer, regarding a lack of masks at the Biden celebrations, and are just bitching for the sake of bitching, while trying disguise that utter lack of evidence with pseudo-intellectual nonsense?
November 12, 2020 @ 11:55 am
Coolboy:
What you’re “getting from this reaction” is that Biden supporters have been engaged, RECENTLY, in what you and the other ignorant fear-mongers would describe as DANGEROUS, RISKY BEHAVIOR which could spread Covid-19.
Hell, don’t take my word for it. Take a LEFT-WING RAG’S word for it. You know. The kind of LEFT-WING RAG that is the basis of ALL your information.
By the way:
I don’t wear a mask.
I don’t have a mask.
I don’t know where to go to obtain a mask, and haven’t the slightest idea to know.
It must be SHEER HELL to live a life of cowardice as you do.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/Celebrations-for-Biden-Harris-probably-spread-15711791.php
November 12, 2020 @ 6:22 pm
So bad at reading, writing, and thinking.
So angry.
It must be exhausting.
Ignorance is supposed to be BLISS, champ! You’re doing it wrong.
Get some trans fat in you, and listen to some Luke Bryan. You’ll perk right up (especially when he starts dancing).
November 13, 2020 @ 9:49 am
Coolboy:
I am, indeed, angry.
I am angry at the fact that our failed public school “education” system has turned into an “indoctrination” system, leading to the disastrous results you personify in your feeble, pathetic attempts to engage in discussions with me and others on this board who are intelligent enough to realize the distinct differences between the two.
Here’s some advice from me to you: Before you post again, get someone to drive you to a library . . . or, as you probably say, “liberry.” It’s a big building with books. Have someone read those books to you, and, making the great leap of faith in assuming you are able to comprehend what is being read to you, you will then be able to recognize and appreciate the fact that your indoctrination was not an education.
You perfectly fit the description of a liberal, which is a person with both feet planted firmly in mid-air.
Have a nice day at the “liberry.”
November 13, 2020 @ 10:35 am
This is a country music website. We’re not going to come to a meeting of the minds on COVID-19 in the comments section of it.
November 15, 2020 @ 7:10 am
I dunno Trig, aren’t you interested in getting to the part where he blames International Jewry for his impure thoughts about Parker McCollum?
November 11, 2020 @ 5:39 am
Since these artists are referencing the “Joe Biden presidenceny supporters” crowds… It’s safe to assume that they are Republicans. It’s fun to discover someone’s political party indirectly like this.
I am surprised by Scotty McCreery though. He doesn’t come across as pro Trump.
November 11, 2020 @ 7:16 pm
Why wouldn’t Scotty be pro-Trump? He’s a young white male from the south. And he’s not a beta. I can confirm he is a Republican or at least conservative. He had a “Hillary for prison” beer can cooler. He also has “liked” some pro-Trump tweets on Twitter and some posts on Instagram. And follows some conservative figures on Instagram like Tomi Lahren and of course the man himself, Trump. I believe he was rooting for Marco Rubio in the 2016 primaries though.
Someone else you might be “surprised” is a Republican is Parker McCollum since the Americana type of musicians tend to be more liberal. I can see him being more of a libertarian type Republican though (pro-2nd amendment, pro-weed, low taxes, basically get your government out of my life).
November 12, 2020 @ 6:04 pm
Hey Arnold….
The artist might not be making a political statement at all….
Maybe the guys are just expressing their frustration over the announcement of the latest GIANT crowd that turned out for…(enter your event here) !!! While bands are relegated to 1/4 size crowds…..or internet….”Rockin’ In Our Jammies” zoom concerts…????
November 11, 2020 @ 6:00 am
If I have to hear the annoying cliche “wE’Er uHl iN tHiS tOOgEtHUrr,” I am going to freaking puke. We are NOT “all in this together.” Not when it’s frowned upon to go to a religious service or a small business to shop, but it is perfectly fine to go in to a Walmart, Target, or Home Depot, taking into account taking the proper precautions in all forementioned places.
I am sick of the freaking cliches. Just stop using them. They are annoying as hell!!
November 11, 2020 @ 6:55 am
Yup.
Massive rally to celebrate a rigged election? OK!
Worshiping your Creator in a service. Banned.
They love to pick and choose how the First Amendment works.
November 11, 2020 @ 7:26 am
I just have a desire to throat-punch anyone who says “in this together” or “new normal.”
November 11, 2020 @ 7:38 am
Even if the election isn’t rigged, the fact that they are celebrating a dementia-ridden 78 year old racist who will be dead in two months is enough for me to shake my head.
November 12, 2020 @ 12:53 pm
That’s the master plan you know. Biden will be gone in a few months and Harris will take over along with Pelosi. Does anyone like her? She’s so unlikeable
November 11, 2020 @ 9:29 am
I dunno where you live, but around here the target and the small business are both open with the same rules. And the same rules apply to all indoor gatherings, bet it a church service, or going to a concert, 25% capacity, wear a mask. Nobody gets special rules.
So religious organizations, and some concerts, have chosen to have outside gatherings. Again same rules apply, That’s how the first amendment works.
Organized, sanctioned, and repeated events, aren’t equivalents unplanned, one-offs. So GTFO with your false equivalency.
November 11, 2020 @ 10:36 am
When did I mention the phrase “unplanned” in my original post? Businesses and religious services aren’t “unplanned.” Take a reading class sometime, you stupid schmuck. It might do you some good.
November 12, 2020 @ 6:31 am
I live in a Yankeeland state where the governor has been quite forceful with his bans. California banned services. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-05-05/court-upholds-california-ban-on-church-services-in-coronavirus-pandemic
That is a 1st Amendment violation. Learn some civics.
It is not about special rights. It is about Constitutional rights. Good Lord, you are thick.
Freedom of religion cannot be stopped by the government. Period. Regardless of the situation.
November 15, 2020 @ 4:18 pm
If anything American society is less together than it has been in over 150 years.
November 11, 2020 @ 6:00 am
The epidemic was over in May. The curves from the actual data are clear, all over the world. The virus is now endemic, lethality is way down, and entering the usual winter phase. With more testing, you get more positives, but for nearly everyone under 75, the risk of becoming seriously ill is extremely small. Masking has had zero effect on every data curve I’ve ever seen. We should have protected the elderly and the susceptible, and we should have re-opened everything in June.
Our policy response was, and continues to be, idiotic and destructive.
Bring back music, with a vengeance.
November 11, 2020 @ 6:41 am
Please look at the data. May US deaths were 2k a day. Current deaths are 1k a day. It’s not over. https://covidtracking.com/data/charts/us-daily-deaths
November 11, 2020 @ 8:46 am
Check the upper left corner of the link and you’ll see “The Atlantic.” No opportunity of bias there.
Check the CDC website.
November 11, 2020 @ 9:06 am
CDC says the same. 7 day death count – 6,844. The point still stands, this is not over.
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#cases_deathsinlast7days
November 11, 2020 @ 8:58 am
Garbage data.
November 11, 2020 @ 9:00 am
Please look at the actual data:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mboEkVl9ooc
And the Barrington declaration: https://gbdeclaration.org/
November 12, 2020 @ 8:22 am
you want real proof, here’s a youtube video! don’t trust actual scientific sources, here’s a youtube video! the data you have is wrong, here’s a youtube video! you disagree? let me show you this youtube video!
November 12, 2020 @ 9:02 am
I don’t know what kind of YouTube videos you watch, but the one I linked to is chock full of actual scientific sources. Which you would see, if you had the patience to listen. Which you obviously don’t.
Thank you for a thoughtful retort. We rubes out here in the cornfields don’t have much edumacation.
November 13, 2020 @ 9:31 am
The scientists and lizard men are radioing secret messages into his brain and giving him gay thoughts, man!
Only neckbearded incels on alt-right YouTube can be trusted, because they don’t tempt him.
November 12, 2020 @ 6:33 am
It will be over right after Benedict Biden takes office so his team can declare victory. Can’t have COVID ruin his term.
November 12, 2020 @ 8:03 am
Countrynight,
Let’s please try to keep the discussion at least somewhat on topic, and especially devoid of Presidential politics?
Thanks.
November 15, 2020 @ 4:21 pm
NPIs no longer do any good once more than 1 percent of the population has a virus. Then they become ineffective, and then pandemic becomes endemic thus resistant to any efforts to control it. . Lockdowns and social distancing have no more science behind them than sacrificing animals to Satan does, and are just as cruel, heartless, and stupid. The response to Covid is 100 percent political.
Live shows need to come back.
November 11, 2020 @ 6:14 am
Fact. Wearing a mask matters. It will protect you and others. As for the crowds celebrating Biden most have been wearing masks. Had Trump won the election his supporters would have been out celebrating. Wallen, Rice and Kelley giving advice to anyone is a laugh all in itself. At least the virus has kept them sidelined for the time being. As for Rolling Stone, they are the very people who have elevated these shitheads to so called country stars. I had read about Wallen and Kelley moaning. Glad Trigger has so eloquently put them in their place.
November 11, 2020 @ 7:53 am
Counting the days till 12/1 – loving the Christmas market vibe in Ranelagh, but it’s just not the same as a pint at my local.
November 11, 2020 @ 8:08 am
What are you on. Jameson or Guinness. Or both.
November 11, 2020 @ 8:16 am
Very much a Guinness man (although I did try to find a Beamish on Sunday, in honor of Mark Keane’s magical foot).
Though the hot buttered rum at McSorley’s has been haunting my dreams.
November 11, 2020 @ 10:09 am
Murphy’s and Bushmills. Which caused the bartender at the Cobblestone to call me a culchie Prod but hey, I like what I like.
November 12, 2020 @ 7:08 am
Prod whiskey though it may be, BlackBush is pretty firmly the best Irish whiskey under 30 quid!
I was actually in Smithfield on the weekend – hit Kish Fish and Little Italy, then snagged a takeaway mulled wine at Oscar’s!
November 11, 2020 @ 6:14 am
Holy crap this comment section is a minefield of dangerous ignorance from every side of the spectrum.
There is a pandemic.
Wearing a mask does matter.
No one should be gathering in crowds right now, period.
November 13, 2020 @ 11:38 am
Agreed, My mind is kind of imploding from reading through these comments.
November 11, 2020 @ 6:29 am
Soap operas are for television
November 11, 2020 @ 6:43 am
Yes, yes, unsanctioned spontaneous events that are one offs are totally comparable to organized concerts travelling around the country. Yep, totally. No differences here. And the LA health commissioner and others were all totally ok with it (oh wait, no they weren’t).
Here’s a reality though, Australia will be hosting concerts in February. Why? They have significantly more control of the virus AND they’re taking precautions for the concerts.
The simple truth is it’s not that country stars can’t have concerts, it’s that they have zero desire to have to follow common sense rules to help lower the virus prevalence in communities, and also rules to make concerts safer.
1) Wear a mask, don’t have house parties
2) have concerts outdoors with separate spacing for groups
3) enforce mask wearing and social distancing at concerts
You don’t want to do those things, you don’t really want to “feed you families” you really just don’t give a crap about the virus, or the communities your fans come from. Meanwhile El Paso is requesting more morgue trucks, and 1 in every 1500 SD residents is hospitalized with Covid.
November 11, 2020 @ 6:48 am
Also a few studies have shown that the Black Lives matters protests over the summer didn’t lead to virus surges (that’s not a political comment, it’s based on scientific data). There are a few different theories as to why, but understanding that could actually help us get back to concerts.
The theories are generally a combination of
1) mask wearing
2) outdoors
3) hot weather
4) crowd movement – basically unfamiliar people were not spending a large amount of time standing in close proximity to the same unfamiliar person, but rather the crowd was consistently moving and shifting.
November 11, 2020 @ 11:42 am
“Yes, yes, unsanctioned spontaneous events that are one offs are totally comparable to organized concerts travelling around the country. Yep, totally.”
Again, the Instagram posts from country artists were simply hypotheticals posted sarcastically to point out hypocrisy. No concerts were thrown. None were even booked. They couldn’t book them even if they wanted to. Local restrictions would make it nearly impossible.
Meanwhile the spontaneous street gatherings involving tens of thousands of people and millions collectively were not a hypothetical, they were an actuality.
People can directly get COVID-19 from mass gatherings. That’s why they’re discouraged. Nobody has ever contracted COVID-19 from an Instagram post.
November 11, 2020 @ 1:25 pm
The artists who were using pictures of crowds after the election/football game and saying it was hypocritical they weren’t allowed to have concerts were literally making a comparison.
November 11, 2020 @ 12:24 pm
I’m not in favor of having large concerts but comparing an island of 3 million people, which has totally eliminated any outsiders from coming or going, to an country of 300 million is not a fair comparison.
November 11, 2020 @ 1:28 pm
You’re confusing Australia and New Zealand. Although of course Australis is also smaller then the US and an island. The US border with both Canada and Mexico is closed though, and frankly that’s not how we’re getting more covid cases.
November 11, 2020 @ 6:44 am
I hate when artists use the excuse that “their crews need to be paid.” Well then why don’t you pull out your checkbook and pay them? These counter stars are millionaires, I’m sure they could pay at least a little to help them instead of claiming to be wanting to do shows for their crews
November 11, 2020 @ 7:00 am
I’m not sure how anyone is able to rationalize a deadly infectious disease. The media didn’t fake the portable morgues called in to New York and in use now in Utah, Texas, and other places. And political affiliation is not a comorbidity.
The fact is, for every [insert your number here: 100? 1,000?] infections a vulnerable person dies. Each of us could be the link in a chain of infections that leads to someone dying from this. And there are ways to support artists and venues without packing the dance floors.
I hope we aren’t pinning our hopes on all the vulnerable people being dead already, because more people fall into that category every day. And the day we begin vaccinating only starts a clock ticking–it will be 4 weeks from that point before anybody is fully immunized.
If we had run the Gulf War like we are running this pandemic response Saddam Hussein would have overrun the Middle East.
But we don’t have to leave every life and death matter up to the government. If everybody would take care of their own safety while watching out for their neighbor we wouldn’t be having any discussions about closing things down.
And the portable morgues could stay in the warehouse.
November 11, 2020 @ 7:25 am
I’m surprised nobody has talked about this (unless I missed it).
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/world/europe/coronavirus-concert-study-germany.html
November 11, 2020 @ 7:32 am
Pretty funny, because I navigated to this site thinking “I need a break from the news, let’s read about country music.” And I’m greeted with this. Oh well, no escaping it.
There’s really only one thing that can be said in response, here. Covid-19 is a virus, it wants a host and it wants to spread. It is not interested in the politics of the people it infects. THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL ISSUE.
Holding a huge concert right now is just totally reckless and irresponsible. There’s nothing else to add to that. “But Joe Biden supporters are hypocrites” doesn’t change that fact. It’s reckless, people will die, don’t do it.
Joe Biden supporters dancing in the streets? Yeah, that’s reckless too, but it doesn’t have much to do with country music.
November 11, 2020 @ 9:02 am
“this is not a political issue”
The World Economic Forum disagrees: https://www.weforum.org/great-reset
City people need to wake up.
November 11, 2020 @ 9:34 am
Let me rephrase slightly. It *shouldn’t* be a political issue. But people keep politicizing it.
An organized Trump rally with few masks and weak distancing rules is bad. A spontaneous Biden party with 90% mask wearing and weak distancing rules is slightly better, but also bad.
A large motorcycle gathering is bad. A large organized music event would also be bad.
That’s the point, see. The virus doesn’t care whether you’re Democrat or Republican, a music fan or a motorcycle rider, a city slicker or a country bumpkin. It just wants you to host it and spread it.
The virus itself is not political. So the response should also rise above the usual partisan divide. But we all know that hasn’t happened.
November 12, 2020 @ 6:35 am
Well, the Democrat Party made it political.
Blame them for using it to bring down the president because they were in the middle of a four year temper tantrum.
November 12, 2020 @ 8:19 am
You might want to consider the possibility that you’re getting your information from an echo chamber/right wing bubble.
For example, “wear a mask.” The science says, that helps. So both Democrats and Republicans should have gotten behind mask-wearing. So in that example, I don’t see how Democrats following the science and supporting masks is “making it political.” Meanwhile you have DJT literally ripping off his mask on national TV after getting out of the hospital for Covid treatment. I don’t see how that can be anything but politicizing the pandemic response.
I’m not in love with the Democrats, so don’t make that mistake. But Republicans are looking pretty delusional to me at the moment. Temper tantrum perfectly describes DJT and his followers right now. They accept the Senate and House results but say there was “fraud” in the Presidential results. Duh, it was all on the same ballot.
November 15, 2020 @ 4:23 pm
It has been political from Day One.
November 11, 2020 @ 7:32 am
Don’t let them put you into a trance
I’m still going to fall in love at a RODEO DANCE
November 11, 2020 @ 9:39 am
I’m not going to get into the politics of this, I think you’ve already done a great job of walking that tightrope, Trigger.
What I do want to mention is this thing has really shown how music is valued in our culture.
Notice how important it was to get sports back? All the energy went into that. The President even mentioned it on the debate stage/or a rally, I can’t remember exactly which. He said (Paraphrasing) “I’m the one who brought back college football!” Now I’m not going to discuss whether that was right or wrong. It’s just sad to me how low music falls on the spectrum of things people care about in this country. I’m not saying we should or shouldn’t rush out and start playing shows again. I just want to point out that the narrative has never been about “getting live music back!” to anyone but musicians and the few music fans that are left.
Hell, even the “Save Our Stages” act sits in Congress just waiting for somebody to sign it. I’m sure it’s caught up in some political football that I don’t understand. But, speaking of football, can you imagine how fast that thing would be signed if it was the “Save Our Stadiums” act?
I don’t think people realize how many musicians are going to be done with this when it’s all over. I’ve posted before about how the music industry is a slog. But now there isn’t even a payoff for all the hard work, and it’s seeming more and more like the masses don’t even care that we’re gone.
Robert Ellis was on Joe Pugs podcast and they described it much better than I can
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7CiJ4HEbQNrMdlzSsvpjUa?si=5-z21JHKQxK0paIf5LYY8g
Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.
November 11, 2020 @ 11:43 am
Good point.
November 11, 2020 @ 10:44 am
I live in what many consider the epicenter of wokeness. Sometimes is it a pain in the ass for people. I don’t mind it because I’m willing to go to the mat.
But my biggest gripe is country music is almost a dirty word around here to anyone under say 35 or 40. Well, outside of Johnny, Dolly, and Willie. Prejudice abounds on all sides in these times but I never thought I’d be getting side eye for saying I liked a certain genre of music, let alone playing it. LOL!
Makes me want to by a nice cowboy hat and some cowboy boots and become the walking cliche and see what happens. And it is true in my area they seem to adhere to wearing masks but I live near a college and you can’t stop the parties. Also the the restaurants have soft reopens but when I walk by people are talking and eating and I think to myself, either shut it down until this passes or just fully reopen, this half-ass reopen bugs me you can’t eat and wear a mask so why are we even acting like this is viable right now.
And the longer we goof off about this the greater the loss of iconic places/venues becomes very real. Not to metion all the cool regional shops we’ve already lost. People think places like The Troubadour and or The Fillmore or even Chez Panisse are wealthy and will coast just fine but they are not and could go away. If The Troubadour with all it’s history has to hold on-line fundraisers you know anyplace could go.
So the longer people just do what they want the more boarded up buildings I’ll be seeing. And the longer we keep doing and undoing these soft opens the more people who will say screw this I’m done and ignore any rules. I think we should never have reopened OR just went to full open and dealt with the chaos. Because this actually feels more chaotic with everybody doing whatever their selfish desires dictate.
November 11, 2020 @ 12:53 pm
Not sure why so many of the comments are fixated on mask vs. no mask. That’s not really the issue. I don’t really think artists are asking for a complete “return to normal” with concerts. I’m sure they’re OK with mask restrictions, crowd caps, and temperature checks.
They’re simply pointing out the fact that we act STUNNED when a country artist has 800 people at a show … and then celebrate how amazing it is when tens of thousands congregate in massive groups, without social distancing, for a totally unnecessary political celebration (be it a Trump rally OR a Biden victory bash – neither NEEDS to happen at this point).
You can conceivably make the case that issue protests (such as the NON-VIOLENT post-George Floyd stuff) was different, because that’s making a statement that people feel is essential to our society and goes beyond politics. But with celebrating Biden’s win, what does celebrating on the streets say that him winning the popular and electoral vote doesn’t say?
November 11, 2020 @ 2:23 pm
A rational proposal would be to hold concerts for people under 30 and make everyone sign an electronic waiver. Where I work, we’ve done that. Zero hospitalizations. Some mild symptoms. Done. The only thing young people should be scared of is a bunch of fear-mongering decision-makers who can’t back up their claims with transparent and reliable data.
Promote herd immunity!
November 11, 2020 @ 3:12 pm
First of all, mass gatherings without masks is incredibly irresponsible, regardless of which side of the political aisle you are on. I voted Democratic in this election and have no regrets or shame about that choice, but I take a dim view of people partying in the streets without masks or social distancing to celebrate anything, even a Biden victory. Those people are as stupid as any who attended Trump rallies without masks or social distancing. There’s no excuse for checking your brain at the front door no matter which side you’re on.
That said, I firmly do believe that this pandemic would not have gotten as bad as it has gotten had it not been for 45’s mishandling and outright lies. This was a person who essentially admitted to deliberately misleading the American people about the seriousness of it and called it a hoax, knowing that his band of sheep who’d believe him if he said the moon was made of green cheese would accept it without questioning. That makes him at least partially culpable for thousands of deaths, and he’s either too dense to realize it or just plain doesn’t care.
Just my two cents. Flame away if you wish, my opinion’s not going to change.
November 12, 2020 @ 6:40 am
You are a fool.
The party you voted for Benedict Bubb turned the virus into a political football. Trump wanted to shut down access to China and your party screamed racism. They also weren’t worried about it at the beginning as they attended festivals and other events. They also broke mandates whenever they wanted for salon visits, protests, and street dances.
Stay a sheep and betray your country.
November 12, 2020 @ 2:08 am
Wear a mask, and social distance when you can, it’s that simple.
November 12, 2020 @ 1:08 pm
Acute and fatal cases are rare.
Under 65? Take off your mask. Live your life. Go outside and boost your immune system. Wash your hands. If you get sick, it’ll be over shortly without much severity.
Over 65? Do the above, avoid large crowds, wear a disposable surgical mask if you’re in a high-load area for three hours.
And don’t hold your breath that all the scaemonger totalitarians on this thread will ever confront real data.
November 12, 2020 @ 9:57 am
While I am thrilled that the current President, who models lying on a daily basis (to more egregious effect than lazy woke journalists) is on his way out, I can’t condone mass celebrations for Biden’s win. It’s wrong to engage in super-spreading events, no matter the circumstances. It’s even more wrong for national leaders and public figures (see: all who attended the superspreader event for Barrett’s SC nomination) to host or participate in those events. As a ND grad and a Biden supporter, I’m not pleased that the masses who identify as such chose to engage in unsafe behavior. However, I am even more embarrassed and chagrined that POTUS and the ND President modeled such unsafe behavior.
If you’re objective, you can point out what’s unsafe no matter who’s doing it. I’m tired of people on the right and the left selectively brandishing their pitchforks (which is different from providing criticism where criticism is due).
November 12, 2020 @ 1:20 pm
You should *want* the virus to spread among healthy people. The level of risk is extremely low! The more and faster the better.
November 13, 2020 @ 11:45 am
Biden supporters and anti-Trump folks aren’t necessarily the same-you use them interchangeably in the article- it’s not like we have options in America. Biden’s not my guy by a long shot, but oh boy the numbers are in and I get the spontaneous celebration.
There’s an implicit ? in that ig post you could take a look at- one party is cast as the responsible covid group and the other one doesn’t give a fuck. While that generally bears out in recent history -i.e., Dems =masks, Pubs= massive rallies and covid deniers, it’s important to remember that we have a Pub president and senate. These are the people in charge of the country, as they have been since 2016. Why is the anti trump or pro-biden spontaneous celebration proof that FLG should be allowed to have their big dumb concerts again? Trump had massive rallies every ten minutes. The post is whining about the chardonnay you saw your weekdays mom have once, while your weekends dad is drunk as fuck 24/7. Anyway, FGL is in a position to take care of their whole camp, unlike most artists in the country right now.
November 13, 2020 @ 11:59 am
“Why is the anti trump or pro-biden spontaneous celebration proof that FLG should be allowed to have their big dumb concerts again?”
I’m not saying that whatsoever. I’m saying they’re wrong to imply they should be able to throw big concerts, and emphasized that in the title of the article. I’m not for any mass gatherings at the moment. If folks can figure out how to have events where social distancing and safe protocols remain in place, have at it. But only if it’s safe. I just also felt like pointing out that these IG posts may not actually be advocating for big events, and more using irony to point out hypocrisy.
As for the difference between being anti-Trump and pro-Biden, I totally hear you. Certainly didn’t try to pass judgement on anyone for their vote or political leanings here.
November 13, 2020 @ 5:42 pm
Didn’t intend to attribute that part to you- just FGL or whatever maniac in the group posted it. If there’s grey area/ I missed their point, I choose being wrong and ignorant over typing out their full name into a search engine.
November 14, 2020 @ 11:00 am
Thanks Trig for the article, I truly appreciate how you highlighted how toxic and cancerous media and news reporting has become. Disregarding “right” or “left” we are all collectively on the same ship and we are allowing the media to drunkenly steer the boat. Thanks for writing this article and I hope I see more and more articles like this being read by the public. Great insight!
November 14, 2020 @ 7:50 pm
No, they aren’t “right about hypocripsy.”
there is a big difference between celebrating democracy OUTSIDE with MASKS ON and having a show in a crowded, mostly inside, space.
If you weren’t so determined to shove your dumb conservative politics into everything, you’d know that.
But lol, you covered Sturgill “I lied to your face about pretending to give a damn about traditional country music, you suckers and fuck Waylon Jennings, too,” Simpson’s John Prine comments and not … IDK, Jason Isbell, because Isbell regularly mocking conservatives hurts your feelings. Poor little boy.
This site has nothing to do with country music anymore. You might as well go set up a conservative blog. your racism, homophobia, and fear of new things would be welcome there.
Country music will leave old conservative tiny dicked men like you behind, so you might as well go line up to suck Trump dick.
November 14, 2020 @ 8:21 pm
“there is a big difference between celebrating democracy OUTSIDE with MASKS ON and having a show in a crowded, mostly inside, space.”
There’s also a big difference between actually doing something, and posting a hypothetical on social media to point out hypocrisy. None of the performers who posted about this have played crowded, inside shows, booked crowded, inside shows, or could book or play them even if they wanted to.