Here’s How Not to Make Points About Post-Pandemic Touring
There’s no denying that the COVID-19 pandemic greatly affected how we as metal fans enjoy live shows these days. From the difficulties bands face just putting a tour together to the uncertainty that you might get sick just for showing up, there’s still a lot to keep in mind even now that we’re well past the worst of it.
In recent months, artists have shared their touring struggles with most of their arguments and concerns being articulated in a pretty intelligent and understandable way. And then there’s what ex-Megadeth and current Kings of Thrash guitarist Jeff Young said during a recent interview with the “Brutally Delicious” podcast (transcribed by Blabbermouth). While discussing the very real problem of heightened touring costs and lowered attendance overall, Young made some valid points, but didn’t exactly choose his words wisely.
“[It’s] post-scamdemic, and everyone’s acting retarded in the wake of it… We’re doing great, but you can definitely feel the difference in the world, in the business. And the attendance, even for bigger bands — I don’t wanna name any, but think of some big bands that are out right now with attendance 60 percent of what they would normally do, which would be sell out. And I think it’s partially because people have been so entrained after the scamdemic to just stay in their house, which was exactly part of their intent that they did that — but just stay home, don’t go out and be afraid to go out in public… Plus the money — people don’t have the same money that they had pre-scamdemic, because a lot of the mom-and-pops where people worked. So I think people don’t have the luxury, as much as they used to, to go out and enjoy concerts, even if they want to.”
Right off the bat — “scamdemic” is probably the cringiest way to tell the world you believe crackpot conspiracy theories. I don’t know about you, but millions dead around the world (including more than 1.1 million dead in the U.S. alone) sounds pretty serious and not a scam.
Then there’s the whole “retarded” bit there. Way to sound like an ableist dick, man.
He then went on to talk about despite all those things he complained about a second ago, fans are still coming out and seeing Kings of Thrash live, which is a good thing. More people should go out, see shows, and support the artists they love. But to minimize the very real suffering of the more than 600 million people that caught the disease since early 2020 is just a real unfortunate thing to say and do.
