Hot Topic Scene Kids Get It
An historic event is months away from saving our nation from the ruins it currently precedes in. Who would’ve thought the most oppressed demographic in America’s population (true) would take up the mantle and be our saving grace? That’s right. High school’s lowest lowlifes are meeting COVID in the arena and there’s no hesitation in sight.
Recently, there’s been a series of cancellations from never-gonna-take-it metal/punk bands screaming bloody murder. Over what? Transmitting deadly diseases? I thought this was the genre of taking risks and asking questions later. Some live to do the former and not the latter. Often, these escapades involve other deadly diseases. However, those diseases are par for the course in the denim and leather crowd. Oh, sex is involved? Let’s work backwards from that, because these guys can’t live without feeling something after a show.
These lockdowns are the ultimate litmus test for rebellious ethics codes. My first experience seeing concession on full display was at a Dead Kennedy’s gig in Fresno, California. You can hardly find a band (minus the Sex Pistols) that talked more shit in a small window of time than San Francisco’s loudest critics. Reagan? Fascist. Trump? Worse than Hitler. Government mandated rules and the FBI? Bashiontons of virtue.
Admittingly, Jello Biafra is no longer affiliated with this incarnation of the group that travels city to city following those sacred rules. After picking a fight with every public figure, it was inevitable to reach a breaking point with his closest associates. That is to say, he is not standing in the way between living by 70’s punk standards and 21st century health guidelines. Biafra has reduced himself to caricature for backing into a corner based on anti-anything that sounds like hierarchy. A better title: contrarian swept up by modernity.
Anyways, this Fresno show wasn’t supposed to have regulations. In other words, it was abiding by DIY ethics just like the old days. This is unacceptable within the current climate. So much so, the band personally intervened in making their California concert in sync with the CDC (federally funded by Washington bureaucrats and other oligarchs). Very edgy. As Biafra once said, these are the people who wear, “rigid business costumes” and don’t even know these hardcore bands unless we’re qualifying lip service. Maybe she did buy the CD, but it’s a fantasy to think the leather and spikes guys can reach across the aisle with Fortune 500 members. They hate you and your weird music.
Beyond that, it’s worth asking why touring artists want to make it harder to make a living and cut themselves short with limited dates. Moreover, it’s the one genre you’d expect to see through government overreach. Thrash metal prided itself as speaking truth to power in the face of tyranny. Now, they are the first to cancel shows and delay their schedule in spite of lacking album sales. It’s a consistent loss when established bands release new material and receive backlash in live settings. Often, there’s contention over the set list which is primarily older songs. This is deliberate and fans will notice when the roster changes unexpectedly.
Overall, it’s a lose-lose on all fronts. Musicians accept restrictions cutting into their income and fans take a hit losing representation in the industry. A genre fifteen years past its prime is out competing most on the world stage in a time when it counts the most.