A friend recently texted me and another friend an article about how long-time drummer for Iron Maiden - now retired - Nikko McBrain turned down a chance to golf with President Trump. My friend replied, "Yes, good on Maiden fuck Metallica." While I didn't find the comment surprising, it was still weird to me.
Earlier this month James Hetfield told the crowd at one of their concerts:
"I just gotta say, Metallica is not here, like some other entertainers, to influence you with their bullshit, OK? We are here...no bullshit...we're here to forget about all the outside shit, OK? Metallica's agenda is love, energy and heavy music, baby!"
So he basically said that they're going to be apolitical and just have a good time. What is so horrible about love, energy, and heavy music?
These comments got Hetfield a triple ration of opprobrium, perhaps most notably from Roger Waters who immediately went ad hominem. He went on The Katie Halper Show and called Hetfield a "prick" what sounds like a gillion times. I think Waters and his ilk are at the point of accusing anyone who doesn't take a shit with fist raised and head bowed in solidarity with Gaza of being Zionists with blood on their hands.
Waters said, "It's a shame this prick didn't have somebody around him to explain that being kind is way more important than all that loud music and bouncing around and whatever." You'd think Hetfield had called for genocide or, at least, for Palestinian kids to have their hair set on fire. How is an agenda of love, energy and heavy music unkind? It seems to me that Waters is the one spreading hate. He is absolutely reliable in that way and that's why he gets invited onto lefty programs - to spew his bilious hatred so lefties can feel good about themselves without actually having to do anything.
Honestly, I have no idea what the politics are of any guys in Metallica. But a couple days ago one of the rock music news sites I read noted that Metallica is asking fans to donate blood at their tour stops - or Vegas residency. The band's charity organization, All Within My Hands, partners with the American Red Cross on this initiative.
I looked into this further and found that AWMY does a lot more than attempt to get fans to part with their precious bodily fluids. They give money to tech schools and community colleges to help people get an education/acquire skills to enable them to get good paying jobs; money from ticket sales gets donated to food banks; they support organizations that assist people affected by disasters. The band and the organization's board of directors pay all administrative costs so every donation goes to people in need of it.
It seems to me that helping people learn how to weld or be a plumber or become a nurse is a good thing. That is practicing kindness. Feeding people, finding shelter for them in the event of a natural disaster, these are good things, these are acts of kindness. It also seems to me that these actions do a lot more good than telling people about Gaza from a stage during a concert.
Lefties:
"All right, but apart from the blood donations, supporting technical schools & community colleges, helping feed Americans by partnering with Feeding America, helping feed people around the world by working with World Central Kitchen, and helping with disaster relief around the globe, fuck Metallica."
Metallica will be here next June for a show at Camp Randall. Tens of thousands of fans will have a good time, hotels and bars will do good business, a lot of blood will get donated that otherwise wouldn't, and Madison area food pantries will get a boost. More power to 'em, I say.
No comments:
Post a Comment