Is every musical artist’s fan base just waiting to turn on them, at a moment’s notice? The fickleness of fandom was never more apparent than it was reading the comments this past week from self-proclaimed followers of the artists who were booked to perform at the ill-fated “Freedom 250” concert series on the National Lawn in Washington, D.C. Six out of nine artists publicly backed out as the firestorm grew.
What these artists were hearing from many so-called fans, mostly those on the center or left, before they withdrew from their appearances: “I’m done with you.”
And then, what they were hearing from other would-be supporters, mostly Trump supporters, after they withdrew: I’m done with you, also.
These strikingly similar (or ironically identical) comments came from different sides of the political aisle, depending on the moment, but what they had in common was an American public so polarized it will leap to immediate judgment when their putative favorites are caught in a sticky situation, without much caring about the background, context or nuance of what might have caused a musician to either take the gig or let go of it.
I was most struck by this after reading a heated missive on the page of Pete Evick, the longtime guitarist in Poison rocker Bret Michaels‘ solo band. Michaels was the fifth of six acts to publicly retreat from the concert series so far, the others being Morris Day, Martina McBride, Young MC, the Commodores and Milli Vanilli. (Only Vanilla Ice stayed proudly in, and the other two may just be trying to run out the clock without having to say anything more, after the president finally went on record as being inclined to cancel the whole thing.)
