Shoot to Thrill

Shoutout every venue and every artist requiring proof of vaccination or negative Covid tests for anyone who wants a ticket. The list is growing by the hour and it seems an appropriate and fair response to a pandemic that's killed more than 4 million people worldwide and more than 600,000 in the US, and that's far from over. Artists desperately want to tour and they don't want their fans, or themselves to get sick; they also don't want to be responsible for perpetuating the virus' spread. So, yeah, ask fans to get a shot or a test or stay away. That's no more an act of discrimination than telling kids they can't ride Space Mountain if they aren't at least 44 inches tall, or telling grownups they can't walk into a bar if they aren't 21.

I want to amplify, again, this Los Angeles Times column that I originally shared in Monday's mix. KURT BARDELLA, a Democratic party activist who also writes a country music newsletter, argues that country artists are in a better position to persuade Americans in certain regions to get vaccinated than whoever's currently trying to persuade them. "The people who go to these concerts—the people who cheer loudest for lyrics about 'freedom,' 'liberty' and 'America'—don't want to be told what to do by politicians or government officials," he writes. "They need to hear this message from people they idolize and believe." That seems a somewhat narrow reading of a typical country audience, but you get the point. Bardella envisions showing public service announcements at country concerts, using arena parking lots as vaccination sites, even offering vaccinated fans free general admission tickets.

But why not go further and provide a stick along with those carrots? As much as artists want to tour after more than a year of lockdowns, there's a country full of stir-crazy fans who really, really want to see live shows. Tell them they can't without a vaccination (while making reasonable accommodations, like requiring testing, for those who truly can't get one). Tell them the vaccine is literally their ticket to see GARTH BROOKS or THOMAS RHETT or CARRIE UNDERWOOD. Have the artists themselves tell them that. And then make good on the word "literally": Give them good tickets to a couple concerts of their choice as a reward for getting their shots. Promoters may not be able to afford this but governments can. Governments could subsidize this in the background while artists and labels, who fans presumably trust, do the front-facing work.

And why stop at country? People in states like Florida and Texas, which have soaring case numbers, and Alabama and Arkansas, which have terrible vaccination numbers, also listen to hip-hop and Latin music and rock and soul, and they talk about freedom and liberty at those shows, too. Why can't a vaccine get you BAD BUNNY tickets? Why can't *not* being vaccinated keep you from seeing LIL UZI VERT?

And for the holdouts who remain? Offer a livestream of every show that has a proof-of-vaccination policy, so those who aren't inoculated can watch the show the way we've all learned to see concerts in the middle of a global pandemic. Give everyone a choice, but make the choice—and the consequences—clear.

Etc Etc Etc

Release an album. Release the deluxe version. Release version 3 and then, a few days later, the deluxe edition of version 3. Hit #1 in Billboard, finally, a year after you and your album started your journey... In the space of a few hours Monday, DABABY lost two more festival headline slots and then finally, belatedly, apologized for ugly words uttered onstage eight days earlier at ROLLING LOUD in Miami Gardens. Two thoughts. 1) Good. Now he needs to do the work. The work, not the words, is the real apology. It will take time. He can start thinking about headlining legit festivals again sometime after that, but not before and certainly not now. For GOVERNORS BALL and DAY N VEGAS, it's too late, and if his words of apology were sincere, he'll understand that. 2) Don't begin your apology with a complaint. It's bad form... One more good take on the founding of MTV, this time from the founders themselves, on BOB PITTMAN's (for he was one of them) MATH & MAGIC podcast... A bipartisan Congress's next target: music copyright infringement on TWITTER... The next mass extinction: concert ticket stubs.

Rest in Peace

Texas country singer/songwriter CHRIS WALL.