Are you angry when a musical artist doesn't play their most famous song in concert?
Hit me with your best shot. Fire Away!
Pat Benatar is on tour. While I’m not a huge fan, she has a nice catalog of songs I like. With tickets being reasonably priced and the venue close to home, I thought why not check it out? It should be a fun evening.
Before going to most concerts, I head to the setlist website to see what songs an artist is performing. When I looked at Benatar’s list, there was one unmistakable tune missing. I didn’t see “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.” It seemed more than a little surprising, so it was off to find out the story.
Apparently, like the rest of us, Pat has had enough of the gun violence that has gripped our country. She feels the song’s lyrics don’t help the situation, so she has pulled it from this tour…and she doesn’t care if her fans are mad about this.
“I can’t sing those words with a smile on my face anymore. I just can’t. It’s my small contribution to protesting. I’m not going to sing it. Tough.”
It’s an interesting and maybe a dangerous business decision. In this era, musicians make a large percentage of their income through concert revenue. The way to keep those cash registers ringing is to keep people coming back to watch you play. To make them happy to spend that money, you have to play the songs they love. Blowing off this tune isn’t going to go over well. Benatar has stated that her fans are having ‘heart attacks’ over this.
Now while I’m not having a heart attack, I do wonder that if she’s so concerned about the song’s violent lyrics, why is she playing a cover of The Beatles’ “Helter Skelter’, a song closely associated with the violence of the Manson family?
If I knew about this beforehand, would it have stopped me from attending the concert? Probably not, but I may have had second thoughts.
In a final, not-so-sympathetic shout-out to her brokenhearted fans, Pat told them, “If you miss the song, play it when you get home.”
Hmmmm…Pat, while I understand and even support your decision about the song, it’s probably not a good idea to talk that way to the people who help put food on your kitchen table. Don’t be surprised if they’re the ones singing “Fire Away.”