I’m tempted to go in there as a trans woman & try to convince them to give me free beer because they think I’m a dude. Given that I like women, by their logic, that just makes me a straight guy dressed like a woman, ergo… FREE BEER!!!
I was at a party in college & a young lady was having a not so great night. She passed out, horked up what apparently looked like Alice Springs Chicken from Outback, & one of her sorority sisters had drawn a swastika on her forehead.
My roommate & I knew where she lived. So I went to grab puke-a-potomous, she went to get her car.
By the time I got back to puke-a-potomous on the couch, someone had turned the swastika into a very crudely drawn Windows logo.
Now I kinda wanna see some NaziPunk get pinned down at a concert, while someone converts his offensive tattoos into corporate logos.
I didn’t say that at all, but what stand are you taking? Because right now?
Right now, the only thing you’re mad at is that your band took a pay day from someone you don’t like. Now you have an easy target & easy answer to your disappointment: boycott.
But boycotting the Foo Fighters ain’t gonna do shit & you fuckin know it. It’s an easy & that’s all you needed to start typin’ away.
The Foo Fighters aren’t the problem, Amazon is. The Foo Fighters didn’t support Amazon, quite opposite. The Foo Fighters didn’t do shady shit to receive the money they were paid, Amazon did.
That money was leaving Amazon for musician or band. Full stop.
You’ve decided since it was your band, BBOO MY BAND.
But your band can do a whole hell of a lot of better with that money than Amazon can.
Arguably, the band you like would do better things with that money than other bands or musicians who might have received that money, if your band had declined.
In my mind that is a net positive out an inevitability shitty situation.
It’s not the best positive, neither your actions nor the Foo Fighters’ can give you the result want here.
So you have a decision:
Currently, your decision is scorched earth against the Foo Fighters, standing up for your ultimate morality by letting Jeff & Amazon take away something you’ve cared about in the past.
You claim it’s because you can’t support a band that takes money from Amazon, but you willfully ignore that bands really don’t have the ability to avoid Amazon any more, at least not if they want to reach their fans where they are.
An alternate decision is realizing that in the grand scheme of things, while this is not a great moment in the band’s history, it might still result in some form of a positive. If not directly for the fans of the band, for the wellbeing of a band you considered your self a fan of.
And given that you haven’t even begun to speculate what the Foo Fighters might use that money for, give this some consideration…
A little over two years ago, the band lost Taylor on the heels of the pandemic, mid-tour.
Now, I don’t know a ton about the Foo Fighters financial situation, but I’d guess that the loss of their drummer after a global pandemic had an impact on the band’s debt to cash ratio. I’d also wager that death makes the touring insurance conversation a bit different this round & could present some other logistical challenges getting another tour off the ground.
Maybe they’re trying to cover some of that debt so they don’t have to pass it along to their fans. Maybe they’re going to help Taylor’s family with some of it.
Fact of the matter of is, you and everyone else on this thread has jumped on the hate wagon without even considering what that money might be used for. It’s reactionary bullshit & it’s sad.
You think you’ve found a cause, but you’ve only heard half of a story & you’re willing to let Jeff Bezos take the Foo Fighters away from you over it. You’re too impatient and angry enough to let the dust settle & the whole story unfold.
Right, but you have no clue how FF will use that money & you’re willfully ignoring that Amazon has already infected the music industry.
Your moral outrage at FF completely ignores that the band lost a drummer & cancelled a tour on the heels of a global pandemic. You have no idea what their debt to cash ratio is and whether they intend to use that cash to keep costs down for fans or maybe even help Taylor’s family with it.
This thread has seen half of a story, chosen their villain, and are now willing to jump on anyone who might show a modicum of patience and empathy.
So go ahead, call out the Foo Fighters for taking dirty Amazon money… but you still only have a story.
I’m not a fan of the Foo Fighters I think they’ve already sold out & while I don’t dislike them, I’m not a fan.
What’s difficult about this conversation is that everyone else has made it black & white, over whether Amazon’s money is tainted.
That’s everyone’s only argument, Amazon money is bad & the Foo Fighters shouldn’t have taken it.
But… that argument ignores the nuance I’m trying to point out.
That money was going to be given to a band or musician for concert full of gross Amazon execs. Full stop. That is all it was ever going to be used for by Amazon & neither you or I can stop it.
So if the Foo Fighters shouldn’t have taken that money, than who should have received it? What band would you prefer to have played for Amazon?
That concert was going down with it without the Foo Fighters. So if not them, then who?
I’m emotionally invested in it because I’m sick of letting corporations take things I love away from me.
I have been to hundreds of concerts, followed bands across the country, and spent hours upon hours waiting in line for tickets. I used to go stand in line at a damn Kroger to get tickets so I could avoid paying Ticket Master more money.
I live music & I hate corporations trying to put their names on it.
I have not made of this black & white. I am not the one drawing a line in the sand with the Foo Fighters. I’m here trying to convince you all from walking away from something that makes you happy because of some self righteous sense of morality.
The Foo Fighters simply did what the do, perform music for money. Everyone else is black & white over where that money came from. Not even what the band did with the money, just where the money came from.
Bad news friend, you aren’t going to find clean money in the music industry. It’s all foul.
You want to abandon something that makes you happy or think less of it because dirty money touched it? Your fuckin loss.
But don’t call yourself a fan. If you were, you’d at least have the patience to hear the band’s side of it before coming in a thread like this joining in on all rage bait in here.
That music is yours to love, don’t give it to Jeff. That is my only investment in this conversation.
You did make that clear. But you haven’t stated why, other than Amazon Money = Bad.
There aren’t enough good musicians getting paid what they should be on this planet. And most of the ones who are making shit tons of money in music, don’t deserve it.
You, at one point in time, thought the Foo Fighters deserved to be making big money in the music industry, otherwise you wouldn’t have listened to them.
So now that the Foo Fighters have made it big enough that Billionaires want private concerts from them, your response is to abandon them.
You still have no idea whether they needed the money or plan to do something positive with it, you just know they took it from Amazon and you don’t like it.
You keep saying that about gambling, like it equates to the Foo Fighters taking money from Amazon, but it doesn’t.
The foo fighters didn’t accept a sponsorship from Amazon, you’re not going to see smile logos on their instruments or expect their road crew to wear those blue uniforms.
They took a high paying gig.
Furthermore, until you can produce a balance sheet, your statement about the Foo Fighters wealth is conjecture.
You do not know where that band stands financially after losing a founding member’s death & on the heels of a pandemic.
You don’t know how much money the band lost having to cancel their tour after Taylor passed. You have no idea whether their insurance premiums went up.
There are whole slew of logistical factors that could’ve made it an easier decision on the band to take the gig, but you won’t consider any other possibility, will you? You’ve jumped right to the conclusion that your heroes turned greedy & took some money you don’t like, & you’re certain enough of that stance that after one article, you’re willing to abandon them.
The majority of all musicians operate at deficit & are not rolling around in the black. Where’s your proof the Foo Fighters are?
I don’t know either, but I at least have the presence of mind not to publicly shit on them until more information comes out.
Furthermore Furthermore, name a band who you follow that is not touched by Amazon? A band that’s not on Amazon Music, that has no physical media or merch for sale via Amazon. A band that doesn’t perform at any Amazon sponsored venues or Amazon sponsored concert series.
And if you’re not willing to do that, just tell me who should have received that money, if not the Foo Fighters?
You want to take a stand, fine, but don’t pretend your little personal boycott is anything other than a self serving pat on the back.
Would you support the Foo Fighters playing a concert at anti LGBTQ+ rallies?
Public performance, not a private one-off. False equivalency. The Foo Fighters did not publicly support Amazon or its Execs. They performed a private show for a private client, and you’ve happened to find out about it.
Where you’re being irresponsible is not giving them the benefit of the doubt, or even a moment’s patience, when it comes to why they took a private gig with Amazon.
Would you support the Foo Fighters playing a concert Neo-Nazis?
Absolutely not. But then again, I didn’t support them in the first place, you did.
And again with the neo-nazi shit? Amazon, as awful as it fucking is, is still a decent part of the Music industry’s delivery system…
Hmmm I wonder if the Foo Fighters could phase out a relationship with Amazon as a distributor, now that they have millions of Amazon’s dollars?
Would you support the Foo Fighters playing a concert for the IDF?
If the band was willing to turn around do something good with that money, like help Palestinian refugees, yes, probably? I mean what a better fuck you to the IDF than helping Palestine with Israeli money?
Fact again… you don’t know what the band plans on doing with the Amazon money. What if they announce on Monday they plan to use the Amazon money to support unionization in Amazon facilities?
Likelihood they will is low, I know. But your response to all this isn’t to even hope something positive comes of it, it’s just to bitch how awful this is… while not yet knowing what this actually is.
So again, name a band untouched by Amazon. Or hell, name a band you love that is new, playing small venues & hoping to hop on a summer tour.
Now, kill their drummer & force them to end the remainder of their Spring tour early. After dates had been booked & sold.
Come Fall, when that band has to pay their rent… would you turn on them for taking Amazon money?
Your standard is that the Foo Fighters are wealthy enough to not need Bezos Bucks. But again, you don’t know what the band’s actual operating budget is.
And if they do happen to be operating at a deficit, which they likely are given their recent circumstances…
The band members themselves should give up their personal wealth, rather than take a paycheck from Amazon.
Would you pay your employer to keep its doors open, rather take Amazon money?
Didn’t say it was morally permissible. Just said it’s more nuanced than the current response of social shaming & individual boycotts.
Again, I’ll point that I’m not the one drawing lines in the sand here.
It is perfectly reasonable for you to be disgusted by this information. It’s also perfectly reasonable if you to acknowledge that this is not all of the information & that maybe going scorched earth is a bit hasty at this point.
I’m not saying the Foo Fighters aren’t dicks. If they line their pockets with this money & don’t do anything of value with it, then yeah, fuck em.
But I will remind you that this is the same band that waggled their dongs around in front of the Westboro Baptist Church.
I don’t even like this band & I’m willing to give ‘em a few minutes because of that moment alone.
You’ve made your private boycott public here in this thread, and so has everyone else. Problem is, none of you can articulate why you think the Foo Fighters deserve this. At least not thoroughly.
That tells me one of two things. You’re either just angry and unwilling to think this situation through, so you’ve jumped on the hate wagon with ½ a story & every intention of bringing other people with you.
Either that, or you’re in this thread pushing an agenda & trying to whip up a misguided fervor for reasons that don’t involve the Foo Fighters.
Either way, I see this as you publicly lambasting another public entity & you can’t or won’t explain why. That just reeks of mob mentality.
Also, don’t be obtuse. You know full & well what I mean about a private performance versus a public performance.
Musicians perform publicly, with tickets on sale, and you know… the public is present.
Musicians also perform privately, for a single payer, with no public tickets available.
Are you really going to fault the Foo Fighters because they did a private show? Why do YOU care?
You don’t get a say in how that band makes its money. And if they aren’t doing awful shit with that money, then I don’t really think you have a leg to stand on here.
They didn’t cancel a public show to do this performance. They didn’t turn down a charity event to my knowledge.
No, they took a private a gig & the only thing you know is that you don’t like who the gig was for. Not why they took it, no, you’re too selfish to wait for that info… you’re just pissed that they took it & that makes you mad enough to spout off.
But you’re just spitting sparks because you really don’t care about the nuance of this situation or the band you claimed to be a fan of. You’re fair weather bandwagon rider & you just like saying angry shit on the internet.
You are simply pissed that the money came from Amazon. You can’t offer up a reasoning as to why the Foo Fighters don’t deserve that money, you can’t offer up a thought on who does deserve that money, & you refuse to acknowledge that the money used to belong to Amazon, while now it belongs to someone better. You just picked the one part you didn’t like & told yourself your job was done here.
No, I’m just not a dipshit willing to wag around a half thought out belief like it should be taken as gospel.
If you treat everyone & everything the way you treat this situation, abandonment at the slightest hint of something you don’t like, I really feel bad for the people in your life.
What are you going to do when someone you care about takes a gig with Amazon? You gonna drop a fetid deuce on them too?
You gonna punt your baby across the lawn for spilling milk? Might as well, it as arbitrary as your decision to boycott the Foo Fighters.
And you still can’t elucidate how you arrived at such a drastic choice with only half the story.
It’s because you can’t justify your decision & you know it.
Idaho bar celebrates "Heterosexual Awesomeness Month" with free beer for straight men (www.lgbtqnation.com)
Anybody need a Bambi? I can get you a Bambi. (imgur.com)
Baby deer caught in my backyard. Yes, she escaped safely & reunited with mom a few minutes after they were taken.
Sounds like a good solution (lemmy.world)
'Cyber terrorist' who reported fake 911 calls across US and Canada sentenced to prison (komonews.com)
"Maybe This is Too Cool" - After years of layoffs and pay/resource freezes, Amazon execs treat themselves to a private Foo Fighters concert worth millions (radarblog.substack.com)
Album: Buffalo Tom - Jump Rope [2024] (songwhip.com)
New…so new that maybe this doesn’t yet show up for you…it’s already May 31 where I am. New, but sounding quite familiar.
Warner Bros. Discovery hikes prices for Max streaming service, 12 days before the debut of season two of HBO's "House of the Dragon" (www.cnbc.com)