The Paris attacks struck all of us. They were an incredible tragedy and the world is rightfully still reeling. I used to live in Paris, and I remember seeing Lamb of God at Le Bataclan when I was 17. Hell – I had friends who were shot in the attacks – this entire thing has been far to visceral, and terrifyingly close to home. Of course – being the metal nerd that I am, once I started to digest the initial tragedy I started to wonder – what would this mean for the metal world? As it was happening I was at Housecore Horror Film Fest and within hours we saw festival security tighten – who knew what the long term results could be? Metal could be changed for all time.
5. Increased Venue Security
This one is obvious so let's get it out of the way. Just as when Dimebag was shot, venue security is going to go up – we are probably going to see metal detectors brought in once again – and this time I think it might be for good. With the increased number of terrorist attacks in recent weeks, and World War Three potentially about to break out, nobody wants to mess around, and for good reason. The safety of concert attendees at major events should be a priority. The only question is how intensive these will be, they could become alienating, after all, most people don't like the usual pat down that comes with every major concert – what's to say the new security measures sure to be installed won't scare folks off?
4. Decreased Concert Attendance
This one is not just going to be as a result of increased venue security. Fellow Metal Injection writer Chuck Loesch recently mentioned on the Metalsucks podcast that some people these days are afraid of even going to movie theaters. The paranoia around concert going is at an all time high. Like I mentioned in the intro, I have a lot of friends in France, and they've all noticed that concerts feel weirdly tense (And with good reason) and know many people who have been scared off, possibly for good. The impact on the economy of the arts is unfortunate to say the least. Beyond that though – we increasingly find ourselves in a world where every planned gathering is at risk for terrorist attack. Much like after the Great White fire, we have to evaluate at every show we go to whether it's worth the risk.
3. Touring Will (Potentially) Forever Change
I manage a few bands as a regular part of my job, and every single one of them has mentioned to me there new found concerns over touring Europe. Belgium is almost on lock down right now and we still don't know for sure when life will return to normal there. As well all know a wealth of European tours have been cut too. Meanwhile it seems like we're going to start seeing tours routed around geopolitical conflict. Things seem to be increasingly bleak over in Europe and folks, even in Western Europe, are going to see fewer and fewer concerts if the situation continues to deteriorate, and if we lose the biggest metal market the entire metal world will suffer.
2. The Metal Economy Could Be Crippled
We all know that there isn't a lot of money in metal. That's just how it works – it's an unfortunate reality that my parents are all too fond of reminding me of. (I work for a blues label too Mom!) The point being – if venue costs are rising with the need for enhanced security, fewer people are going to shows, and fewer markets are available to tour in… well that just sounds like a recipe for disaster. After all – concert revenues have become a mainstay for bands revenue streams in this day and age – you simply need it to survive. This means that the underground is going to have to strive harder than ever to keep bands on the road and get people spreading their music all around the world.
1. Life Will Go On
At the end of the day, fuck it. We're the metal community. We like a fight. Things were getting easy for a minute there. We had bands going all over the world and starting to make money again, hell we even had bands doing dates in Africa! In nearly fifty years of metal history we have always found that no matter what, the underground will strive on. We are still going to get great art, and in fact given the strife that the global community is facing, more people than ever are going to turn to dark music for salvation. Remember, metal is essentially a force of peace and we need to work together in order to help launch a bold future for the music we love.
