Will be fine. Back in the early nineties, Jackson Browne was accused of physically abusing Daryl Hannah. What really happened there? We'll never know. Browne denied it and Hannah never pressed charges. But there were tons of women who said they were done with Browne, the same ones who are going to see him today. And this happened in the pre-internet era. Almost nothing sticks today. Even worse, the media trumps up any story that will get clicks, giving the impression it's a major issue, assuming you're paying attention, and most people are not. Yes, there are people with their knickers in a twist over Ed Sheeran's... Exactly what? That he didn't cancel his tour in the wake of Robert Kraft saying no-go if Macklemore was still on the dates? Do you have any idea of the cost of these extravaganzas? Cancel the tour and Ed Sheeran can survive, albeit having lost a ton of money. But all those people working for him, never mind those employed the day of the gig, would be SOL. As for insurance, there's not a policy in the world that would pay on this. But that does not mean there is not a rabid mob out to get Ed. To quote that old song, "What do you want the boy to do?" (Listen to Bonnie Raitt's version off of "Home Plate," although Lowell George does a sweet take on his one and only solo album, "Thanks I'll Eat It Here.") Makes a good story, Ed's gonna be banned from the radio... Hell, they burned Beatle records and it didn't hurt the band's career. Made a great story, but it's the music that leads, and at the time, the Beatles WERE bigger than Jesus (this was before God came back in the seventies, with every act attributing their success to the deity). But this is not about the truth, but emotion. So if you've never seen Ed Sheeran live, if you're not a fan, to the degree you care at all, it's by being Team Macklamore or against him. But most people don't care. And the ones who do are like those who've canceled Morgan Wallen, even though he plays stadiums consistently. But the northerners who have no time for a cracker will never let him go. God, I just mention his name and half my audience goes wild. It's not like they even know his music, in some cases they've never even heard it, but Morgan's a pariah and the word must be spread! But his fans shrug. Ed's a talented dude, who needs no musicians to tantalize an audience, he can do it totally alone, and oftentimes does. It's mesmerizing. But I'm gonna hate him and refuse to spend my dollars...exactly why? And do you think all these haters are going to continue to hate on Ed as time goes by? Of course not, they'll find new targets, there's a professional agitated class, oftentimes the issue is irrelevant, their hate supersedes it. And then we've got the CTE study. Big news for a day, but everybody's still watching football. I've never been a fan of an act, a ticket-buying fan, and then said NO MAS after something the act said or did. I'm not saying this isn't possible, but I've never experienced it. It's always the non-fans who are vocal, insisting that the act must pay for some faux pas, even if it's theoretical. Yup, I was going to see Ed, but since he didn't cancel his tour in support of Macklemore, I'M DONE! I want you to find me the people who say this, because even if there are any, they won't feel this way as time goes by. Why? Everybody else will have moved on. Now we can debate what is going on in Gaza 24/7. But Ed has not hung his hat on either side of the debate. Now if you want to make a political statement, feel free to go for it. But if it's a song, I hope you enjoy the experience of making it, because the press for Springsteen's protest song (can you even remember the name?) far exceeded listens to the actual record... Actually, it's entitled "Streets of Minneapolis," and it's got 6,527,495 streams on Spotify as of this writing... For perspective, "Dancing in the Dark" has 1,302,426,224...then again, you'd be surprised how anemic listens of most Springsteen songs are. But Bruce has a very devoted fan base akin to the Dead, people who know the songs by heart (at least the old ones), and they go to see the Boss like lemmings. However, the true story is for all the scuttlebutt about ticket prices, he doesn't go clean everywhere. But my point here is don't tell me that acts should never talk about politics on stage, shouldn't take a stand, this is what people expect at a Bruce Springsteen show, and those complaining, once again, are those not going. How many oldsters have I seen weigh in in the past week that politics have no place at a concert? All of them aged pundits who don't even go to shows. Who cares what these people think? Ed Sheeran is a superstar, who understands the modern world, he refuses to get dragged down by the crowd, he made one statement and he's done, he's not saying another word, which is how it should be. All those bitching about his "not standing up for Macklemore" are just dying for Ed to say more, so they can excoriate him. You don't engage with haters, because usually it's more about them than you, they want to drag you down into the hole they're in. And all these people all riled up about this... They weren't Macklemore fans yesterday and they won't pay to see him tomorrow. Because Macklemore doesn't have that many fans, but Ed Sheeran does. And they ignore the haters, if everyone was worried about others' judgment of their taste, they wouldn't go to see any act live. Now, more than ever, you can have your individual tastes, spend time as you see fit. If you don't want to go see Ed Sheeran, be my guest, don't go. But odds are you were never going to go to begin with. Ed is in a no-win position. He should have foreseen a problem with Macklemore when he hired him to do the gig. But, is it Ed's fault that Macklemore was warned that if he did this again there would be a problem playing in future buildings, and then repeated his act? God, it's Ed's stage, he's doing the opener a favor, Macklemore can't sell very many tickets without him. The fact that Macklemore had no respect for Ed, that he put the entire tour in jeopardy? God, he should go into musician jail, who the hell is going to hire this guy in the future? If you're the headliner, if it's your name on the marquee, do whatever you want to, but if there are no paying customers, it's like a tree falling in the forest, no one hears it. So don't pay any attention to the Ed Sheeran's in trouble discourse. It's a sideshow at best. Ed will be fine. And so will you. On to the next crisis! -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
