Nashville Scene (08/02/21) Liebig, Lorie

Lorie Liebig writes in the Nashville Scene that two recent concerts highlight the country music industry's willful blindness to certain sobering realities. Garth Brooks' Nissan Stadium show was characterized by a lack of COVID precautions, and was forced to postpone indefinitely due to thundershowers. A lack of mask mandates and proof of vaccination requirements for both fans and staff in the venue heightened a sense of risk that large signs warning of possible infection for unprotected people compounded. The other show at Bridgestone Arena drew controversy for hosting artist Morgan Wallen, who in February courted criticism when a video captured him shouting a racial epithet. "These two shows serve as a painful example of how determined the country music industry seems to be to live in the past," Liebig contends. "Whether it's underplaying the risks of a global pandemic or choosing to ignore inequality while uplifting those who downplay the issue, this weekend Nashville served as a backdrop for a genre that feels increasingly out of touch."

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