Lack of Fear for Covid-19

By Mike Cotton

Beginning late last year, covid-19 has drastically changed our daily routines, forms of interacting with others and the ways in which we can still have fun with those that we love. The one major thing that is missed dearly by the masses is concerts. The pleasure and energy that live concerts provided was simply unrivaled. Concerts allowed people to be themselves in front of hundreds (or thousands) of people that they didn’t know, and not be ashamed about it. As a fan of live performances, I may not be able to experience that riveting feeling for a long time. As of lately, most of the United States haven’t been taking the covid-19 virus seriously at all. Throughout social media people can be seen partying, roaming through heavily populated areas without a mask and even sharing meals and drinks with family members and friends. Recently, the lack of urgency to remain aware of and safe from covid-19 can also be seen from some of our favorite musicians and entertainers. This stupidity started with rapper, Lil Baby last month when he performed for a packed crowd at Spire Nightclub in Houston, Texas. Ignoring the mask wearing and social distancing protocols continued this past weekend with rapper, NBA Youngboy and singer, Trey Songz.

On Saturday, December 5, NBA Youngboy performed a mask-free show for his fans in Orlando, Florida, which was a show set for April but was postponed due to the rise in cases of covid-19. While Youngboy ignored the covid-19 protocols in Orlando, Trey Songz was in Ohio doing the same exact thing at the Aftermath Nightclub. In the footage for the Trey Songz performance there were about five-hundred people crowding the venue to watch him sing. The vast majority of those in attendance can be seen not wearing masks, as well as sharing drinks with one another. The footage of these concerts were absolutely disgusting to watch. With the thousands of people that have died from this virus, you’d think that entertainers would try to set an example for their fans by staying away from environments like this and keeping themselves safe. I’m sure that there are lots of musicians and other entertainers that miss performing for live crowds without having to worry about getting sick but doing-so during the spike of a pandemic is not the answer. Trey Songz, NBA Youngboy and Lil Baby all have children, so what the hell are they doing performing in front of packed crowds? The paycheck and attention from performing wouldn’t be worth the hardships that come with having covid-19, or even unknowingly passing the virus along to a family member. It’s quite selfish to go out and perform like that, the fans that attended these shows aren’t any better. Sharing drinks and being surrounded by others that may be covid-19 positive is not the smartest move; on top of that, there’s most likely going to be a spike in cases in the states that the concerts were performed in.