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Van Morrison Is Whining About Free Speech Because No One Likes His Anti-Lockdown Songs

Well, this won’t make him any less grumpy:
https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/whats...ws/van-morrison-concert-europa-hotel-20786633

Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill has said that a Van Morrison gig, scheduled to take place at the Europa Hotel this evening "can't go ahead", due to the current Covid regulations around live music.
The deputy First Minister was speaking alongside First Minister Arlene Foster at a press conference at Lisnakea, in County Fermanagh.
The media briefing followed the NI Executive's meeting on Thursday on live music in Northern Ireland, where an indicative date of June 21 for the return of live music was agreed.
There had been confusion about whether or not Van Morrison's four proposed concerts at the Europa Hotel - set to take place on June 10, 11, 12 and 13 - would go ahead.
The series of gigs, called 'Save Live Performance', can still be found on Ticketmaster's website for the original June dates.
While all live events in Northern Ireland have either been cancelled or rescheduled due to the ban on live music, these gigs were apparently still scheduled to go ahead.
However, whenever she was asked today about tonight's gig, Michelle O'Neill made clear that it "can't go ahead."
She said: "Yes, we did discuss [the Van Morrison gig], and no it can't go ahead, it shouldn't."
She continued: "Unfortunately we're not there yet. We've announced the indicative date of the 21st for live music, and that's the date we're asking people to adhere to."
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I'm starting to wonder if live performances ever will return. Even with my state's hugely high vaccination rate, we've created a culture of fear, which could easily become permanently self- sustaining.
 
If the crowds at this season's baseball games are any indication, the 'culture of fear' would seem to be trending downwards...

I mean, I'm already hearing talk that New York City is close to 100% opening. Broadway's even starting back up again!
 
Oddish said:
I'm starting to wonder if live performances ever will return. Even with my state's hugely high vaccination rate, we've created a culture of fear, which could easily become permanently self- sustaining.
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Nope.

The world went through this and far worse with the "Spanish flu" and things eventually went back to normal. The main thing change I expect to see is a normalization of mask wearing during cold and flu season as you see in many east Asian countries and people being a bit more aware of the risks they do take in crowds.
 
True, but we're a lot more obsessive about safety nowadays. When I was a kid, I climbed trees, rode in the back of station wagons, and rode a bicycle barehanded. Now, we have kids wearing helmets on tricycles, straitjacket carseats, and playground equipment with bark chunks around it.
 
Well, to be fair "safe" isn't always a good thing:

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Kor said:
if a musician releases songs that the public and even the press react unfavorably toward, that is absolutely not infringing on said musician's freedom of speech. :rolleyes:
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The Dixie Chicks still haven't figured that out. :lol:
 
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Oddish said:
True, but we're a lot more obsessive about safety nowadays. When I was a kid, I climbed trees, rode in the back of station wagons, and rode a bicycle barehanded. Now, we have kids wearing helmets on tricycles, straitjacket carseats, and playground equipment with bark chunks around it.
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That’s a false equivalency.
 
QUOTE: Late to the party here, but... if a musician releases songs that the public and even the press react unfavorably toward, that is absolutely not infringing on said musician's freedom of speech.

I totally agree. It's only when freedom of speech itself is compromised that I have a problem.
 
I can POINT OUT that as a society, we're far more concerned about safety than we were in past decades, without saying that it's a completely bad thing.

However, it changes our reaction to things. We didn't close our schools due to measles or polio, before we had vaccines against them, though those diseases were far more lethal to children than Covid19 was. We closed them due to Covid. Hence, our danger threshold is lower than it once was. So we can't judge by yesterday's standards if or when certain things will resume.
 
Oddish said:
I can POINT OUT that as a society, we're far more concerned about safety than we were in past decades, without saying that it's a completely bad thing.

However, it changes our reaction to things. We didn't close our schools due to measles or polio, before we had vaccines against them, though those diseases were far more lethal to children than Covid19 was. We closed them due to Covid. Hence, our danger threshold is lower than it once was. So we can't judge by yesterday's standards if or when certain things will resume.
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Our danger threshold is lower because parents are more litigious than they were 60-70 years ago. I can almost guarantee you that more than one school superintendent's first thought wasn't "Oh, what if the students catch COVID," or "What if the kids bring it home," or "What if our teachers get sick," but "How many lawsuits from parents of sick kids can we withstand before having to declare bankruptcy?"
 
Don't get me wrong, I'm a musician (not professional), and I will be delighted if and when live music resumes. But, I'm not counting that chicken until I see it out of the egg and pecking around for grain.
 
If you were a fan, you might see it differently. I'm assuming that based on logistics, the concert can't just be moved back 10 days... if the venue has to be booked months or more in advance, you may have lost your only chance to see that particular artist in concert. He is, after all, old. And that's assuming your money is refunded.

And no, I'm not speaking personally. I live about 6000 miles from Ireland, and I don't even know what Van Morrison sounds like.
 
Oddish said:
If you were a fan, you might see it differently. I'm assuming that based on logistics, the concert can't just be moved back 10 days... if the venue has to be booked months or more in advance, you may have lost your only chance to see that particular artist in concert. He is, after all, old. And that's assuming your money is refunded.

And no, I'm not speaking personally. I live about 6000 miles from Ireland, and I don't even know what Van Morrison sounds like.
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Robin Swann is the Northern Ireland health minister. Although from the unionist side of the community, he has garnered respect across the community for his handling of covid. For that ballbag to stand there and chant that Swann is dangerous - accompanied by the perpetually disgraced MP for north Antrim (who was suspended from parliament a few years ago) is outrageous.
 
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