Performers receive backlash for inauguration day concert
Do Presidential inaugurations make or break musicians?
Bands faced controversy playing at Presidential-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. A line of performances are a part of every inauguration, but people took to social media saying these bands would never have a successful concert again. Students at Utah State University had their own take.
Kelan Read, a junior studying film believes people are being childish.
“Like how would they feel if some people were leaving because Clinton was being elected and didn’t want to play because of that,” Read said. “I don’t like the fact that he’s going to be our president, but we have to go with what the people chose.”
Some students, like Vance Larsen, a computer science major, believe the American people should be more about creating unity in the country.
“I doubt it would go badly,” Larsen said. “Yes, this is a bad situation, but please try to stick together and hold out. What’s the worst it that could happen, they run out of refreshments?”
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, or MoTab, was one of the groups who performed at the inauguration. Kambree, a sophomore in marketing said she was fine with the Utah group participating in the inauguration.
“I’ve only heard of the MoTab having controversy with performing there,” Kambree said. “I think it’s fine. Probably because I am LDS and I think a lot of people have problems with it, but it’s whatever.”
3 Doors Down, hailed as a discount Nickelback, hasn’t seen a lot of recognition since 2011 according to an article in the New York Daily News. However, they received a sales bump shortly afterwards. Brad Arnold, the lead singer said he was was proud to be there and the band was doing it because they love America.
Other musicians at the event included Jackie Evancho and Toby Keith. A long list of performers including Celine Dion, Elton John, B-Street and more had refused to play.
“They just aren’t affected that much, said Ally, a political science student. “Toby Keith was an early supporter of Trump. With the Mormon Tabernacle choir, there was a member that dropped out because of it. There is a lot of them doing it because they are not that well known. The boycotting is just another pull to the left just like the right did during Obama’s inauguration.”
Estimates of about 900,000 people were predicted to be at the event, half the attendance of Obama’s inauguration in 2009. Kasim Abdullahi, a sophomore studying political science thinks nothing big is really going to happen as a result of the new presidency.
“I think everyone is just kind of overreacting a bit,” Abdullahi said, “It is what it is, you can’t control anyone else besides yourself at the end of the day.”
—jason.crummitt@aggiemail.usu.edu
@jason_crummitt