The Steve Miller Band unexpectedly canceled their entire North American tour recently, citing bad weather.
That’s right, the band is afraid to travel around North America due to climate change.
I guess a USO tour is out of the question.
Talk about a fair weather band.
The 31-date tour, which was slated to begin on Aug. 15 in New York, had been expected to wrap up in Anaheim, Calif. on Nov. 8.
The band shared an Instagram post, stating: "Dear Steve Miller Band fans, you make music with your instincts. You live your life by your instincts. Always trust your instincts. The Steve Miller Band has canceled all of our upcoming tour dates. The combination of extreme heat, unpredictable flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes and massive forest fires make these risks for you our audience, the band and the crew unacceptable." They added, "So … You can blame it on the weather … The tour is cancelled."
No, we are not blaming it on the weather.
We are placing the blame squarely on the craven little prissy members of the band, precisely where it belongs. This is truly unprecedented cowardice—and idiocy if legit. However, I suspect it may have something to do with an expectation of poor ticket sales — or a combination of aging bodies and laziness.
But back to the USO tours. Comedian Bob Hope entertained the troops for nearly 50 years — from World War II, through Vietnam, to the Gulf War. Hope traveled the world, visiting remote outposts in Alaska, dangerous battle zones in Beirut and isolated battleships in faraway seas, all to put a smile on the faces of those in harm’s way.
Country music superstar Toby Keith (rest in peace) performed a Memorial Day concert for nearly 4,000 service members in 2006 in the Fallujah Chapel. And that was Keith’s second visit to Fallujah. He also traveled there in 2004, just after the Marines took over the town considered so dangerous that the army had reportedly been pulled out. And he played two other venues on Memorial Day as part of the USO’s Toby Keith Tour.
This announcement by the band is astounding in its virtue signaling cravenness.
And beyond idiotic.
I don’t know where the band members live, but wherever it is, they probably have weather there, too. Neither flood, nor drought, nor heat, nor cold, nor twisters, nor hurricanes keep most other Americans from traveling and enjoying their lives. Or going to work.
So, if you happen to see a band member standing on the corner in, say, Winslow, Arizona, don’t stop and pick him up. Don’t even try to understand. Take it easy. These jokers don’t deserve it.
Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License