Welcome to Harper Metal News BLOG #1! All of us metal fans have been saddened throughout 2020 due to the shutdown of concerts and music festivals all over the world. We have been deprived of our ability to see and support our favorite musicians in person, and in turn, our favorite musicians have been deprived of what is one of their main creative outlets. Performing live for an audience of their fans for a musician is like what breathing air is for the rest of us. It gives us life, it sustains us. Performing for a musician who loves their craft is fun, energizing and exciting! This excitement and energy is what draws people to music, whether it is performing or just listening. Unfortunately, the loss of this creative outlet has been very depressing for musicians all over the world.
This loss of contact has been depressing for us fans too, but it has been financially devastating for our beloved headbanging performers. Going on tour and playing concerts is a main source of income for metal bands. The loss of this income has created huge money problems for many of our prized artists. While this is tragic, hopefully concerts and metal festivals can return in 2021 once new Covid vaccines have been widely distributed, and life can get back to normal.
While the loss of live performances have been disheartening, now is not the time to get paralyzed by being depressed. While we can’t bang our heads at concerts now, there are several other things we metal maniacs can do to support our favorite metal musicians and groups. Here are several things you can do now, while we endure what will hopefully be the final months of the pandemic.
An obvious idea to help support your best-loved musicians is to buy their albums, either physical or digital. Now is a good time to check your music collection, and buy any albums you don’t have for your favorite bands, or even bands that are lesser favorites but have songs that you are into. I personally have always loved buying and collecting the physical albums. It is always very fun when you buy an album to first rip off the plastic wrap and study and admire the artwork or pictures on the front and back covers. Next I love reading the liner notes and the lyrics in the CD booklet. If you have ever really studied song lyrics, you’ll find some that are very cool and interesting. Some can be moving, and some can really make you think. You can tell that the lyricist really put a lot of thought and effort into crafting a fantastic composition of words. However, many lyrics are stupid and a bunch of garbage, and it is easy to tell that the song writer didn’t exert themselves very much! I also relish reading the album acknowledgments, and I always find it very cool to see the people that are being thanked by each member of the band. I love it and find it very interesting when they recognize the assistance of other musicians or other people that I am familiar with.
Another great way to help your preferred artists is to buy their merchandise. Most groups have a selection of many types of items that allow you to display your band allegiance. T-shirts are probably the most popular item, but almost anything imaginable might possibly be branded with your favored group’s logo and be available for sale on their website. Other items include hats, face masks, bottle openers, books, posters, CD’s, vinyl albums, shorts, jackets, guitar picks, drum sticks and even underwear, just to name a few things. More fans buying some extra products now can really help a band’s bottom line.
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