In a sad bit of news today, Duff McKagan, former Guns N’ Roses and current Jane’s Addiction bassist, has been diagnosed with Bieber fever …
Ok, so maybe it isn’t as bad as I just made it sound. But in his latest column for the Seattle Weekly’s Reverb Blog, McKagan admitted that his daughter is an obsessed fan of Justin Bieber and that he is planning to –gulp – attend one of his shows with her. To many teen girls, Bieber is a heart throb, but to metalheads he is the Anti-Christ. However, once you get past your hate for Bieber, McKagan actually gives an entertaining view of his daughter’s fanatic obsession with the teen idol. It’s even a bit heartwarming to read McKagan describing the great lengths his daughter is going through to prep for her possible meeting with Bieber.
Amongst the anecdotes of a caring father, McKagan also gives an insightful observation of the current state of rock arena tours, or the lack thereof. He says:
“There was a day when rock tours sold out arenas, and tours came through town all the time. It is rare these days for a bona fide rock band to do an arena tour here in the States. Green Day, Metallica, and the Foo Fighters can do it, but few others. No, the real arena acts these days are things like Hannah Montana, the Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift, and The Bieber. I guess TV is the great difference-maker. MTV used to play music videos 24 hours a day, and these videos acted as commercials to whet the appetite for a ready youth market. These days, it’s all about the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon and the product that they push.”
It might not be a new revelation, but McKagan’s words ring very true. And as much as we all might loath the Bieber movement, he is truly a money-making machine, being one of the only artists selling out arenas during one of the worst Summers for tours ever. So I guess rather than jeering him for being corrupted by the current teen music phase, we should applaud Duff for being a good father. I know most dads wouldn’t be as optimistic about being dragged to shows by their kids.
