Last night I went to the concert of a well-know artist in the world of Christian music. His songs are among my favorites, so I was excited to see him live for the first time. The show started off well, and he promised the audience an evening of praising and glorifying God.
He wove difficult, sometimes unanswerable, questions throughout the performance, stopping between each song to ponder the issues of his life. Unfortunately, with each question, his unhappiness and inner conflict became clearer. He stated after the first song that this particular tour was hard for him, and he was feeling tired. This progressed throughout the show until, towards the end, he said he was having a bad day and explained why, in detail. Not only did he “dump” on the audience (his words, not mine) but he missed lyrics and even entire verses of songs. His two most recent hits were left out of the show completely.
He promised an evening of praise, but delivered what felt more like a counseling session with a patient who was unable to hear the guidance of the doctor. When people called out from the audience to voice their support for him, he told them he didn’t want their encouragement. It tuned out to be a depressing event, rather than the uplifting one he said it would be.
I still love this artist’s music and would be willing to see him perform again, in hopes of catching him on a better day. But, my question to you is this: do performers have an obligation to deliver on their promises? Is it acceptable for them to have a “bad day” during a show? After all, they’re only human, right? But how would you feel if your hair stylist had a bad day during your haircut? Or your hygienist during your cleaning? Let’s hear what you think!
2 comments:
Dianne, Intriguing! I feel for the guy but it was a very non-professional thing to do. He had a major lack in judgment. I would forgive him and pray for him but also email him my concerns about his professional demeanor. Living for Jesus is not an excuse to be less than excellent at your job. God uses weaknesses of each of us and I am sure He will use this singer's weakness, too. But maturity and common sense were lacking in the guys responsibility to do his job. So, that's my two cents.
IMHO, an evening of praise would have lifted his spirits and chased away the doldrums. Isn't that why the audience was there?
Post a Comment