So I saw this article about how Kenny Chesney fans trashed Pittsburgh and I didn't get it. I can't think of another country fan group that had the distinction of being 'trashers'. Ok - yes, Jimmy Buffet's parrotheads are goofy and loud, but I don't think of them as well, rednecks run amok (at least not in any real destructive way). Going back a few years, I am certain that at the concerts of Willie Nelson there was the odor of a certain illegal substance wafting about, but lets be serious; potheads are rarely violent. So why Kenny fans?
There is a great deal of frustration out there I think. There are too many young people hurting in this economy and lacking a future or even prospects of a future. That frustration is going come out somewhere. Where else but Pittsburgh where unemployment is endemic? Yes, the rate is only reportedly 6.5% compared to elsewhere in the rust belt, that's nothing. I suspect the true statistics are much more frightening.
On the other hand, it is a shame if the former skinhead crowd has attached themselves to Kenny Chesney. There was this recent article about some redneck waving a rebel flag and shouting obscenities. I suspect they have latched on to the whole 'no shoes nation' thing a bit too literally. Hey jerks - it's a state of mind thing, not a literal way to live your life. There's a difference. That being said, there is a media bias to latch onto such behavior. Similar expressions of racism at a concert with a large non-white patronage would not be notable or even lauded by the press. Such is the state of today's discourse.
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