After the attack in Paris last week with 89 people being killed at a concert at Le Bataclan, everyone in the music business is shocked and grieved! And we react accordingly. Some Dutch venues have increased safety measures by using twice as much security people ans searching every single visitor and his/her bag. Prince is postponing his European tour.
The targeted attack on pop music affects us all. Music is important to us. Music can cross borders and connect people, even if they don’t understand each others language. Music is a very powerful tool, that’s probably why it is attacked by IS. It frightens me! And I have so many questions!
Will there be more attacks? Do ‘they’ (IS) care what kind of music it is? Are smaller venues safer than bigger ones? Will the audience still dare to go to shows? Will it still be fun to go to a show with all the extra security? How many fake alarms will we get? How many shows will be cancelled?
“The enemy is fear. We think it is hate, but it is fear.” (Mahatma Gandhi)
All the questions above do sound quite legit, still they are all caused by my fear. It’s the fear for new attacks and the fear for how others react on it. When fear rules our behavior, we want to protect ourselves or run away. There is no space for anything else. When scared, we put on winkers and don’t dare to look around us anymore. We interpret everything in order to confirm our fear. Prince is postponing his tour, see, there are already shows being cancelled! All the questions above are asked from the fear for more attacks and the fear for business. Instead, I could also look for the power of music!
When reigned by fear, every package in a bag will be suspicious; any visitor of a show might be a threat. And we will behave accordingly. Bands will keep distance to the audience, the visitors will be distant and suspicious to other visitors.
Strangely enough, if we want to change the behavior of others, we can start with changing our behavior towards others. That’s what all the books of Dale Carnegie are about.
“If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” (Dale Carnegie)
Let’s go out and conquer fear; let’s connect to each other, how ever strange or suspicious the other person might seem; let’s spread the power of music. There is no better answer to the attacks than this.