All That Remains’ Phil Labonte Questions Punk Concert Charging $1K to Unvaccinated Fans
Punk's roots are in the anti-establishment, which has All That Remains vocalist Phil Labonte scratching his head about the mindset concerning a recently announced punk concert that was planning to charge vaccinated fans $18 while those not yet vaccinated would have to pay $999 for tickets.
The concert in question features a lineup of punk acts Teenage Bottlerocket, MakeWar and Rutterkin, with promoter Leadfoot Promotions recently viewing the pricing plan for the Florida-based show as an incentive for concertgoers to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
"I also wanted it to be a vaccine drive to get the fence-sitters off the fence," concert promoter Paul Williams told ABC News. "I wanted to get the kids that want to go to shows to go out and get their shots." Williams said that while initial reaction was mostly positive, he did receive some backlash stating, "To care about people being safe is very bad apparently. You can buy a full-price ticket and you'll be treated like everyone else."
One of those questioning the move was All That Remains' Phil Labonte, who while appearing on Rightly (as seen below) was quick to note the irony of a punk festival siding with government's push to get the general public vaccinated.
“Just the other day I saw that a punk rock band are doing concerts that if you are vaccinated you get in for $18 but if you’re not vaccinated it’s $1,000. How can you call yourself punk rock when you’re saying if you do what the government says it’s $18 but if you want to be an individual it’s $1,000," questioned Labonte, adding, "Poor individuals, beat it! Get out of here! I can’t see how that is in any way punk rock. Apparently that’s what punk rock is today.”
The discussion then segued into the state of modern punk rock and it diverging from its origins. “It used to be that people would make fun of Hot Topic and go ‘Oh ha ha ha Hot Topic punks,’ added Labonte. "But now that’s every punk because it’s only a look. It’s a style. It’s not attitude, it’s not really a lifestyle. It’s literally just a haircut and a T-shirt.”
Beyond the punk discussion, the chat touched on Labonte's thoughts that there needs to be an Article V convention in order to rewrite the Constitution and that a constitutional convention needs to take place to help settle an increasing national divide. Check out more of the discussion below.