Classic Metal Class Session 6 — Ethics of Metal Bands Post-Farewell Tours
Going back on the road after saying goodbye — is that wrong for metal bands to do?
Since I go occasionally by the title of “heavy metal philosopher,” and in my professional life specialize in the field of Ethics — and since my co-host, Scott Tarulli, often brings up questions of right and wrong in our discussions, it seems pretty natural that we’d begin exploring and analyzing ethical issues and quandaries sometime in the course of our monthly Classic Metal Class sessions. So for session six, we selected a topic that not only both of us had some definite opinions about, but has also been a point of controversy between some major figures in the world of heavy metal.
Dee Snyder has probably been the most consistently vocal and articulate critic of bands going out on what they bill and sell as farewell tours, and then not ending their touring. He has made a great case for this being ethically wrong, exploitative of metal fans who pay inflated prices for tickets and merch under the assumption that the end of the road for a band is precisely that. There’s a kind of implicit contract, or what you might call (echoing W.D. Ross) a duty of fidelity, that gets violated in the process. Snyder also notes another important point — using his own band Twisted Sister as a case in point — namely, that as bands and their members age, they owe it to their fans to hang it up when they can no longer reliably deliver the goods in live performance.
Snyder, among others, has been making these arguments for a number of years, not least because there have been a number of rather egregious examples in the metal world, including:
- Ozzy Osbourne’s No More Tours I (1992), which clearly was not his final tour, and No More Tours II (2018-ongoing/postponed)
- KISS’s Farewell Tour (2000–2001), also clearly not such, and their End of the Road Tour (2019-ongoing)
- The Scorpions Final Tour (2010–2012), which obviously was not the end for them
- Judas Priest’s Epitaph Tour (2011–2012), which was supposed to have been a final tour
- Motley Crue’s Final Tour (2014–2016), which wasn’t such, since they’re touring at present
- Manowar’s The Final Battle World Tour (2016–2018), and. . . they’re touring again as well
We could multiply instances, no doubt. Scott and I were particularly interested in distinguishing, clarifying, and evaluating a number of ethical issues, quite a few of which are raised by Snyder, but also by other prominent metal musicians and music writers, like Vinnie Appice, Chris Krovatin, and interestingly enough — before his band compromised their own commitment, Vince Neil.
We look at, and weigh merits of, the arguments that can be made for and against bands going back out on tour after doing an official farewell tour. Here’s the videorecording of the class session.
Scott and I end up working out a position that does recognize that for some bands, in some cases, there might be decently compelling reasons for a band to return to touring after an official farewell tour. Those reasons quite notably don’t include just making money, the right for bands to to whatever they want, the inability to stick with non-tour life, or the like.
Whatever the reason, a band that goes back on tour does have to find some way to explain their failure to follow through on a commitment they made to their fans, and ideally to restore the trust that might have been lost in the process.
This is likely an issue that we will approach thematically again sometime down the line. But for now, check out the in-depth discussion we give to it in the video.
And if you liked this session, you can also check out the many other sessions we’ve done as well!
I’m Greg Sadler, the Heavy Metal Philosopher. You can join me and my co-host Scott Tarulli each month for a new session of Classic Metal Class).
I’m also the president of ReasonIO, a speaker, writer, and a producer of highly popular YouTube videos on classic and contemporary philosophy. I teach at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, and offer classes to the wider public in my Study With Sadler online academy. I also produce the Sadler’s Lectures podcast and co-host the Wisdom for Life radio show
