MUSIC: Keep politics out

I’ve been going to the concerts at Riverstone for years. The Coeur d’Alene Arts and Culture Alliance has done an outstanding service by providing this venue that enriches our community. However, Thursday night’s concert was a glaring exception.

The first mistake was to allow the Kootenai Democrats to sponsor the event. This gave the evening the air of a political rally, with candidates, booths, political advocacy and lots of folks wearing political T-shirts. I’m not questioning their right to do this (although, I do wonder…). But, the Alliance exercised very poor judgment by inviting the KC Dems to take over the event.

The band then threw jet fuel onto the fire, and ruined the evening for many (most?) in the audience. They started off with an extended diatribe about President Trump — not any policies, just about him as a person (and by implication, about his supporters as people). Many were deeply offended, and several walked out in anger.

These unprofessional bozos showed up late, and their music wasn’t very good — by far the poorest performance I’ve seen there. People steadily left throughout the evening — I’ve never seen this before.

There’s already too much political divisiveness, anger, and even hatred within America and in our community, and it’s literally tearing us apart. Politics have invaded nearly every aspect of our lives nowadays, and it’s sad the Riverstone concerts are the latest victim. I truly hope the A&C Alliance recognizes this mistake, and takes care to avoid it in the future.

MIKE PARKER

Coeur d’Alene