How Will Country Music Change After Las Vegas Mass Shooting?

This morning's show was the hardest show to ever get through.  The Las Vegas shooting is now the most horrific shooting in US history, and it was targeted at our community.  Yes it happened on the other side of the country in Las Vegas, but the effects ripple through country  music.  How do we go on?  How will this change country music festivals?

We really couldn't talk about anything else this morning.  We needed to address what was happening, and it was really painful to see the videos and the stories that were coming out about how absolutely horrible it was.  Lauren and I decided it would be best to keep updating our listeners and throw the rest of the show away.  This was breaking news that really hits home for us.

We had plans this morning to give away WE Fest tickets, but immediately we knew that wouldn't be appropriate.  In fact, not much was appropriate to talk about other than this tragic loss of life.

Of course this isn't the first time a violent attack has broken out at a concert venue.  Recently, Ariana Grande's concert attack come to mind.   But this one was more personal for me.  For one, it happened at a place that everyone goes to or has been too: Las Vegas.  Secondly, both Lauren and I know people who are in Las Vegas right now.  There was a definite panic this morning as I waited to hear back if they were OK.

This could have been any one of us going to this show.   Things will change following this event.  Concert security has to now look beyond who gets in to a festival.  Now they'll have to look at an extended perimeter, and is there really a way to ever prevent this from happening?

The gun debate will continue and heat up, but I think it's worth noting that the weapons used were obviously fully automatic rifles.  Those are already illegal, and how this shooter got his hands on those is really an important fact that will hopefully be uncovered.

For us locally, it will be hard to go to a music venue without always having this in the back of your mind.  It truly has changed country music forever.

Our hearts go out to the victims and their families.  But sadly, those are just words that will bring no comfort to those who lost someone.