breaking guitars

The Clash, London Calling

Some people expressed outraged when Phoebe Bridgers smashed her Danelectro guitar on SNL. Her performance was in accordance with rock tradition. The Who, The Clash, Jimi Hendrix broke or set them alight over the years. It started with The Who as an accident, or possibly inspired by Pete Townshend’s art school education. The complaint against Bridgers was that it was contrived. Yes, it was planned. When artists break things on stage, it puts others in danger. Not planning is irresponsible. I believe Bridgers (4:19) was called out because she’s a woman. After all it’s OK for men to show anger on stage. For example, nobody tweeted a word the week before when Machine Gun Kelly (2:42) threw his guitar off stage. I guarantee it was not in great shape after it hit the floor. .