SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Local frontman Spencer Wilt made an impassioned declaration to the Coronavirus “and other infectious diseases,” clarifying that highly contagious sicknesses of any kind responsible for worldwide panic are “not welcome in this scene,” witnesses confirmed.
“Yeah, as I walked in they were finishing up their first song and their singer was going off about ‘keeping COVID-19 out of the scene.’ Don’t get me wrong: I agree with him, but why bring it up?” said Melissa Nguyen of the bold stance that elicited tepid applause, along with a solitary “woo” from the crowd. “I mean, is that a thing? I don’t think that’s a thing, is it? None of us should really even be here right now. It would be much smarter to have stayed home.”
Multiple sources report Wilt returned to the topic of pandemics after nearly every song.
“Hey! Listen up. If you think it’s cool to kill old people just because their immune systems aren’t as strong, well, there’s the fucking door,” said the vegan, straight-edge frontman before making a dramatic gesture to an emergency exit sign to the left of the stage. “That sort of bullshit has no place within these walls.
“You don’t see me going around clogging the airways of everyone that gave our demo a bad review, do you? No, because that shit isn’t what hardcore is about. This song is off that demo, and you can get it at the merch table in the back. Bust it!”
Other members of Steady Focus had mixed emotions about their frontman’s message.
“We have talked with him about this over and over again. But each show, he gets kind of more fanatical about it. I think he really believes the Coronavirus is going to specifically attack the hardcore scene,” admitted drummer Mark Livingston. “I really don’t think that’s the case… although, we tend to congregate in tiny rooms with no ventilation so I don’t know.”
In a post-show interview, Wilt remained unfazed by criticism of his between-song banter.
“Did you know Coronavirus has caused tours all over the country to be canceled?” Wilt asked while loading his tour van. “It seems like I am the only one even talking about this. In New York people stood up to run out the Nazis, I am standing up to run out the airborne diseases.”