S6 Ep. 44: The Summer of Love or Hate: Dawnie Walton on American Concert Culture

Journalist and novelist Dawnie Walton joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about U.S. concert culture. Why are live concerts so popular this summer and why have they so often become violent? Walton discusses how recent examples of fan violence speak to racism and sexism in American culture, as well as the role social media plays in fandom. Finally, she reads from her 2021 novel, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, which focuses on the fictional partnership between a Black American woman, singer Opal Jewel, and a white British man, guitarist Neville Charles, and discusses her story’s connection to the infamous Altamont Free Concert in 1969.

To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/

This episode of the podcast was produced by Lynn Snyder and Anne Kniggendorf.

Dawnie Walton

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev

Others:

“It's ‘Bey Day’ in ‘Swiftieapolis,’” by Tommy Wiita, Bring Me The News 

“How Taylor Swift Broke Ticketmaster,” by Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, Nov. 18, 2022

“No report filed for alleged attack at Monica concert: Detroit police,” by Jakkar Aimery, The Detroit News

“Bebe Rexha Hit in the Face by Thrown Cell Phone at NYC Concert,” by Tim Dickinson, Rolling Stone

“Ava Max and Bebe Rexha were attacked by men on stage at their own concerts, why?” by Furvah Shah, Cosmopolitan Magazine

“The Chaos of Altamont and the Murder of Meredith Hunter,” by Sasha Frere-Jones, The New Yorker, Mar. 28, 2019

“Jason Aldean's 'Small Town' is part of a long legacy with a very dark side,” by Amanda Marie Martinez, National Public Radio

“The traumatic story of Merry Clayton and The Rolling Stones,” by Arun Starkey, Far Out Magazine, Dec. 25, 2021

Black Country Music: Listening for Revolutions, by Francesca T. Royster 

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