Leap Of Faith : Watsky at Warped Tour
Three days ago, rapper George Watsky made the decision to jump off a lighting rig during his set at Warped Tour in Alexandra, making headlines in national newspapers everywhere and prompting response for the foolishness of his actions. Having been present at the event when it occurred however, I'd like to mention a couple of things and bring in my own light into what happened.
Firstly, the jump really did not come as a surprise once he started climbing the ladder. Within about 10 seconds of watching Watsky climb, it became increasingly clear that he was going to jump off the lighting rig and I really don’t think I am the only one who realised this. At no point did he slow down while climbing the ladder up to the rig to sing so why would he have done so after he reached the top? Would he then calmly come down the ladder after finishing his song after the crescendo of the response from the audience?
I will say that it may have been slightly misleading as he did take his microphone up the ladder but as soon as he got to the top, he left it on the side before proceeding to walk slightly along the rig and then dive right at the end of the song. Now, please don’t think I’m blaming the crowd for parting; it was only instinct that they did what they did and the crowd wasn’t dense enough anyway for the dive to have been successful at such a height. However, I do want to know what security was doing at the time. I hadn’t been close enough to see what the security had been doing but in my opinion, they most probably did have time to stop Watsky. (This is an observation, I am not pointing the finger at anyone.)
I do not condone his actions nor do I think it was particularly smart of him to take such a risk but we have to remember something quite important: the dive was not planned. Having been present at the set when this occurred, I saw the looks on the faces of the band members which most certainly confirmed this had been a spur of the moment decision for Watsky.
This was not a publicity stunt; to say otherwise would be to go against what Watsky himself and his music stand for. What he had done was to make an instinctive decision to end his performance on the climax it had been building towards, though this unfortunately did not end as he must have hoped. As much of an assumption this may be, this is still an assumption based on his music and music for many artists are insights to their identities. Watsky in particular made one song about his work ethic, which can be seen below. (Lyrics are in the description in case you can’t hear what he’s saying as he raps quite quickly.)
Why would a man who even raps about working hard ruin his career which he has worked so hard to achieve with a stunt that goes wrong?
Whatever happened was the result of one stupid decision which although he should be held responsible for, shouldn’t be something hanging over his head throughout his career, nor should it be the only thing he is remembered for. Because quite frankly, had it not happened, he would have been remembered as being the rapper who made the people expecting a rock band have a good time.
