it's not rock n roll to trash your instrument

A video entitled "10 AWESOME GUITAR DESTRUCTION MOMENTS" popped up in my feed the other day. I watched it and winced. Then I thought... "Awesome" - is that really the word we're using to describe what is essentially a temper tantrum?

Why is destroying a lovingly crafted vessel of your creativity seen as a GOOD THING? Why are people in the crowd cheering as Billy Joe snaps his expensive guitar in half? Does this behaviour warrant cheering?

We don't cheer when football hooligans smash shop windows. YouTube isn't littered with "10 AWESOME TODDLERS SMASHING AN IPAD" compilation videos. How is destroying a guitar any different? What exactly is it about this flagrant act of mindless destruction that people buy into? Is trashing the stage a powerful display of punk rock attitude, or... is it really just some entitled prick having a hissy fit?

I think my main issue with the majority of "awesome guitar destruction" is that it's done by musicians who sell out arenas. They have so much money and lucrative endorsement deals, that smashing a beautiful guitar is inconsequential to them. It's a bit like rubbing their wealth in the audiences faces. Hey, you see this Les Paul that you will never be able to afford? Well, this means so little to me that I will destroy it in front of you. Look on and envy my excessive lifestyle, peasants!

As soon as a band starts treating their instrument like shit on stage, they become extremely unrelatable to me. I just can't grasp the mindset.

As a musician, I've played loads of terrible gigs where everything goes wrong. When this happens, you want the floor to open and swallow you up. You want to punch...something. But never have I felt the urge to attack the one thing that means most to me - the guitar I write all my riffs on. The guitar I sit and play every night. This thing is my best bud, and no matter how tough the gig - I could never take my frustrations out on it. I TREASURE my guitar and I always will - even if I end up endorsed and playing huge shows (ha, unlikely). I just can't imagine how you get to a point where you have such little value for the instrument you express yourself with.

I also can't imagine getting to the mindset where you are so privileged that you would rather smash up an expensive guitar than say - donate it to charity, or give it to a poor, aspiring musician. THINK OF THE GOOD YOU COULD DO by passing that instrument on. There's so much potential thwarted every time an arrogant rock star hurls their guitar across the stage. What does it achieve? People may argue that smashing a guitar is a statement. But what does this statement actually SAY, beyond "I'm too rich and aloof to care?"