Last week, Southwest Airlines announced its plan to have in-flight concerts on about 20 flights per year. The airline partnered with Warner Music Nashville for this concert series, meaning most acts will be country music.
Flying is torturous enough, but when you add to the equation a live performance of country music with no escape, suddenly a plane crash doesn't seem so bad. But If you search the #LiveAt35 hashtag on Twitter, you might be surprised to read that almost everyone enjoys the concerts.
We trolled Twitter looking for just one cynical, pissed-off tweet to justify our feelings about the marketing scheme, and we could not find one. "Best flight ever!" one flyer, Jenn Venerable, tweeted Dec. 8, 2016, during an in-flight performance by Irish band Walking on Cars.
These in-flight concerts aren't new for Southwest. The airline has been doing Live At 35 since 2011. Barenaked Ladies, Andy Grammer, Maddie and Tae, Gavin DeGraw and an American Idol winner have all participated.
The Observer spoke with Anthony Dumat, who enjoyed an in-flight concert by country singers Chris Young and Cassadee Pope during a promotional flight from Nashville to Memphis in early 2016.
"It kind of throws a kink into the mundane act of flying," he says. "There was a lot of excitement with it, and I thought it was pretty neat."
He says the two country singers sang about four songs, lasting 15 minutes, and that the sound came from the speaker system overhead. If you happen to be on one of the 20 flights with a concert next year, we hope you have the same attitude as Dumat. But it you don't, email us. We need the validation.
Best flight ever! @SouthwestAir concert #Liveat35 with Irish band Walking on Cars. Magical. ?? pic.twitter.com/UpAbZoBSpI
— Jenn Venerable (@jennerable) December 8, 2016
@WalkingOnCars thank you so much for the performance on @SouthwestAir #Liveat35 today! pic.twitter.com/xfOlQzkb4z
— Jenn Venerable (@jennerable) December 8, 2016
@SouthwestAir best flight I've ever been on! #liveat35 @4kingandcountry how fun! pic.twitter.com/eMHlIrSnLC
— Julie Howell Stutts (@gatorjuls) January 15, 2016
@lindsayell on @SouthwestAir #LiveAt35 with the @opry SUCH A TREAT! #CountryMusic #Nashville pic.twitter.com/y3ub1315km
— Nadine-Angela (@nadineangela) August 3, 2016
