Traffic News

(9/6/02, 10 a.m. ET) -- Dave Mason is one of the people who haven't let the terror attacks of September 11 affect how he lives his life. With the one-year anniversary approaching, LAUNCH asked the Traffic singer-guitarist, who always seems to be on the road, how he's dealt with things like travel to and from gigs.

Mason said, "We were on a plane five days after that, playing shows in Florida. You know, the first thing I did was get on stage and just say, 'Here's the deal--we got on planes and came here to play for you people, so do not hide in your houses. Go out and shop--for America.' You know, I've spent 30 years on the road, and I don't know how many million miles I've flown and driven, but I can't...You know, if you think about all that stuff too much, you're just going to be immobilized or, with something like that, then they've won--then whatever it is they try, were trying to do, they've succeeded."

However, Mason told LAUNCH that his personal politics tend to the right, and he saw another, separate meaning in the attacks. "I just think that in a way, it was a wake-up call for this country. It's tragic, but...Freedom is a responsibility. Freedom's not unlimited choice to do whatever it is the hell you feel like. Freedom has a responsibility to it, and I see a lot of things socially that are just...just make me want to cringe in this country. I see a lot of old values getting chucked aside that a lot of people might call 'old-fashioned values'--I just think they're universal values. I see a lot of social etiquette getting tossed aside. I see things just done for the sake of being different. I don't agree with that."

Mason is on the road in support of two DVDs--Live At Sunrise, recorded last year, and Live At Perkins Palace from 1981--as well as a Live At Perkins Palace live album. He plays the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds next Friday (September 13).

-- Bruce Simon, New York

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