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See me after the show: when pop stars attack their own audiences See me after the show: when pop stars attack their own audiences
(about 4 hours later)
If you know anything about Mark Kozelek – creator, as Sun Kil Moon, of some the most beautiful and wondrous ballads – then you’ll know that he can be, well, a little tetchy when performing. This is a singer who once asked a man in the crowd to “meet him outside the venue after the show to settle a disagreement with their fists”. But last week at the Hopscotch music festival in Raleigh, he took it up a notch, calling the crowd “fucking hillbillies”, and threatening to walk off if they didn’t “shut the fuck up”. If you know anything about Mark Kozelek – creator, as Sun Kil Moon, of some the most beautiful and wondrous ballads – then you’ll know that he can be, well, a little tetchy when performing. This is a singer who, according to this Quietus piece, once asked a man in the crowd to “meet him outside the venue after the show to settle a disagreement with their fists”. But last week at the Hopscotch music festival in Raleigh, he took it up a notch, calling the crowd “fucking hillbillies”, and threatening to walk off if they didn’t “shut the fuck up”.
But what do the audience actually owe the performer? Doesn’t paying their money mean they can do pretty much what they want – whether that means talking through the show, throwing crisps or using their phones to create blurry 20-second videos they’ll never watch again? When Kate Bush asked for fans to refrain from using their phones at her show it was impeccably observed. But others aren’t so lucky. Indeed, Bruce Dickinson became so enraged by one fan texting during the show that he stopped the gig to berate him, using the most industrial of language.But what do the audience actually owe the performer? Doesn’t paying their money mean they can do pretty much what they want – whether that means talking through the show, throwing crisps or using their phones to create blurry 20-second videos they’ll never watch again? When Kate Bush asked for fans to refrain from using their phones at her show it was impeccably observed. But others aren’t so lucky. Indeed, Bruce Dickinson became so enraged by one fan texting during the show that he stopped the gig to berate him, using the most industrial of language.
When musicians reach breaking point the results can be spectacular, as these six examples illustrate ...When musicians reach breaking point the results can be spectacular, as these six examples illustrate ...
1. Badly Drawn Boy’s charm offensive1. Badly Drawn Boy’s charm offensive
It wouldn’t be a Badly Drawn Boy concert without some moaning and creative swearing. At a gig in LA in 2010, though, Damon Gough had a meltdown on stage, stopping and starting one song after another, before calling his audience “LA twats”. Then, at an Elliott Smith tribute show last year, he told a heckler to “fuck off and die”, while at a “family” concert in Northampton he complained of being bored and called one young mother a “cunt”. He later apologised, explaining “both personal and work pressures have come to a head in the last month or so and sometimes I find it very difficult to control my emotions whilst on stage”.It wouldn’t be a Badly Drawn Boy concert without some moaning and creative swearing. At a gig in LA in 2010, though, Damon Gough had a meltdown on stage, stopping and starting one song after another, before calling his audience “LA twats”. Then, at an Elliott Smith tribute show last year, he told a heckler to “fuck off and die”, while at a “family” concert in Northampton he complained of being bored and called one young mother a “cunt”. He later apologised, explaining “both personal and work pressures have come to a head in the last month or so and sometimes I find it very difficult to control my emotions whilst on stage”.
2. Action Bronson dishes out bad behaviour lessons2. Action Bronson dishes out bad behaviour lessons
A more schoolteacher-like approach was taken by rapper Action Bronson when he reprimanded a fan for throwing a cigarette at him on stage in Indiana last year. Bronson summoned the perpetrator on stage and instructed him to sit down, cross-legged. “You’ve been a bad boy,” he told him, before ordering the fan to go and sit behind the DJ booth. Someone tell Nicky Morgan: a career in secondary education beckons.A more schoolteacher-like approach was taken by rapper Action Bronson when he reprimanded a fan for throwing a cigarette at him on stage in Indiana last year. Bronson summoned the perpetrator on stage and instructed him to sit down, cross-legged. “You’ve been a bad boy,” he told him, before ordering the fan to go and sit behind the DJ booth. Someone tell Nicky Morgan: a career in secondary education beckons.
3. Kanye West masks his true feelings3. Kanye West masks his true feelings
In a move that perhaps reflects the true essence of Kanye, the rapper once threw a fan out of a show for telling him to take off his diamond-encrusted mask. It seems that no one tells him to do that, and Kanye stopped mid-song to confront the fan. “You can see my face on the internet every muthafuckin’ day,” he screamed before continuing the performance. When the fan had the temerity to ask him to take his mask off for a second time, she crossed a line: “Don’t fucking heckle me. I’M KANYE MUTHAFUCKIN’ WEST,” he reminded her, before showing her the door.In a move that perhaps reflects the true essence of Kanye, the rapper once threw a fan out of a show for telling him to take off his diamond-encrusted mask. It seems that no one tells him to do that, and Kanye stopped mid-song to confront the fan. “You can see my face on the internet every muthafuckin’ day,” he screamed before continuing the performance. When the fan had the temerity to ask him to take his mask off for a second time, she crossed a line: “Don’t fucking heckle me. I’M KANYE MUTHAFUCKIN’ WEST,” he reminded her, before showing her the door.
4. Plan B resorts to Plan C: have a moan4. Plan B resorts to Plan C: have a moan
If you’re not going to mosh at a Plan B gig when are you going to mosh? And you know what? If you don’t mosh then you should “feel ashamed”. Well, that’s what Plan B thinks anyway. He cut short his slot supporting Eminem at Slane Castle in Ireland, because of the lack of response to his set. “The tamest fucking crowd of my life,” he exclaimed, before telling the crowd, “We don’t really wanna be here”, and leaving early. Charming.If you’re not going to mosh at a Plan B gig when are you going to mosh? And you know what? If you don’t mosh then you should “feel ashamed”. Well, that’s what Plan B thinks anyway. He cut short his slot supporting Eminem at Slane Castle in Ireland, because of the lack of response to his set. “The tamest fucking crowd of my life,” he exclaimed, before telling the crowd, “We don’t really wanna be here”, and leaving early. Charming.
5. Rihanna gets chippy5. Rihanna gets chippy
Being filmed on a mobile phone? No problem. Heckling? Sure, whatever. But imagine if you were attacked with CRISPS! That horrid fate befell Rihanna (she survived, somehow). Mere days after hitting an overly touchy fan with her microphone, RiRi berated her fans for pelting her with potato-based snacks (flavour unverified) as she performed in Manchester. “When you throw shit up here, that’s an epic fail. I wanna get your gifts, but I don’t want you to knock my people out before we do this shit.”Being filmed on a mobile phone? No problem. Heckling? Sure, whatever. But imagine if you were attacked with CRISPS! That horrid fate befell Rihanna (she survived, somehow). Mere days after hitting an overly touchy fan with her microphone, RiRi berated her fans for pelting her with potato-based snacks (flavour unverified) as she performed in Manchester. “When you throw shit up here, that’s an epic fail. I wanna get your gifts, but I don’t want you to knock my people out before we do this shit.”
6. Low experience a new low6. Low experience a new low
Low don’t always pander to fans’ expectations. At Rock the Garden festival last year, the Minnesotan band decided to play a 30-minute version of their drone epic Do You Know How to Waltz? to their rain-soaked fans. And in 2008, what started as an outburst from frontman Alan Sparhawk ended with him swinging his guitar wildly around his head and throwing it into – or quite possibly at – the crowd at End of the Road festival. He said he “was having a bad day” and “how everyone he loves hates him”. We’ve all been there, Alan.Low don’t always pander to fans’ expectations. At Rock the Garden festival last year, the Minnesotan band decided to play a 30-minute version of their drone epic Do You Know How to Waltz? to their rain-soaked fans. And in 2008, what started as an outburst from frontman Alan Sparhawk ended with him swinging his guitar wildly around his head and throwing it into – or quite possibly at – the crowd at End of the Road festival. He said he “was having a bad day” and “how everyone he loves hates him”. We’ve all been there, Alan.