What are we doing?
Over the past couple years we’ve seen way too many instances of fans throwing things at artists during concerts. It’s like after live music returned following the pandemic people just completely forgot how to behave at concerts because it’s happened to several artists, and not just in country music.
Back in May of this year, Riley Green was left bleeding by a fan who threw their cell phone at him during a show in Australia:
And last year, Luke Bryan was also hit in the face with what appeared to be a ball or something during a performance at the North Dakota State Fair.
@wreckit.riss Poor @Luke Bryan got hit in the face during his encore 😅 carried on like a champ though #ndstatefair #lukebryan To use this video in a commercial player or in broadcasts, please contact [email protected]
In 2024, meanwhile, Zach Bryan stopped a concert after being hit by a Zyn can that was thrown on stage, shortly after another object had been thrown at – and hit – his guitarist, and in 2022 Koe Wetzel went off after he was hit by a bottle that was thrown at him:
@paytdf
We’ve also seen incidents involving Kelsea Ballerini, pop stars Bebe Rexha, Pink and Cardi B, and maybe most notable, Morgan Wallen, who seems to get cell phones thrown at him pretty much every time he steps on stage.
I’m not sure why people think it’s appropriate, but it’s a dangerous and disturbing trend that needs to stop before someone gets hurt.
And while it’s easy to dismiss it as only happening to artists whose fans have a history of bad behavior, last night Billy Strings became the latest victim after getting hit in the head at his own concert.
The bluegrass superstar was playing a show at Fishers Event Center in Fishers, Indiana when something came flying out of the crowd and hit him directly on the head.
Ironically, Billy was in the middle of talking to the crowd about how happy he was to be in Indiana after having to postpone the show’s original date when he broke his leg in a skateboarding accident back in April. And obviously he wasn’t happy about being hit in the head with…whatever it was, and changed his tune pretty quickly:
“What the hell man? Maybe not. Maybe I shouldn’t have came back.”
He then went off on the fan who threw whatever it was on stage (some people are saying it was a lighter, but it’s hard to tell from the video).
“You know, why the f–k would you throw something at me? Is your d–k really that small? I was just getting ready to say how much I’m happy to be here, and I love you guys and all this s–t and then you throw something and it hits me right in the f–king head. Find out who that was and sodomize them, please.”
Well that’s one way to deal with it.
@mr.johnny.palmer Stop throwing things at Billy 8.6.26 Fishers, Indiana #BMFS #Fishers #BillyStrings @Billy Strings
Fans who were watching said that Billy’s demeanor noticeably changed after the incident, and he didn’t appear to be in nearly as good a mood or have any interest in talking to the crowd after being hit in the head. But you can’t really blame him, because obviously that’s pretty ridiculous.
And I know, it’s not the majority of fans who behave this way at concerts, but it’s clear that there are too many people who think that it’s ok to throw things on stage during a concert for whatever reason. Maybe they weren’t actually trying to hit him with it and were just trying to give him a gift or whatever, but regardless it’s stupid and completely unacceptable to throw things during a concert and needs to stop before somebody gets hurt.
