As someone who loves attending concerts, I am well aware of something known as concert etiquette. And I believe everyone else should also know about it. Maybe I’ll distribute flyers at the next concert I go to. It’s the simple things that make watching your favourite performer take to stage a better experience. For example, I get tickets closer to the stage and ensure I go earlier than the actual time (the gates open at 6pm is a suggestion) just so that I can get a good spot – where I can actually see the artist (short people problems, you see). But then there are people who love to ruin your well-planned agenda. That one person will just push through the crowd, and stand in front of you like it’s NBD. Then because being considerate is too much to ask, they will swing their glass which is filled to the brim with a drink and end up spilling it on you. Then, they will step on your toes as the music goes upbeat, jumping as soon as the gig begins. There’s always this one couple where the guy will lift the girl on his shoulders despite being in the front, and having a good view of the artist on stage. Do they not understand there are other people who are here for the concert too?
While it is difficult to control these aspects or convince people to be mindful of other people in the crowd, what someone can definitely control is the urge to throw a random object towards the performer on stage. Yup, this has become a new trend of late and people are getting…creative. From phones to jewellery to ashes, there’s a sudden upswing in fans throwing bizarre and dangerous things at artists. It’s gotten to the point where the singers have been seriously injured or have had to stop the performance and take a few minutes off to recalibrate. It’s getting out of hand–to say the least–and it needs to stop.
Recent Incidents Of Fans Throwing Things At Artists
27-year-old concertgoer Nicolas Malvagna hurled a phone at Bebe Rexha, which hit her near her eye when she was performing in New York City. The singer collapsed on stage and later posted a picture of her bruised eye captioned “I’m good.”
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According to the criminal complaint, Malvagna reportedly said that he was trying to see if he could hit her with the phone at the end of the show “because it would be funny” while adding that it’s a “TikTok trend.” Wow. Justifiable reasoning. As a precautionary measure, Rexa has resorted to wearing protective goggles when she sets foot on stage and it’s understandable. I would do the same.
In another instance, an audience member got on stage and assaulted American singer Ava Max during her show in Los Angeles. He slapped her so hard, it scratched the inside of her eye. That’s just scary. She took to Twitter to describe her injury and also mentioned the fan is banned from all her future shows.
literally what does ava max do for somebody to come on stage and slap her in the face what is wrong with people pic.twitter.com/OrzhDWsPGJ
— joey (@emmarobcerts) June 21, 2023
Country pop singer Kelsea Ballerini got hit in the face when a concertgoer threw a bracelet at her during her gig in Boise, Idaho. She left the stage but then returned to finish her show and spoke about the incident saying, “Can we talk about what just happened? All I care about is keeping everyone safe. If you ever don’t feel safe, please let someone around you know. If anyone’s pushing too much or you just have that gut feeling, just always flag it…don’t throw things. You know? I just always want shows of mine—every show, for every artist—but I’m in control of this one. I just want it to be a safe place for everyone. Can you help me do that tonight?”
Someone from the Chicago arena crowd threw a cell phone at Drake on the opening night of his new tour, which hit his wrist. He didn’t react to it but it certainly could have caused injury. Some of the Swifties recently hurled bracelets at Taylor Swift during her ongoing Eras tour and you can see her bodyguards huddling around her, trying to protect her from getting hurt.
Drake was hit by a cell phone while performing in Chicago yesterday.
— Pop Tingz (@ThePopTingz) July 6, 2023
During his show in Vienna, a fan threw something at Harry Styles, hitting him in the eye and causing him to double over and walk off the stage for a bit. In another bizarre set of events, singer Pink was baffled when someone from the audience threw their mother’s cremated ashes at her. “I don’t know how I feel about this,” she had said. Neither do we.
P!nk is left shocked as fan throws mother’s ashes on-stage: “Step too far” pic.twitter.com/ildzAYuF8s
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) June 27, 2023
Fellow Musicians Speaking Up
Now, more than ever, the need for a conversation on good concert etiquette is crucial, and fellow artists have entered the chat. A fan-filmed video showed Adele making it very clear that you can’t mess with her and TBH, I love how she handled it. “Have you noticed how people are forgetting f***ing show etiquette at the moment? People are throwing sh*t on stage. Have you seen that?” asked Adele and then joked, “I f***ing dare you — I dare you to throw something at me. I’ll f***ing kill you.” Don’t worry, it was all said in good humour. You can watch the full video below.
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Charlie Puth also took to Twitter in support of artists Bebe, Ava and Kelsea and said,
This trend of throwing things at performers while they are on stage must come to an end. (Bebe, Ava, AND NOW Kelsea Ballerini…) It’s so disrespectful and very dangerous. Please just enjoy the music I beg of you…
— Charlie Puth (@charlieputh) June 29, 2023
You Gotta Put A Halt On The Hurls
The trend of throwing dangerous objects or striking someone on stage simply needs to stop. Even if it’s a soft object, don’t throw it. It’s disrespectful. In the age of social media, fans come from a place of wanting attention from the artist or simply wanting an act to become a viral moment at concerts. But one person’s desperation to win a popularity contest ruins things for the performer and the rest of the audience. It’s important to understand that while the artists respect the love their fans bestow on them, fans need to maintain boundaries. It puts artists in a tricky space where they are wary of performing or of their fan base. The fact that Bebe Rexa now wears protective goggles every time she comes on stage is proof of it.
Sing your heart out, enjoy the vibe, and relish the moment of watching your favourite singer live in front of your eyes. Concerts are way more fun without objects being hurled at artists on stage and when everyone behaves in a humane way. It’ easy to not throw things, so let’s just do that.
