Ongoing History Daily: The correct way to handle morons who throw stuff at performers
This year as seen a disturbing trend of morons throwing something at the performers onstage, often hitting them and sometimes causing injury. I’ve never understood that. This is why I love this story about John McCrae and his band Cake.
They were playing a show in Berkeley, California, in September 2001, when John got beaned in the head with an empty orange juice container thrown from the audience. John stopped the show, leaped into the audience and pulled the kid who did it on stage. He put him in front of the microphone and wouldn’t let him go until he apologized to him and the audience.
The kid–cowering in embarrassment–did was he was told before being led away by security. Cake then re-started the show and the set ended without any more incidents.
Duran Duran at the Concert Hall 1982 (I think). Chatting up a girl next to me who was holding a bouquet of flowers for one of the band. The flowers were getting knocked about a bit in the crowd. I suggested to her that she should throw them to the roadie standing at the side of the stage. She then proceeded to throw them straight at Simon. Except Simon wasn’t at the mic, he was preparing to jump off a riser back onstage (it was probably during Hungry…) and inevitably his foot landed on the flowers and he ended up flat on his back. Show paused… knee wrapped, he finishes the show. A real trooper that Le Bon fella. Me? I slunk back into the crowd and never saw her again.