Are summer concert-goers OK?
Bryan Adams is the latest artist to be caught off-guard by a fan’s questionable concert etiquette. At his Salt Lake City concert earlier this month, Adams sang the opening line to “Summer of ’69” — “I got my first real six-string” — and a rowdy audience member rushed the stage. The guy slid in front of Adams and stole his microphone, just in time to belt out the next lyrics: “Bought it at the five and dime, Played it ‘til my fingers bled.”
The wanna-be rocker then made rock ’n roll’s ubiquitous “devil’s horns” hand gesture as several members of the security team hauled him off stage.
Adams handled the incident like a pro, and returned to the mic to sing the next line of the hit as the audience cheered.
The Canadian rocker shared a video of the moment to his Instagram, writing in the caption, “Sometimes you just gotta laugh…#stagecrasher #summerof69”
Adams is touring with “Bad Reputation” group Joan Jett and the Blackhearts for the summer of 2023 as part of the 26-concert So Happy It Hurts Tour, with stops around North America through August. The two rock legends will hit the Kia Forum in Inglewood on July 29.
The ordeal at Adams’ concert is the latest in a string of bizarre and alarming incidents that have plagued shows this summer.
Although this kind of thing has happened sporadically at concerts (since forever), issues began to ramp up last month in New York City, when Bebe Rexha was hit in the face with a cellphone, resulting in a man getting arrested and the singer getting stitches.
Nicolas Malvagna, 27, of New Jersey, was arrested and charged with assault for allegedly throwing his phone at Rexha, the New York Police Department confirmed to The Times. “I was trying to see if I could hit her with the phone at the end of the show because it would be funny,” Malvagna said, according to a criminal complaint.
Then in London, at British Summer Time’s Hyde Park Festival a week and a half later, a concertgoer left their mother’s cremated remains on stage while Pink performed “Just Like a Pill.” Pink asked the fan, “Is this your mom?” while holding up the bag of what appeared to be a gray powder. The fan confirmed it was, and the “F— Perfect” singer said, “I don’t know how to feel about this.”
Also in June, singer-songwriter Ava Max was slapped by a show attendee onstage during her L.A. show.
“He slapped me so hard that he scratched the inside of my eye,” the “Sweet but Psycho” artist tweeted. “He’s never coming to a show again thank you to the fans for being spectacular tonight in LA though!!”
And Harry Styles, who was hit in the groin by a flying water bottle last year, suffered a blow to the eye from an unidentified object thrown from the crowd while he performed at Vienna’s Ernst-Happel-Stadion this month.
In a viral clip posted by user @harryloustan1, the “Watermelon Sugar” singer is seen getting hit by an item and wincing in pain. He also covers his eye and forehead with his hand while walking to the back of the stage.
