Aaron Lewis Stops Concert, Twists Off On “Molesters”
Warning: Language
We’ve seen these moments more and more at concerts, especially country music concerts where an artist has to stop everything down because someone in the crowd is acting completely inappropriate, but this instance may take the cake. Recent country music convert Aaron Lewis was manning the mic as part of his other gig as the frontman for the angry emo rock band Staind during the last weekends Rockfest in Kansas City, when he stopped the concert down during the song “Something To Remind You” to twist off on guys copping a feel on a 15-year-old crowd surfer. While smoking a cigarette and sporting a shirt of Johnny Cash flipping the bird, the Staind frontman said:
Alright, listen up, you fucking assholes. That fucking girl right there is, like, 15 fucking years old and you fucking pieces of shit are molesting her while she’s on the fucking crowd. Your fucking mothers should be ashamed of themselves, you pieces of shit. You should all be fucking beaten down by everyone around you for being fucking pieces of shit. If I fucking see that shit again, I swear to God, I will point you out in the crowd and have everyone around you beat your fucking ass.
Apparently Lewis got his point across, because the concert proceeded without further incident.
Aaron’s outburst is reminiscent of other artists having to stop down concerts this year, mostly for fighting. Jason Isbell had to stop down as show in Madison, Wisconsin in February for fighting. Jake Owen came to the aid of a girl who was being hit by a man in Ft. Wayne. And Tim McGraw while in Wheatland, CA had to call out concertgoers for brawling.
Arron Lewis has proven himself to be protective of women before. In January he debuted an alternate version of Tyler Farr’s creepy stalking song “Redneck Crazy” written by Zach Woods. “I just always thought the message of this song was pretty fucked up,” he said about the original song. Lewis himself has three daughters, Zoe Jane, Nyla Rae and Indie Shay.
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June 3, 2014 @ 8:47 am
Not that it matters, but I’d call Staind a post-grunge band. Emo rock is a whole different Hawthorne Heights infested animal.
June 3, 2014 @ 2:05 pm
Trigger has called Staind “butt-rock” before, so let’s just leave it at that! 😉
July 31, 2014 @ 10:32 pm
I’ve never understood the label of post-grunge. With “original” grunge, it was a tangible genre and scene, if not sound. Post-grunge is just a name that was slapped on to any mid to late ’90s rock that was slightly dark or alternative. What does that even mean? Aside from the fact that pretentious grunge fans were so disgusted by the idea of new bands infiltrating “their” scene and as such had to name them something else, what is it? A sound? A mood? Quite a bit but not all post-grunge is basically just grunge or hard rock. Hell, I’ve had people tell me that post-grunge bands aren’t hard rock, so where does that leave us?
June 3, 2014 @ 8:59 am
This concert is not too far from my home.
It’s nice to see someone actually do something about the animals in the crowd, but every year the stories about fights always outweigh the “good time” stories. Not one of my friends who have gone to this venue has anything good to say about it, and never stays for the whole show.
I actually went to this venue last year, and it’s just ridiculous how many people they let into that park. Eventually you just get tired of watching burn out hippies puking everywhere, alcohol fueled roid freaks shoving everyone around to get to the front of the crowd, and never actually watching the show because you’re too busy ducking the crowd surfers.
After about a quarter of the show, I turned around from the stage and saw nothing but faces behind me. And fights happening every direction. Too many people crammed in together under the blazing Kansas Sun (not this year though) and moderate beer prices make for a pretty hostile environment.
The radio station that puts it on loves saying it’s the biggest one-day festival in the country… well they can have it. They’re tucked away safely backstage.
Lewis says the molesters in the audience should be ashamed. And they should. But I say the 15 year old’s parents should be ashamed for letting her go in the first place.
June 3, 2014 @ 9:14 am
I forgot to add the reason why i’ll never go back to this venue.
During a session of crowd surfing, I noticed one girl who appeared to be having a good time. Until the people moving her around started grabbing her clothes.
Her laughs turned to screaming demands to be put down, but by time she did, her shirt had been ripped to shreds, and I’m not sure her bra was left in tact.
The animals even got her denim shorts in pieces.
The security in this venue is hopelessly outnumbered hundreds to one. And since it’s an outdoor concert, there’s no Maximum Capacity.
So if molesting is bad, I wonder what Lewis would think of assault.
June 3, 2014 @ 9:43 am
To Phantom Spaceman’s point, this one of the reasons I shrug off so many shows. The ticket sales far exceed any comfortable, sane or even sanitary capacity at many venues. Here in our neck of the woods for example First Avenue in MPLS crams people in with a crowbar. Then throw in lots of people stuck with shitty or non-existent sightlines, filthy facilities, and overpriced everything. The overcrowding makes it difficult to control the A-holes who as we all know by a large majority, like it or not, are men.
Good on Aaron Lewis for trying to make a difference.
June 3, 2014 @ 9:17 am
Man, this vertical video nonsense needs to stop.
People, when you take a video with your smart phone, hold it horizontally in Landscape mode so we can actually see what’s happening!
June 3, 2014 @ 9:32 am
That’s the first halfway decent thing Aaron Lewis has done in years. I’m glad he spoke up — despite his many offense against music — but man … Staind sucks, so bad.
I dunno who to feel more contempt for.. the people Lewis was yelling at or the dude at the start of the show making the devils horns sign for that weak ass shitty music.
June 3, 2014 @ 2:24 pm
Bet he makes you feel ashamed to share his first name, too! 😉
June 3, 2014 @ 9:51 am
Headline “Band who caters to douchebags outraged to find fans actually acting like douchebags”.
June 3, 2014 @ 10:27 am
I can’t think of a worse way to deal with a situation like that. If Staind didn’t cater to such a weak audience, he likely would have started a melee. If he has an eye on the offenders, as he said he did, why not just have security remove them. I’ve been unlucky enough to be near a fight at a crowded concert like that, and it could quickly escalate into people being injured or killed. What a moron.
June 3, 2014 @ 2:03 pm
Although I don’t like endorsing violence to stop other forms of harassment and believe in the positive powers of conflict mediation, I do think he handled the situation reasonably well.
Immediately after issuing a warning, he stopped his rant there, returned to “Something To Remind You”, and before singing asked the audience in a calmed-down tone: “Crowd-surf safely!” I appreciate that he made his point forcefully and, rather than continuing to stew in those juices, made a mature effort to move on and try re-setting a more positive tone.
June 6, 2014 @ 9:35 pm
Well said.
June 3, 2014 @ 2:48 pm
I like Lewis and Staind.
I’m glad he stopped the show to deal with this.
June 3, 2014 @ 3:50 pm
Sooooooo his “cool” response is to threaten violence. Not sure why this has gone viral. Just Mr. Lewis acting like a tough guy with a mic.
I will say that I’ve been to a lot of metal shows, including Staind a few times. This is normal. I’ve never chosen to crowd surf, the idea of a bunch of strange people touching me all over and then dropping me on my head never really appealed to me. I hate it when girls crowd surf because it is hard to keep them from kicking you in the face and also be mindful of where you are touching them.
June 3, 2014 @ 7:48 pm
I think at 15 I still had to be accompanied by an ‘adult’ (older brother, a friend’s cool uncle) to a show of this nature. Where was the ‘adult’ during the alleged molestation? If there wasn’t one or if that person just didn’t care, why is it Lewis’ responsibility to police the audience? Isn’t that the job of ushers and security? I personally get annoyed when artists pull this shit. Unless it’s a Meredith Hunter situation, artists should be considerate of the other hundred and thousands of paying fans in attendance.
June 4, 2014 @ 11:41 am
his country music still sucks
June 4, 2014 @ 12:02 pm
This girl is 15yrs old and it’s not a big deal.
Besides she could have been flirting with the guys in the crowd.
June 5, 2014 @ 10:32 pm
Normally I don’t feed the trolls, but this type of attitude is precisely the reason 15-year-old girls (and hell, girls and women of any age) are at risk at concerts (and on the street and at school and do I really need to keep going?).
Grown men should not be groping anyone, much less an UNDERAGE 15-year-old. Also, let’s assume she might have been flirting (riiiight). Flirting does not equal consent to be molested. EVER.
Those men committed sexual assault and they should have been arrested. At least Lewis had the presence of mind to stop it (even though he should have had them kicked out on the spot).
June 4, 2014 @ 1:45 pm
I saw him this past April at Rockville in Florida he stopped the show then too because guys were starting to get too touchy with the women that were crowd surfing, I gained respect for him the festival was wonderful with that one exception & I am glad he noticed it.
June 5, 2014 @ 9:29 am
It’s actually a little scary listening to him. But it’s good that he is willing to get so angry over something like that. I know that rockers especially would probably be okay with stuff like that…..but why was a 15 year old girl surfing the crowd? What does she expect a bunch of drunk assholes to do?
June 5, 2014 @ 9:45 am
ahhhh…. a little calculated in my view.
Could have stooped the show, directed security over there and had the guys yanked. He was actually lucky his tough guy speech didn’t invoke an all out riot cause it easily could have.
Also, with others commenting that he has “stopped the show for this before”, it sounds like he could come out and say this before the show starts, so as to prevent it.
But given the history of this at his shows…, seems a bit calculated to me.
June 8, 2014 @ 10:15 pm
I saw Staind in Grand Island, NE in 2007. This same exact thing happened. This isn’t a great video, but it’s further evidence that he does stick up for women. Good for him!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gqm0dLfyNQ