Man Killed In Assault at a Hank Williams Jr. Concert in Michigan
UPDATE (8-24): The Oakland County Sheriff’s Department has ruled the death a homicide, though the investigation is considered still to be ongoing, and no charges have been filed. “Preliminary information said that kind of a shoving altercation was occurring between the teenager and the victim,” Sheriff Mike Bouchard said. “Early information is that it actually precipitated by the victim.”
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Robert Kobe of Westland, Michigan was pronounced dead Tuesday (8-19) at 12:04 PM after being assaulted at a Hank Williams Jr. concert at the DTE Energy Music Theatre in Independence Township, Michigan on Sunday, August 17th. The 55-year-old man suffered a serious head injury at the hands of a 15-year-old male who shoved him in the concourse area, resulting in the man hitting his head violently on the concrete floor according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.
Witnesses describe the teen shoving Robert Kobe just before 9 PM, and then attempting to flee the scene. The victim was found in a pool of blood on the concourse, while bystanders caught and detained the teen until police arrived. The teen was attending the concert with his father.
Robert Kobe was rushed to McLaren Oakland Hospital in Pontiac, MI where he was placed on life support and was reported to be in very grave condition on Monday. Early Tuesday afternoon, Robert Kobe died of his injuries.
The teen was detained at the Oakland County’s Children’s Village juvenile detention facility on Sunday night, and was released on Monday by a juvenile court referee into the custody of his parents. The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office says the incident is still under investigation, and they have not decided what to charge the teen with, or if to charge him as a juvenile or an adult. Because the victim has died, the charges could escalate from assault to second-degree murder. The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office is also reported to be reviewing the case. There has been no information released on if alcohol was involved in the incident. Robert Kobe’s body is scheduled for autopsy.
Neither Hank Williams Jr. or the DTE Energy Music Theatre have released statements about the death, but a spokesperson for the over 15,000-capacity venue said they do not comment on criminal matters involving patrons.
UPDATE (8-20): The Detroit Free Press reports that the victim’s son, 29-year-old Cory Kobe, says that Robert Kobe may have provoked the fatal shove, and that Robert Kobe and the teen knew each other and were friends. “I want to make sure that this young man gets fair treatment,” Cory Kobe said. “There are a lot of indications that there was no malicious intent.” Police have offered no further comment on the incident, and say the investigation is ongoing.
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The death of Robert Kobe is the second death at a country music concert this summer. A 22-year-old man was found dead in a dumpster in late July after a Jason Aldean concert in what is thought to be an alcohol-related incident. There was also a report of a gang rape at the Faster Horses Festival in mid July in Michigan.
Violence and incidents at mainstream country music concerts this summer have been making headlines. 20 people were arrested at a Luke Bryan concert in New York State on Saturday, 8-16. On August 7th, three people were stabbed at “We Fest” in Minnesota. On August 2nd, a drunk driver ran over a police officer at a Jason Aldean concert, and 30 concertgoers were taken to local hospitals. Earlier in the summer, 55 people were arrested, and 22 taken to hospitals at a Keith Urban show at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Mass. Later it was also revealed that an alleged rape happened in the venue’s lawn section while as many as 15 people stood and watched and took video of the incident. An annual event in Pittsburgh became a national story when pictures of trash and drunken patrons went viral in late June.
The news has not been all bad, however. A Kenny Chesney concert over the weekend only saw one arrest out of a crowd of 40,000 people.
August 19, 2014 @ 6:01 pm
This one seems to be a little different than the others. Sounds more like the kind of stupid confrontation that happens at practically every sporting event and concert of any size in the country. Sadly the man hit his head and died in this case but I’m not sure that I would necessarily draw a connection to the other nonsense of the summer.
August 19, 2014 @ 11:14 pm
“Sounds more like the kind of stupid confrontation that happens at practically every sporting event and concert of any size in the country.”
I would have to respectfully disagree. This a homicide. Even more so than the other stories about country music concerts, this one is exceptional because a man is dead. People die at practically every sporting event and concert of any size? I wouldn’t say that at all.
There is currently an investigation going on to determine what exactly happened, and hopefully that will shed some light into the circumstances so that we can balance this news between everything else that has happened.
I’m not sure what I am more disheartened by, the fact that a man is dead, or that people are so tired of seeing these stories, they don’t care anymore.
August 20, 2014 @ 7:13 am
I have to agree, somewhat, with Scotty J. This is one of those scenarios where someone fell just right to hit their head and cause fatal injury.
This incident is more tragic since it resulted in death, but it is a lot less violent than being beaten to a pulp, assault by a drunken meathead, or rape with a large crowd.
August 20, 2014 @ 8:34 am
Let’s wait for the facts to come out before we come to that conclusion. Just because “shove” doesn’t sound as bad as “beaten to a pulp” doesn’t change the fact that a man is dead. Try telling Robert Kobe’s family this is no big deal. For all we know, what transpired is worse than your average assault. Maybe it was nothing more than a glorified accident, I don’t know. But the simple fact is, this is the worst event to happen at a country concert this year because it involved death, and an act of violence. Just because the details we have so far do not seem as sensational as some other stories doesn’t change anything. Very likely the kid who shoved Robert Kobe is going to face murder charges. That’s a big deal.
August 20, 2014 @ 10:23 am
Look, I did not claim that this was no big deal. You put those words in my mouth. I said it was more tragic than the other events like it. No one is saying this incident was a good thing.
All I’m saying is that this incident doesn’t sound like a typical bloody brawl that two drunken 20-30 somethings get into at a country concert.
I’m going to make an assumption that this 15 year old child didn’t mean to murder the older man. That is very different than someone brutally assaulting another someone, especially when it involved a 15 year old boy.
“The 55-year-old man suffered a serious head injury at the hands of a 15-year-old male who shoved him in the concourse area, resulting in the man hitting his head violently on the concrete floor according to the Oakland County Sheriff”™s Office.”
Doesn’t sound like a brutal assault to me. Sounds like some shit head kid protecting his ego and accidentally causing a man to fall, hit his head, and die from the injury.
But, what do I know…maybe the kid was 6’2″, 300 pounds, and bashed the man’s head into the concrete. If that’s the case, your reporting is haphazard at best.
Either way, quite being such a sensationalist asshole to your commenters and spinner their words around like a politician.
August 20, 2014 @ 11:07 am
http://www.freep.com/article/20140819/NEWS05/308190170/DTE-Energy-Music-Theatre-death
As I said before, you are sensationalizing the incident. Tragic” Yes. Cold blooded murder and part of a growing trend at country and western shows. No fucking way.
Also, if you don’t intend to link this directly to the other incidents I suggest not linking the other incidents to this article.
I rest my case.
August 20, 2014 @ 11:36 am
You show me where I ever called this incident “cold blooded murder,” or said it was “part of a growing trend at country and western shows,” and I’ll eat my hat.
I’ve given you a forum to disagree here Matt. That doesn’t mean I don’t have a right to disagree with you, or defend myself when words are put into my mouth.
There is nothing sensational about this story.
August 20, 2014 @ 1:57 pm
Trig –
You were the person who labeled this an assault and a homicide when there are no charges pending.
And you predicted that murder charges will follow.
The decedent’s family member who was present at the scene seems to think there was no ill intent by the 15 year old.
This is tragic and unfortunate, no doubt, but it may not be a crime (either an assault or a homicide).
Time will tell.
August 20, 2014 @ 4:33 pm
CAH,
The family member that spoke to the Detroit Free Press was NOT at the scene. He was NOT a witness to the incident. He can only offer context to the relationship between the teenager and the victim.
Also, you and everyone else should appreciate that when this story was first posted, and when many of the initial comments were posted, the information from the family member was not available. At the same time, it doesn’t significantly change the material information because he was not a witness. My information came from the police report from the Oakland County Sheriff”™s Office and other local media sources.
Thirdly, there is nothing saying this case is still not being handled as a homicide, that the teenager will not be charged, or even that the teenager did not act with malicious intent. We just don’t know. There is an active investigation going on, and everything else is assumption.
August 21, 2014 @ 9:37 am
You were the person who labeled this an assault and a homicide when there are no charges pending.
It was unquestionably homicide. Homicide means “death caused by someone else”, not necessarily murder.
August 20, 2014 @ 8:27 am
Of course this is a tragedy and I didn’t say that it wasn’t. All I am saying is that I have been going to pro and college sporting events since I was 5 years old and concerts since I was a teenager and I have seen literally dozens of confrontations between people and many lead to pushing and shoving and thankfully none have ever led to serious injury or God forbid death, but they could have if someone fell wrong and hit their head.
Obviously this is far more serious a crime but that doesn’t automatically connect it to the other crap going on around the country.
August 20, 2014 @ 9:59 am
“I have seen literally dozens of confrontations between people and many lead to pushing and shoving.”
Well of course. But they don’t involve death. I think when anybody dies in a community, whether it is a local community or the country music community, it is imperative for us to pay attention, and ask questions. Look at what’s going on in the local community of Ferguson over one man’s death, that could very well have been either an accident or justified, we don’t know.
And I never said this directly has to do with all of the other incidents. Even if there had not been one story so far this summer about all of these other country concert incidents, I would have run a story about this. The idea that this incident is somehow less tragic because the two men weren’t Florida Georgia Line fans or because it was accidental and not intentional I don’t understand.
August 20, 2014 @ 10:30 am
People shove other people all of the time, and sometimes they fall to the ground. It is very very rare for someone to murder another just by shoving them to the ground. That is what makes this different. It was not cold blooded murder unless I’m missing something.
I had a distant family member killed at a bar in Stillwater, MN a few years back by getting punched one time in the head. The man that punched him certainly did not mean to kill him. It takes a lot more intent and brutality to knowingly murder someone by beating them.
August 20, 2014 @ 10:57 am
Where did I say this wasn’t tragic? In both of my comments I specifically said it was yet you keep portraying me as downplaying this tragedy. I was speaking more to the attempt to tie this to the other stuff happening which you at least implied it was by linking to all the other stories that you have correctly been detailing.
This is obviously way worse than the stupid drunkenness that has been happening but that doesn’t mean it is part of the same trend.
Not everything has to fit into the narrative.
And yes again this was a horrible tragedy for the victim and his family as well as the kid who now has to live with the consequences of his actions.
August 20, 2014 @ 12:35 pm
“The death of Robert Kobe is the second death at a country music concert this summer. A 22-year-old man was found dead in a dumpster in late July after a Jason Aldean concert in what is thought to be an alcohol-related incident. There was also a report of a gang rape at the Faster Horses Festival in mid July in Michigan.
Violence and incidents at mainstream country music concerts this summer have been making headlines. 20 people were arrested at a Luke Bryan concert in New York State on Saturday, 8-16. On August 7th, three people were stabbed at “We Fest” in Minnesota. On August 2nd, a drunk driver ran over a police officer at a Jason Aldean concert, and 30 concertgoers were taken to local hospitals. Earlier in the summer, 55 people were arrested, and 22 taken to hospitals at a Keith Urban show at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Mass. Later it was also revealed that an alleged rape happened in the venue”™s lawn section while as many as 15 people stood and watched and took video of the incident. An annual event in Pittsburgh became a national story when pictures of trash and drunken patrons went viral in late June.
The news has not been all bad, however. A Kenny Chesney concert over the weekend only saw one arrest out of a crowd of 40,000 people.”
Above is where you link this event to the others.
“Let”™s wait for the facts to come out before we come to that conclusion. Just because “shove” doesn”™t sound as bad as “beaten to a pulp” doesn”™t change the fact that a man is dead. Try telling Robert Kobe”™s family this is no big deal. For all we know, what transpired is worse than your average assault. Maybe it was nothing more than a glorified accident, I don”™t know. But the simple fact is, this is the worst event to happen at a country concert this year because it involved death, and an act of violence. Just because the details we have so far do not seem as sensational as some other stories doesn”™t change anything. Very likely the kid who shoved Robert Kobe is going to face murder charges. That”™s a big deal. ”
And, here is where you sensationalized the story.
Also, How come all of my comments await moderation? You claim you don’t censor, yet about 20% of my comments never make it to the discussion.
My last one, by the way, was pointing out how you alienate your audience by telling us we are the problem. And, how you always turn simple criticism into mud slinging and insulting.
August 20, 2014 @ 9:01 pm
I understand your sentiment but for it is a very fine balance between staying informed and suicide. The world is a damn mess and it’s ALL depressing. SO I just have to focus on what is directly around me and try to change that.
And I agree, deaths are not a regular occurrence at any sort of public event sports, music, or otherwise. If that were true there’d be no Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and on a positive note the line up this year is looking to good to be true as always!
August 22, 2014 @ 7:29 pm
The 15 year old boy was there with the 55 year old man, they’re families are close friends. It was a horrible accident! You CAN NOT believe everything that is printed & put on the internet! They were horsing around & no one even thought something so horrendous would happen! This coming from the man’s niece (the man that passed)
August 19, 2014 @ 6:04 pm
Terribly sad news. This venue is only about an hour away from me, and I almost got tickets for the show. I was talking about it with my day a few days ago.
August 19, 2014 @ 6:41 pm
Jamey Johnson was the opening act.
August 19, 2014 @ 6:56 pm
What happened was a terrible thing, but to label a Bocephus/Jamey Johnson show as “mainstream country” is kind of a stretch these days. I doubt you’d see nearly as many “men” with glitter thread in their jeans as you would at a Jason Aldean or Luke Bryan show. Maybe it’s the glitter thread that’s the problem. Anyone know what that stuff is made of?
August 19, 2014 @ 11:04 pm
I did not label this concert as “mainstream country.”
I did say, “Violence and incidents at mainstream country music concerts this summer have been making headlines” further in the story but that was just setting context. However, this is a 15,000-capacity venue, so let’s not act like these are underground bands playing a club show. Hank Jr. has done everything he can over the last dozen years to hold onto his mainstream relevancy and not be considered a legacy act.
August 19, 2014 @ 8:53 pm
Well, Hank Williams Jr. is a dumbass, so I assume dumbasses attend his shows. It’s a tragedy, but you put too many gun-totin’, Obama-is-a-terrorist rednecks in one room and somebody’s going to turn their safety off.
August 19, 2014 @ 9:01 pm
‘gun totin’
‘turn their safety off’
He shoved him. What does that have to do with a gun?
August 20, 2014 @ 5:41 am
Looks like we need to ban shoving.
August 20, 2014 @ 6:32 am
Wow, profile much?
August 20, 2014 @ 6:42 am
take that back you idiot. I wont have you badmouthin bocephus. hes a american gem and yur probly a communist. go back to Russia.
August 20, 2014 @ 7:08 am
I’d sure love to give you a piece of my mind, but since you’re a left-winger, Trigger would just delete anything I said.
August 20, 2014 @ 9:08 am
I’m a left-winger and still found his comment completely absurd.
August 20, 2014 @ 10:02 am
Clint,
BwareDWare94’s comment was completely inappropriate and I would have deleted it if I had seen it shortly after he posted it. And I would delete it now except all the people who replied would also be deleted, and someone would bitch about censorship.
All that said, I don’t appreciate you implying that I would censor anyone because of their political ideologies. I hate all politicians and political ideologies equally. Let’s just all agree to disagree here, move on, and focus more on the specific issue this article is about.
August 20, 2014 @ 11:13 am
Go ahead and delete it–I was drunk and I can’t stand Hank Jr. because when he opens his mouth on anything but music, stupid comes out. I didn’t want to unintentionally do the same thing, but when something other than my head talks, sometimes I have to own it.
My apologies to other posters. No harm meant, just a touchy topic that my dumbass commented on after one too many.
August 19, 2014 @ 8:55 pm
More popo at every concert to manage the animals.
Nothing new under the sun, Rome and the colosseum all over again.
August 20, 2014 @ 5:23 am
show you how dangerous it is to get into even a very minor scuffle.
It is much better to walk away from such things. might have been some little insult or
other similar thing.
All it takes is one shove, hit your head on a concrete curb, and you die. It happened in
my city. one punch and a guy was dead.
and now the young man has to live his entire life knowing that he killed someone.
not necessarily an easy road.
.
August 20, 2014 @ 6:23 am
Very interesting read with more details. I personally don’t think this is along the lines of the frat-boy mentality that has plagued concerts throughout the summer. I think this is an accident that happened to take place at a country concert. From the article – the man who died was a former Ted Nugent bodyguard. http://www.freep.com/article/20140819/NEWS05/308190170/DTE-Energy-Music-Theatre-death
August 20, 2014 @ 9:20 am
That article clears a lot of things up. Thanks for posting it. It also makes BwareDware94 seem like even more of a horses ass.
August 20, 2014 @ 8:47 am
The incidents keep mounting so very sad a man is dead and most likely this kids life as he previously knew it is over. For what ? We do not know but most likely it was over not much of anything. My days of going anywere larger than Billy Bobs to a gig may be on hold for awhile very sad.
August 20, 2014 @ 2:04 pm
I know what you mean.
My wife and I were at a REK show at a local small venue 6 months ago and I thought that my side of the audience was going to get into it with the other side.
I was sober, so I liked my chances better than many of the drunks I saw, but I didn’t really care to mix it up to defend my side of the Bijou Theatre.
Some causes are worth it, while others aren’t.
August 20, 2014 @ 8:53 am
Well, it does indeed sound like an accident from the Detroit News story. When the man’s son comes to the kid’s defense, that he was a family friend, etc., puts it in a different perspective.
Odd that the Detroit reporter referred to it as a “Country Western” show. You don’t hear that label much anymore.
And Franco American, maybe its just me, but I always think of “frat-boy mentality” as rich kids playing pranks. The behavior “that has plagued concerts throughout the summer” is an anarchic booze fueled viciousness that is more in line with
neo-Nazi biker badasses. And it isn’t something that has happened year in and year out, certainly not with this level and frequency of thuggery.
Sad stories.
August 21, 2014 @ 4:48 am
Ben Jones – agreed. Frat-boy mentality may be the wrong term. I guess I mean “Spring break in Panama City” mentality.
August 20, 2014 @ 9:39 am
After actually reading the article and not rushing to sensational journalism, this incident is not remotely related to the previous incidents that occurred at country music concerts noted by SCM.
This site is a shell of its former self. Maybe it’s better for the masses, but it’s not for me anymore – Taylor Swift articles with 146 comments, sensational police blotter material, FGL vs. Maddie & Tae updates – it’s not what brought me to SCM 4 years ago.
I guess all things run their course and nothing lasts forever.
Long live country music!
August 20, 2014 @ 10:26 am
Hoptowntiger94,
1) Don’t blame me because you didn’t actually read the article the first time.
2) There is nothing “sensational” about this article, or my reporting of it. It is simply facts presented in a very dry manner about what transpired.
3) I NEVER said this incident was directly related to all the other incidents happening at country concerts this summer. This is an opinion based on assumptions, not on my actual reporting. I did include the information on the other incidents to set context, which is not out of the ordinary in a news story, and is exactly what The Detroit Free Press did, who have taken the point on this story locally.
4) As soon as I read the story from the Detroit Free Press about how the death is being considered an accident by the victim’s son, I updated the story with this information. That information came out AFTER I ran my initial story, so there was no effort to suppress information. Nonetheless, the victim’s son was not even at the concert according to the report. He was not a witness. He is simply setting a context of the relationship between the people involved. For all we know, the teenager could still be charged with 2nd degree murder, pushed the man maliciously, etc. The police are doing an investigation, and we should all wait for their conclusions before determining anything.
5) Even if the death had been reported as an accident, I still would have run a story about it. Why? Because a man is dead. And as a country music community, we should stay informed when anyone is dead.
6) Don’t blame me for the fact that everyone wants to read a story about Taylor Swift, and nobody wants to read my other stories. So I guess I’m just supposed to ignore stories that people want to read, so nobody reads anything. The problem is not that Saving Country Music isn’t running stories about worthy artists, the problem is YOU, the reader, who is ignoring those stories more and more as each week passes. Saving Country Music is doing its job of honoring its commitment to covering independent, underground, and traditional country artists more so than ever, and I am tired of getting pinned with the guilt that nobody cares about them.
August 20, 2014 @ 12:57 pm
Trig,
It’s your site to do with as you like. The topics you choose for whatever reasons shape the readership, so let’s not pretend you have no barring on what gets commented on or not.
For example, one of the coolest, most important albums of the year was release this morning – “Johnny Cash Bitter Tears Revisited.” Not a mention on SCM. Instead you chose to post another concert blotter and an article analyzing the most popiest country artist of all time going pop. I had to go elsewhere for reviews of Bitter Tears.
You started the revolution, but others are now doing it better.
August 20, 2014 @ 5:03 pm
Hoptowntiger94,
It is a statistical fact that Saving Country Music has posted more album reviews in 2014 than ever before, and posts more album reviews than sites with million-dollar budgets, and staffs in the dozens. And this is in the face of nobody, NOBODY, N-O-B-O-D-Y reading them. You, and everybody else can say that Saving Country Music’s priorities are skewed, that I’ve sold out, etc. etc., but it will not change the fact that from a statistical certitude, the amount of review content on this site is on the increase, and for a one man operation, is astronomical in volume, measured by my journalistic peers who I regularly hear from, astounded by how much content I produce on a weekly basis.
I could post 10 album reviews a week, and there would still be an album that didn’t get reviewed, and someone to complain about it, and to hold that up as the reason why the charge of Saving Country Music is illegitimate. So why review any? Nobody reads them. They offer no material benefit to either public, or the artist. At this point, I post album reviews for myself, and for the artist’s own personal enrichment, if they decide to read it. I know there are a few holdouts that still do read album reviews and I don’t mean any disrespect them. But as a journalistic pursuit, the album review has been dead for over 2 years, and despite the overall traffic of this website growing 10 fold over the past couple of years, the numbers of people reading album reviews have never been lower. Yet I still post them, and in greater numbers than ever, yet I still see comments like this. And nothing, NOTHING breaks my will to continue this website more than comments complaining about the lack of album reviews.
And lastly, thinking that I did not write a review for the “Johnny Cash Bitter Tears Revisited” album just because I wrote about Taylor Swift, or this concert incident, is an assumption. I write about whatever I am passionate about at any given time. That is what dictates my content.
When people die, it is an imperative on the media to report, and ask questions. And if people don’t like it, think it’s out of place, believe that it is “sensationalized,” and even if it results in less people wanting to read my website, tough shit. I am going to do it anyway.
August 21, 2014 @ 7:51 am
Hey Trigger,
“The man who says it can’t be done should not interrupt the man who is doing it.”
Keep up the great work, man. You know the old Teddy Roosevelt speech called “The Man in the Arena” that begins “It is not the critic who counts…” ?
Just remember, if it was easy, everybody would be doing it…
Ben
August 22, 2014 @ 6:02 am
If you have been coming here for four years, it puzzles me why you think a tribute album done by largely Americana artists (most of whom I absolutely love) would be something that would be so much in SCM’s wheelhouse that it should be reviewed the day it came out. A long awaited album by Billy Joe Shaver? Absolutely. And done.
Call me crazy, but I think you might be cutting your nose off to spite your face. Weren’t you just recently singing the praises of Ben Miller and complementing Trigger on a great find?
August 22, 2014 @ 9:06 am
Jack
The original ‘Bitter Tears’ was a concept album dealing with the mistreatment and marginalization of the native people. It was widely recognized as one of Cash’s greatest artistic achievements. “The Ballad of Ira Hayes” is often ranked as one of the best country music songs of all time! Despite his label’s resistance, this was Cash taking on social issues years before Folsom and San Quentin.
A re-working (not a tribute album) of this historic album by artists like Kris Kristofferson, Steve Earle, Gillian Welch, Milk Carton Kids (recently recognized by Trig as a Civil War replacement) and Emmylou Harris is very country music newsworthy from a social and creative perspective.
I’m for anything that promotes and pushes the country music genre forward. Ben Miller album reviews – yes. But, I no longer want to have to sift through sensational blotter material and Taylor Swift and FLG vs Maddie & Tae updates which has been more of the norm on SCM. In my opinion, it’s not productive to the greater cause.
August 20, 2014 @ 10:07 am
I love this site and feel horrible for the dead guys family. But I disagree 100 perent with you trigger about Hank jr trying to hold on to relavence for the last dozen years, How many of his shows have you attended in the last dozen years? he only plays around 20 shows a year nowdays and the bulk of his set is from the 80s heyday and some sr covers and some 70s southern rock covers. Hank jr don’t give a shit bout being relavent he flys in does his shows and goes back to tenessee or Alabama and hunts and fishes I would hardly call him main stream because hes friends with kid rock or his politics… He still plays the large venues cause he can still draw people in if the fans didn’t show up he would be playing clubs or probably just retire… people forget how gifted of a musician he is and what a great entertainer and singer he is and songwriter he is..
August 20, 2014 @ 10:31 am
Let’s stop treating “mainstream” as if it’s a bad word. The reason I would consider Hank Jr. mainstream is because he has not openly moved into the space that would be considered a “legacy” act like Willie Nelson or Dolly Parton. If you have 15,000 people attending your shows, you’re mainstream, and that’s not a bad thing, especially if you’re Hank Williams Jr. I’m glad there’s 15,000 people who want to attend a Hank Jr. / Jamey Johnson concert. That means there’s still some hope out there, even though I’m not particularly fond of Hank Jr.’s Kid Rock collaborations, or some of his recent output.
I do think Hank Jr. has made an effort not to be considered an “old” artist. That is all that was meant.
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August 20, 2014 @ 10:21 am
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August 21, 2014 @ 7:40 am
My wife very kindly flew me to NYC for a Dead show a few years back (Warren Haynes was playing’s lead guitar in place of Jerry) at Madison Square Garden.
It was the biggest group of idiots I have seen in one venue.
People were smoking cigarettes with no one asking them to leave.
We sat behind and beside a group of wusses who went to better schools than I could afford (Georgetown and Syracuse) and they were completely profane and obnoxious.
It was a mess, even compared to the other Dead shows, rock concerts and country shows I have been to over the last 40 years.
A year or 2 later, we went to see Bocephus at a venue in North Mississippi (Southhaven) with Jamey Johnson.
Everyone was incredibly polite.
People were drinking and having fun, but no one smoked and virtually everyone was remarkably considerate.
But that was the days before the selling point for many concerts seems to be the mayhem which inexorably accompanies them.
All of which is rather funny, because I plan to spend the weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, for my 5th NASCAR race this year, and don’t expect to see the kind of nonsense Trig posts about with respect to these stupid bro-country melees.
Trig – Thanks for the clarification, above.
Nonetheless, if gambling were legal (not the Indian casino and lotto stuff), I would lay odds that this young man will not be convicted of anything from what I have read above.
He may not even be charged.
August 21, 2014 @ 7:43 am
Trigger,
You police your comments section more than most multi-million dollar websites do. I will never understand why you censor so much. If all of my comments await moderation and a significant number of them never make it to the message board I can only assume that I’m not the only one.
What is your end goal? I can only assume it is to protect your fragile ego from people like me who question you. Above you claimed I put words in your mouth, when in truth, you did that to me and another commenter right off the bat. You alienate some of the most loyal readers of this site on the regular, and it shows your true character.
I read your articles, though I’m starting to wonder why I do, yet you claim me and others like me don’t. An album review is bound to get less comments than a sensational story such as this that gets people’s blood flowing and emotions raging. I used to hold you and this website in high regards, but that time has passed as you continue to belittle and CENSOR your commenters.
I’m not here to get in a pissing match but to let my grievances be known to everyone who participates and contributes to these discussions. I expect that this commentary will never see the light of day since all of my comments have to be “OK’d” by you before they show up here, but there’s no harm in trying.
August 21, 2014 @ 8:21 am
Matt,
I deleted one of your comments here because it was filthy, and had no relevancy to the discussion here. I am committed to a open and healthy comments section that fosters and encourages dissent, but there still has to be rules or things will get out of control, as we used to see regularly on this site a few years ago. Remember when Shooter Jennings admitted at trying to cause chaos here by taking advantage of how open these comments sections were and perpetuated 17 different aliases? You can characterize it like dissent is snuffed out on this website, but anyone can look on this very comments section and see this is not true. The reason your particular comments are sent to moderation is because of numerous violations of the comment rules. Nonetheless, I appreciate your participation in this site, and your insight in the comments, and I hope that continues. But if/when you cross the line, your comments will get deleted.
August 21, 2014 @ 9:11 am
Filthy? Because, I criticized your criticism of your fans? I did not use profanity, threaten anyone, or anything else that I’d consider filthy. It may help me in my future comments if you’d give me an example. It doesn’t have to be on a public forum, but if I’ve crossed some line in this thread I’d like to know what it is so I can be aware and not do it again.
August 21, 2014 @ 9:26 am
BwareDWare94”²s comment was much more offensive than anything I have ever said, yet they weren’t directed at you so it’s okay?
“Well, Hank Williams Jr. is a dumbass, so I assume dumbasses attend his shows. It”™s a tragedy, but you put too many gun-totin”™, Obama-is-a-terrorist rednecks in one room and somebody”™s going to turn their safety off. ”
The above comment hits about every violation of the rules. Redneck is being used as a derogatory term, politics are brought up multiple times, and he’s calling fans of a country legend childish names.
My issue is not with BwareDWare94”²s comment. My issue is with your double standard when it comes to my comments. Do what you will, but know that I for one don’t appreciate your censorship especially since my nose is clean.
August 21, 2014 @ 8:16 am
I went to a fight and a country music concert broke out. The bloddiest fight I ever saw was at a Willie Nelson concert in Springfield, IL in the late-1980s. It can happen anywhere at anytime, especially when alcohol is involved. I do not blame the artists or promoters. I blame the individuals.
August 21, 2014 @ 1:36 pm
I’ve read the article multiple times now looking for the sensationalism and/or sloppy reporting that people are commenting on. I’m still looking. What has been reported in the article is fact. Plain and simple. While this incident may be a little different than the other incidents that have occurred lately in country music, it may turn out that it is an extension of the rise in violence in country music. More information will come to light. At that time I am sure that we will receive an update from Trigger. As for the removal of comments from this site, I too have had a comment or two removed. I save those and when I look back at them I see that they were appropriately removed. Based on the quality of this site and a lot of the discussions, I think it is pretty open. What people forget is that there was a time in this country where if you did not like a business or a person, you chose not to associate with them. I would encourage anyone that is upset with this site and what information gets posted to exercise their choice and go elsewhere for their country music information.
August 21, 2014 @ 1:56 pm
First line, actually title:
Man Killed In Assault at a Hank Williams Jr. Concert in Michigan
No one, when this was written, was charged with assault. I don’t think anyone has been charged with anything to date.
Could have said, “Concert goer tragic death at Hank Jr. show”, but he chose to go with assault, and there is nothing to suggest this was an assault. Oh, a “shove”, no one has any idea what that shove was about, but Trigger went with “assault” in the title.
August 21, 2014 @ 6:40 pm
Tim,
I specifically got the term “assault” from the police report from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department. This was also the specific term used by the very first news agency that reported on the incident, the Detroit Free Press.
Here is the very first sentence from the very first article reporting on the incident:
“A 55-year-old Westland fan at DTE Energy Music Theatre to hear country-western star Hank Williams Jr. might not survive after he was assaulted at the Sunday concert by a teenage boy, police said.”
Here’s the link:
http://www.freep.com/article/20140818/NEWS03/308180199/Hank-Williams-Jr-DTE-Energy-Music-Theater-assault-grave-condition
Also, subsequently The Boot, Taste of Country, Rolling Stone Country, Billboard, and about half a dozen other music outlets have run stories on this incident, and ALL of them have included the other incidents at country concerts this summer as context.
Arguments that this report were somehow sensational or misinformed are completely unfounded.
August 22, 2014 @ 1:12 pm
As a Randy Quaid character once said “Bingo.”