Treaty Oak Revival’s Too Little, Too Late On Object Throwing

Well, it finally happened. As anyone with any good sense knew, at some point, someone was going to end up seriously hurt and in the hospital due to being hit by something thrown during a Treaty Oak Revival show. According to reports, that finally happened on September 18th at the Jiffy Lube Center in Bristow, Virginia. Numerous videos caught a chair flying through the crowd, and clearly hitting numerous concert goers.
A Treaty Oak Revival fan named Halie later posted on TikTok that she was in the hospital with a concussion after being hit by the chair. This also comes after numerous other chair-throwing incidents and injuries. In August, someone else threw a chair in the air at the Rock The Country Festival in Hastings, Michigan. And those are in no way isolated incidents. People have also thrown trash cans, and quite literally anything not nailed down during the band’s shows.

It’s likely there have already been dozens of injuries at Treaty Oak Revival shows due to the rampant activity of people throwing objects at the stage. The very first time Saving Country Music witnessed Treaty Oak Revival live in April of 2025, a roughly 13-year-old girl was hit in the back of the head with a mostly full beer can, and crumpled to the ground in tears. She likely suffered a concussion as well. And it wasn’t during “Boomtown,” which is the song when most of the flying objects occur. It was during the second song of the set.
Finally, in a direct manner, Treaty Oak Revival has asked their fans to stop throwing objects during their concerts, and specifically “Boomtown” where this supposed “tradition” started.
Sure, give them credit for finally taking some responsibility. But it’s too little, too late for Haile and others who ended up injured at their concerts. It’s too late for the credibility of the band and the media who not only defended the practice, but used it for marketing, and mocked those who took issue with it, including Saving Country Music, and performers like Braxton Keith who’ve also stood up to this behavior.
And ironically, at this late stage, there’s little if any chance the pleas from the band will actually end the practice. They’ve set the precedent.
On Thursday, September 24th, the entire band led by frontman Sam Canty said in a video statement,
“We’ve seen the videos, and we’re not happy with what we’re seeing. We put signs up, but I guess y’all don’t see them. So we will say it from us directly: Please stop throwing sh-t into the crowd or at the stage during ‘Boomtown.’ We’re all for beer showers; we’re all for crowd surfing. We’re all raging and having a good time, but please do not throw hard objects into the fuc-ing crowd. It’s hurting people, and we don’t fuc-ing condone it. So please, take care of each other. We’re family. Let’s have fuc-ing fun… Don’t throw sh-t.”
But this comes after years of the band, their representatives, many of their fans, and certain members of the press have been completely permissive of the practice, and totally dismissive of any criticism of it. When Saving Country Music first broached the subject and witnessing the injury of a young girl in the audience, the band’s manager, Eli Kidd, came to Saving Country Music to defend them, saying in part, “Stop being such a bitch!”
Meanwhile, Rolling Stone Country and writer Josh Crutchmer facilitated this dismissive and permissive attitude by the band and their manager in a puff piece published on November 28th, 2025. Instead of scrutinizing the situation, pointing out the injuries that had occurred, and questioning the band and their management about it, Rolling Stone and Crutchmer acted as stenographers, and used the behavior as marketing, just as the band has done heretofore, saying in the headline to “Never Mind The Beer Throwing.”

This “Never Mind” mentality, and the canard that the behavior was simply “beer showers” is what facilitated the injury and hospital visit by a young woman in Virginia. Instead of holding individuals like the band’s manager Eli Kidd accountable or asking him tough questions, the article canonized the manager as a strong defender of the band.
Treaty Oak Revival audiences are mostly made up of young adults and outright children. The media and management were supposed to be the adults in the room protecting them. Instead, they let Ms. Halie in Virginia and others down. At least when the practice evolved to people through chairs, garbage cans, and anything not nailed down, Whiskey Riff, who previously had also hand waved away Treaty Oak Revival behavior themselves, admitted it was getting out-of-hand, and six months before the Rolling Stone puff piece.
Furthermore, there is absolutely no indication that any of Treaty Oak’s fans will actually comply with their new request to cease throwing objects. At this late stage, the curse has been cast. When the band played at The Mother Church of Country Music, The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville in May, they went out of the way to post signs and project on the screen behind the stage that read, “Let’s show some respect the the Ryman. Please do not throw things. We love you.”
What happened? People threw things. Lots of people did. Little if any respect was shown to The Ryman, or more importantly, the band’s wishes.
In February of 2026, frontman Sam Canty’s wife Kelsi Canty was dispatched to try and stifle some of the behavior saying,
“I’m probably going to regret this … but I’m going to show how you’re supposed to throw your beer,” she starts, before taking an open water bottle and winging it over her head.
“You’re supposed to throw it over your fuc-ing head and drop it on the ground. Is that hard? I’m sorry, is it hard? This is why there’s plastic cups now instead of bottles, because of you guys. They are literally giving it their all performing for you guys, giving you the best concert that you can [get], and y’all are ruining it for them by throwing stuff at them. It’s just not cool, and it’s not nice. Do you want me to throw something at you? ‘Cause I fuc-ing will.”
Then Mrs. Revival chides,
“Also for the comments on that video saying that they’ve encouraged it, they’ve done this to themselves, shut the f-ck up. They have never once encouraged you throwing sh-t on stage. Never once. They have encouraged you guys to throw your beer over your head, drop your sh-t on the ground.”
But encouraging fans to trow things back at the stage is exactly what Treaty Oak Revival does when they come out on stage, and first thing, start slinging beer onto the crowd. They are absolutely most definitely condoning the behavior. The crowd’s just trying to reciprocate by slinging beer on them.
This entire episode has been a demonstrative embarrassment to Texas music, and country music more broadly, of which Treaty Oak Revival have been strangely pushed upon despite being a rock band.
This statement isn’t Treaty Oak Revival evolving. It’s a capitulation, and an indemnity against pending lawsuits, and venues not wanting to book the band because they trash the place out, can’t control their fans, and from a very practical standpoint, can only sell certain concessions due to the propensity of their fans to throw cans, bottles, or anything else, and injure children.
If the family of Ms. Halie in Virginia wanted to sue the band, they would have a mountain of evidence that Treaty Oak Revival did not take this matter seriously enough from the start, and that their band’s manager chided anyone who did.
Congratulations Teary Oak Revival, this is the mess you made.
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September 28, 2026 @ 8:56 am
Just quit playing Boomtown. Problem solved.
September 28, 2026 @ 9:07 am
I know you’re just trying to make a Big Jilm comment. But one of the things that drives me crazy about this situation is people portraying it as only happening during “Boomtown,” and simply an extension of “beer showers.” The band once again tried to portray this in their recent statement. When I personally witnessed a probably 14-year-old girl get beaned in the back of the head with a mostly full beer can, it was during the second song of the set, not “Booomtown.” I never even made it to the song. I had to leave because my camera equipment was getting damaged by all the beer being slug both from the stage, and back at the stage.
Then when I came back later to the same stage to see Ryan Bingham perform (this was at the Two Step Inn festival), the behavior hadn’t even ceased them. People were throwing beer cans during Bingham’s set.
They’ve already eliminated cans and bottles at all of their shows. But this arguably has made it worse. That’s why they’re resorted to throwing chairs and trash cans. And it took 1 1/2 years after I personally witnessed someone get injured for the band itself to directly say “Please don’t throw stuff.” And now, nobody will give a shit.
September 28, 2026 @ 9:38 am
These mooks aren’t even a country band; so why report on them at all?
Oh yeah. Controversy gets clicks.
September 28, 2026 @ 9:48 am
You got that twisted there Big Jilm. Yes, they’re not a country band, but they’re portrayed as country, they play country festivals, and country venues, including the Ryman. Their last album debuted at #3 on the Billboard Country Albums chart. They got a massive spread in Rolling Stone Country. That’s why it makes it compulsory for Saving Country Music to cover them, and to offer the scrutiny other outlets refuse to. That’s the very reason this outlet was founded.
September 28, 2026 @ 9:13 am
This is not legal advice.
Apparently, punitive damages in the State of Virginia are capped at $350,000. Folks, next time go see them in Maryland or Delaware, where there are no caps on punitives.
September 28, 2026 @ 9:19 am
The more I read about this band (which, frankly is only here since I don’t listen to their crappy Nickelback meets Southern Rock music), the more I am convinced everyone (down to spouses) around this band are some of the dumbest people on the planet.
September 28, 2026 @ 9:51 am
While I do like a couple of Treaty Oak Revival songs, I would never attend one of their concerts. At 40 plus years old, getting beer thrown all over me is not my idea of a good time. I’ll never understand why anyone would enjoy being soaked with beer.