The singer of the UK band The Architects called out a fan in the crowd during a show last week after he saw him grab a woman’s breast while she crowd surfed.
During a set at the Lowlands Festival in the Netherlands, lead singer Sam Carter paused between songs to deliver some very colorful words to the man:
I’ve been going over in my fucking mind about whether I should say something or not about what I saw in that last song and do you know what, I’m gonna fucking say it. I saw a girl, a woman, crowdsurfing over here, and I’m not going to fucking point the piece of shit out who did it, but I saw you fucking grab at her boob. I saw it, it is fucking disgusting, and there is no fucking place for that shit. It is not your fucking body, it is not your fucking body and you do not fucking grab at someone. Not at my fucking show. So if you feel like doing that again walk out there and fuck off and don’t come back. Let’s keep this going, let’s keep this a fucking safe place for everybody and let’s have a fucking good time!
WELL, THANK YOU SIR!
A few months ago Brendan Ekstrom of the band Circa Survive walked off stage during his set because he saw someone in the crowd trying to kiss a girl who clearly didn’t want his advances. A few years ago punk band Joyce Manor also told grown men to stop stage-diving at their shows when they noticed their young female fans kept getting hurt.
Sexual harassment and assault at festivals and music shows remains a serious problem, with even huge festivals shutting down because they can’t handle the number of reported assaults. Last year Glastonbury festival and Electric Forest both created female-only spaces for people who come to the events.