Rock band Royal Blood have come under fire for criticising the crowd and storming off stage at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend.
The Figure It Out hitmakers were performing in Dundee as part of the two-day festival, which also featured acts including singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi, Manchester band The 1975, and pop stars Niall Horan and Zara Larsson. However, towards the end of their performance, the band began mocking the audience for their lack of enthusiasm reports Birmingham Live.
"Well I guess I should introduce us because nobody knows who we are," frontman Mike Kerr said. "We are Royal Blood and this is rock music. Who likes rock music? Nine people. Brilliant. This is Ben Thatcher - he plays drums - everybody say hi to Ben."
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The Brighton-based rock band's sarcastic comments didn't stop there, later quipping: "We're having to clap for ourselves because that was so pathetic. Well done, Ben."
The singer then turned to the camera directly and said: "Can you clap? Are you busy? See, even he is clapping. Addressing the crowd again, he asked: “What does that say about you?”
At the end of the performance, Royal Blood's frontman then walked off-stage sticking up his middle fingers to the audience. Following the performance, the band faced criticism on social media after clips of the incident emerged.
One Twitter user wrote: "oh i’m sorry, did nobody care about your boring music Royal Blood? did your feelings get hurt that nobody was bothered about you?"
Another added: "Every great band I’ve ever seen has never felt the need to do this. Hateful, especially from such a f****** mediocre crock of s***."
“Man, some gigs are tough and you have to win over the crowd, but this is exactly how NOT to react,” added band Lottery Winners, who hail from Leigh in Greater Manchester. tweeted. “Very disappointed with Royal Blood here. No matter what level you get to, you’re never better than the audience.”
However, some defended the two-piece. One person wrote: "Legends! Blame the people who booked the acts- weren’t Royal Blood added as a ‘surprise guest’? There’s a reason why they’re playing all over Europe all summer. Them playing at Big Weekend is like a uni lecturer teaching at a nursery"
Another agreed, writing: "State of the responses to this. Royal Blood will be co-headlining at the biggest festival in the world this summer. They deserve the crowd to be giving it a bit. Proper music like this is dying now a days. Kids haven’t got a clue."
The rock band have just announced their new album, 'Back to the Water Below', will be released on 8 September. Their previous album, Typhoons, was released in 2021. They are also due to play Glastonbury Festival, which takes place at Worthy Farm between 21 and 25 June.
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