Royal Blood could really use a stern talking to from Daphne and Celeste following a recent tantrum that brought their set at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend to an undignified close. While the American duo cheerfully dodged thousands of bottles when they played Reading and Leeds back in 2000 – some of them containing all kinds of unspeakable waste products, no doubt – Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher were instead driven to the brink by… a bunch of Lewis Capaldi fans who weren’t clapping loudly enough.
“We’re called Royal Blood, and this is… er, rock music,” stropped Kerr, shooting for undiluted rebellion but unfortunately channelling the vague air of Tracy Beaker telling somebody to bog off. To further hammer home the point (whatever point they were actually trying to make here) drummer Ben Thatcher took a swig straight from a bottle before ejecting the contents of his own mouth in a feeble plume of mist. Briefly, he looked a bit like one of those posh aroma diffusers from MUJI. After the crowd failed to respond to this with appropriate levels of fervour, Kerr called them pathetic, before storming off with two middle fingers unfurled. Naturally, the clip has rapidly gone viral.
It’s still unclear exactly why the Worthing duo willingly rocked up at a pop festival expecting to find scenes that resembled the original Woodstock, nor quite why shoehorning the ever-familiar thwack of a tuned-up bass guitar into multiple versions of what is broadly the same song gives the duo any kind of authority over rock’n’roll. It’s also worth noting that when Royal Blood bagged their three consecutive number 1 albums – the most obvious indicator of all that they fell firmly into the mainstream – they were in no hurry to hand back their little gold trophies. Completely coincidentally, of course, all of this happens to be unfolding with excellent timing for the duo’s new record.
It’s hard to pin down exactly why, but something about Royal Blood’s tantrum feels deeply, deeply cringe – on reflection, it’s probably because they’re not even attempting to be ironic, and Kerr somehow manages to avoid swearing depsite his apparent outrage. They are live on the BBC, after all.
In honour of the duo’s recent hissy fit, here are music’s greatest tantrums. More sweary, and often far funnier, it’s something for Royal Blood to aspire to next time.
Charli XCX
Less of a tantrum, more of a brief, incredulous outburst, Charli XCX’s dismay at discovering that her Icona Pop hit I Love It is not actually that big in Germany after all is a classic of the genre. “Do you know this f**king song?... I thought this f**king song was big in Germany!” she yelled at Lollapalooza 2012, as the crowd looked slightly bewildered. The matter isn’t helped by the fact that Charli chose to sing the chorus in a strange, quasi-German accent. “What are you doing? C’mon! Argh!”
Jack White
“Jesus Christ, is this an NPR convention?” despaired Jack White during a 2012 gig at Radio City, “Did you get your popcorn yet? Is the movie starting?!” Though his Blunderbuss solo track Love Interruption had just been met with a warm reception of cheers, the former White Stripes man was still unhappy with the room’s energy. According to the New York Observer, the musician was spotted exchanging stern words with a topless man in the front row earlier in the show, and later told the audience to quieten down “because I can’t hear myself think.” Eventually, he huffed off altogether without further explanation, leaving disgruntled fans to chant “f**k Jack White”. Once they’d been kicked out of the venue, about 100 of them reportedly let off further steam by setting off a load of car alarms.
Elton John
Unlike many in the mix here, Elton John makes on-stage tantrums look effortless; back in 1995 the singer didn’t miss a single note of The Bitch is Back as he wildly gesticulated and shouted at a member of his production team while singing and playing the piano. During his Las Vegas residency 5 years ago, meanwhile, the singer lost his rag with a fan. After initially being invited up on stage, the onlooker wouldn’t stop touching Elton and trying to take selfies over the top of his piano. "No more coming on stage during Saturday Night. You f***ed it up!" he announced.
Garbage
“If I see anybody in this crowd f**king with anyone else in this crowd, I will get you so badly f**ked up you’ll be f**king going home to your mammy crying your f**king eyes out,” Garbage’s Shirley Manson told Portugal’s Festival Máres Viva in 2012, laying into an unknown troublemaker down the front. When he seems to react in amusement, she doubles down. “Don’t f**k around with me, I’m not in the f**king mood. I’m on my period. I could eat meat!”
Billie Joe Armstrong
“I’ve been around since 19-f**king-88!” Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong informed the crowds at iHeart Radio music festival in 2012, shortly after spotting a teleprompter sign informing him the band needed to clear the stage earlier than expected, ready for Usher. Instead of finishing Basketcase, he gives the organisers a piece of his mind. “You’re going to give me one f**king minute?! You’re f**king kidding me… I’m not Justin Bieber, you motherf**kers.” After the frontman’s destroyed his guitar in anger, Mike Dirnt then wrecked his bass in solidarity, before the trio stormed off together. Best mic drop ever.
Steve Lacy
After being hit by a wayward object that was flung onto the stage during his New Orleans gig last year, The Internet member Steve Lacy decided to make an example out of one of the potential culprits. After ending Bad Habits prematurely, he calmly asked to look at a fan’s camera, before deliberately smashing it onto the floor and ending the show there and then. “My shows been fun as hell!” he later said in a pointed statement. “Shoutout to the people not throwing disposable cameras at me and just coming to catch a vibe and connect… I don’t believe I owe anyone an apology – maybe I could’ve reacted better?”
Fiona Apple
In fairness to Fiona Apple, she tried– very hard, and on several occasions – to get punters at a Louis Vuitton party in Tokyo to keep the noise down before storming out altogether. After muttering profanities under her breath, climbing on top of her piano to order calm, and sounding a tinny metal bell all failed to achieve results, the New York musician soon called it a night, but not without insulting the crowd she’d found herself playing for. “Predictable!” she shouted. “Predictable fashion, what the f**k?”
