Noel Gallagher has reflected on the time in which he and his brother Liam planned to “annihilate” a fan who threw a shoe at them on stage.
Amid a bizarre increase in flying objects being propelled at artists onstage, the former Oasis guitarist and main songwriter revealed that he and his estranged brother were once waiting to find the person who would walk out of the venue with one shoe missing after the gig to take their revenge.
Speaking to Dermot O’Leary on BBC’s Reel Stories’, Gallagher shared: “I remember one gig when somebody hit Liam in the head with a shoe. Liam had the shoe, and I remember we’d come off stage, just waiting at the front door for this guy to walk past with one shoe. We were going to annihilate him.”
There has been an odd influx of artists being injured or at least surprised at shows by things that fans throw at them while on stage. In recent weeks, Bebe Rexha was hit in the head by a fan’s phone and required stitches. Meanwhile, Pink was left stunned by a fan throwing their mother’s ashes on stage at BST Hyde Park (and later a wheel of cheese), and Lil Nas X had to pause a show at the weekend when a fan threw a sex toy on stage.
Elsewhere, US country-pop artist Kelsea Ballerini was struck in the face by an item thrown at her from the crowd (via Variety). Back in late 2022 Harry Styles was hit in the eye by a sweet while he was performing in LA. He was also struck by a flying object during a gig in Chicago.
Adele recently addressed these incidents during one of her residency shows at Caesar’s Palace, saying: “Have you noticed how people are, like, forgetting fucking show etiquette at the moment, throwing shit onstage? Have you seen that?”
She continued: “I’ll fucking dare you to throw something at me and I’ll fucking kill you,” she warned. “Stop throwing things at the artist!”
Adele talks about concertgoers throwing things at artists:
“I fucking dare you. Dare you to throw something at me and I’ll fucking kill you.” pic.twitter.com/vy680y8ekm
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) July 4, 2023
Apple Music head and former BBC Radio 1 broadcaster Zane Lowe also addressed the situation on his radio show and shared a TikTok video with the caption: “It’s simple, the [concert] ticket does not afford you ‘object throwing’ privileges.”
He added: “If we want to continue to enjoy our favourite Artists performing live in a face to face environment, we have to stop making our need for contact their problem. Don’t throw shit”
@zanelowe Its simple, the ticket does not afford you ‘object throwing’ priveges. If we want to continue to enjoy our favourite Artists performing live in a face to face environment, we have to stop making our need for contact their problem. Dont throw shit #harrystyles #beberexha #kelseaballerini #avamax #music #fans #foryoupage
Last year, Kid Cudi walked off stage during his headlining set at Rolling Loud due to crowd members repeatedly throwing items onto the stage.
Cudi told the crowd: “If I get hit with one more fucking thing… if I see one more fucking thing on this fucking stage, I’m leaving. Don’t fuck with me!”
The rapper then proceeded to head offstage after people continued to throw things at him, ignoring his warnings.
Tyler The Creator also addressed the item throwing at concerts last year. The former Odd Future rapper took to Twitter last year tweeting: “Stop throwing your shit on stage. I don’t want it. Now mid show i gotta move it. What’s the logic? Fucking stop. Thanks b.”