We all love to express our appreciation and excitement for our favorite bands during the show. But what about the dark side of that same expression? What happens when concert fans go to great lengths during a concert to demonstrate how much they DO NOT like a band?
When I heard about the 17-year-old fan in Australia who broke into a concert venue to chuck eggs at Justin Bieber, I knew it was time to examine a few things about what it means to an un-fan at a live show.
As I watched the eggs rain down on the dancing Bieber from the roof of the Sydney’s Acer Arena I couldn’t help but wonder what was going through that fan’s mind. What got him to that point? And would I, or could I, ever do the same thing?
Yes, I’ll be honest and say that I have egged some ones house before. It was actually a pretty gratify exeperience because the kid who lived there was a complete jerk and he had it coming.
But did Bieber deserve to get egged?
Let’s see…
I’m not going to lie to you and tell you I’ve never hummed or sung out loud the chorus to “Baby” at various times in the last year. I have. And in a weird sort of way it’s kind of fun.
Part of me loves singing that ubiquitous song hook because it’s so silly and ridiculous. And another part of me hates the fact that the song has somehow gotten stuck in my brains so much so that I can access it in such a random way, sometime without any sort of control.
But as I counted the eggs falling from the concert venue ceiling, I don’t think the angry anti-Bieber fan feels the same way. And it’s obvious that his dislike is much more aggressive.
But still, I’ve been wondering a whole bunch of thing about the psychological and emotional state of this one fan who wanted to cure Bieber fever once and for all (or at least for the night.)
Misguided or Right on Target?
What was it about Justin Bieber that made this teenage fan go to such great lengths to demonstrate his utter disgust for the Canadian pop star?
Did this concert fan have so much dislike for Bieber music that he felt a hurling a dozen eggs at him would bring the Sydney concert to a screeching halt?
Well, sadly though, this entertaining eggscident didn’t really accomplish anything, because 1) none of the eggs landed a direct hit on the intended well-choreographed and Usher-mentored target and 2) the concert wasn’t halted completely and was only paused for a moment to clear the mis-guided mess of eggs from the stage.
Maybe the fan should’ve practiced more before the show?
Maybe this young fan’s rage actually became a disadvantage and kept him from truly focusing on and aiming better at his target?
Maybe he was surprised by the show and actually enjoyed the performance and unexpectedly got caught up in the moment during “Baby” and couldn’t help but sing along as he fired down each egg?
A Special Breed of Concert Fan
What’s next for the 17-year-old Bieber un-fan? Well, according to Billboard, he appeared in a Sydney Children’s Court shortly after the concert and was charged with breaking and entering, trespassing and malicious damage.
We’ll continue to follow this story and until we have more info for you, here’s something to think about should you be considering a similar mischievous adventure.
Like I said before, I’m always amazed at fans, or King of Leon-hating pigeons, who go to such great lengths to show show dislike for a band.
And in a strange way I think these fans are a special breed of concert fans because in their unparallelled bravery, they allow those of us, who aren’t as gusty, to feel a strange vicarious sense of release as we watch them go through the act.
And that weird vicarious emotional exchange between concert fans is something amazing to feel and think about.
It’s like that one person who always says what the rest of the class is thinking.
And I imagine that there was a whole legion of Bieber un-fans saluting the aerial egg assault as they watched it unfold in the YouTube video.
Who knows maybe, there is an rising underground resistance that is behind this and the other Bieber concert incidents such as the water bottle chucking moment that happened last year.
Yes, of course, this fan has already made our concert fan year-end list. But what about you?
What Artist Have You Always Aimed For?
What deviant concert fan act have you always wanted to do? If you could muster up the courage and the guts to do something nuts, what would you do to manifest your dislike for that artist at the top of your I’d-like-to-egg-them-at-a-concert-too list?