Courtney LaPlante of Spiritbox caught some heat on social media after a show on July 15. Spiritbox has been on tour with Evanescence since June 11, serving as opener alongside Nova Twins for the group’s North American leg.
But LaPlante got some pushback after the show in Phoenix. There, she openly called for security to escort a violent fan from the venue. Apparently, the man had been getting increasingly aggressive with the fans around him. But LaPlante’s onstage comment caused people on social media to think she kicked the man out for moshing.
“This isn’t a damn gold-medal karate match. This is a rock and roll show,” she told the crowd. “Let that be a lesson to anyone out there who f**ks around tonight.”
Footage of the incident spread on social media. People who weren’t even at the show came to their own conclusions. Several publications then picked up the story, but allegedly lacked a lot of important context.
Courtney LaPlante Defends Decision to Eject Violent Fan From Spiritbox Opening Set
After the story spread, some people called out Courtney LaPlante for the ejection. They claimed that there’s nothing wrong with moshing at a metal show. Which is correct, if everyone involved is also moshing. But LaPlante then took to social media to clear some things up about the criticism.
“It was old drunk man punching people in [the] head who were facing the stage in small amphitheater vip pit, several times while we were playing. Not appropriate or fun for anyone else there!” she wrote on Twitter/X.
“I didn’t say what was happening on stage, and it doesn’t say what actually happened in the article, but I wasn’t thinking about the internet when I stopped the show,” she continued. “3 times we told security about him so that was the final straw and I’m glad I did it, he wasn’t moshing.”
LaPlante then wrote that Spiritbox are already easy targets for metal fans who believe they don’t belong in the hardcore scene. She added, “The person who already thinks I’m lame and not a part of this culture isn’t crazy to assume from the article that I kicked someone out for moshing, and I will survive another day.”
But, she admitted, fans may have gotten the wrong idea “just because of my ‘karate’ comment.” LaPlante added, “I was trying to make a light joke to kind of break the tension, people were really freaked out by that guy punching kids in the face.”
In conclusion, she wrote, “I also called it a rock show, bc it IS—we are opening for [Evanescence]. I’m a guest in their house.”
Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
The post ‘It Was an Old Drunk Man Punching People’: Evanescence’s Opener Hits Back at Criticism Over Fan Ejection appeared first on VICE.
