The trend of throwing random stuff on stage got more and more traction, with things taking a turn for the worse in most cases. Bebe Rexha was hit by a phone because a guy thought it would be hilarious, Harry Styles got hit in the eye by a Skittle in November 2022 and Kelsea Ballerini had to pause her performance to leave the scene for a bit after being hit by something. Here are some other instances where it happened.
1. Lil Nas X Got A Sex Toy
He was performing in Stockholm, Sweden at the 2023 Lollapalooza festival and out of nowhere an anatomically correct-shaped thingy plunked on stage. His reaction was NSFW, just like the object thrown from the stage.
2. Tom Jones And The Case Of The Flying Panties
The voice behind popular songs like “It’s Not Unusual,” or “Delilah” apparently started the whole underwear throwing movement. It was the 1960’s and apparently the sex symbol status came with adoration from the female crowd, adoration that sometimes translated to underwear and room keys thrown on stage.
3. One Direction And Unused Tampons
We’re guessing this was a desperate gesture to get their attention or to get in the news. The band was performing in San Jose in 2013 and an over ecstatic crowd member came up with the idea of pelting the guys with tampons. Their reactions raged from shocked to surprised and amused, as expected.
4. Green Day And The Mud Incident
The day was Sunday August 14, 1994. The occasion was Woodstock ’94, the 25th anniversary of the Woodstock festival. The weather gods clearly didn’t favor the gathering, there was mud everywhere making for a very unpleasant and uncomfortable scene. When Green Day got onstage people were already playfully throwing chunks of mud at each other. The band antagonized the crowd between songs with lines like “I hope it rains so much, you all get stuck,” a ‘brilliant’ one liner from Mike Dirnt, the bassist did little to sooth the spirits. The result was a muddied band, unusable scene and a moody crowd.
5. Alice Cooper Got A Live Chicken
Known as the chicken incident, this event happened during the 1969 Toronto Rock ‘n’ Roll Revival festival. So, the band was on stage, when a genius threw a chicken towards them. Some of the headlines went as far as suggesting that he bit the head of the chicken. At first they went along with the goss, following Frank Zappa’s advice “Well, whatever you do, don’t tell anyone you didn’t do it…Everybody loves it. You are the most notorious character of all time now.” In the end things got cleared. Cooper, who had no idea regarding the chicken’s flying abilities, threw it back into the crowd. His statement was pure gold: “ It’s a bird, you know. I’m from Detroit. I don’t know if — chickens got wings”.
6. Smash Mouth Got Loaves of Bread
We know, the first question is how on earth can someone have bread at a concert. This was the Taste Of Fort Collins, a food festival in Fort Collins, Colorado so there goes that. Alcohol was also present which led to some obvious intoxications. Some of the drunk people decided to throw bread – that they got for free from several vendors – up in the air, bread that occasionally landed on stage. To say Steve Harwell was pissed is an understatement, he had to be held back by security in order to prevent a full on scuffle.
7. A$AP Rocky Was Gifted Narcotics
While performing live at Coachella in 2014, a bold and rather misguided concert-goer decided it was a brilliant idea to toss a bag of white powder onto the stage. The guy acknowledged it and set it aside on stage.
8. Foo Fighters And The Mentos Shower
Not for a minty fresh breath, it was all connected to their ‘Big Me’ video where the band parodies the Mentos ad campaign. Their fans thought of the perfect reaction: to shower them with mints whenever they sing that song.
9. Cher Lloyd And The Bottles of Urine
At the V Festival in England, in 2012, Lloyd was hit by a bottle of urine. She voices her disapproval only to be hit with several other bottles containing the same liquid. All this forced her to cut her act short since things didn’t seem to take a turn for the better.
10. Ozzy Osbourne And The Live Bat
Again, this was a very unfortunate event. 1982 Osbourne was playing a concert in Des Moines, Iowa. A teen fan just happened to have a dead bat with him. He then cucked the bat onto the stage, with a hyped Osbourne thinking it was a rubber toy. So he went on with the act and bit the bat’s head as this would make for a great act. Well, it kinda did, people still ask him about it.
11. Pink And The Human Remains
This is a recent incident and a very weird one. Pink was singing at the BST Hyde Park show in London in June 2023. All of the sudden a bag with a gray powder landed on stage. The bag contained the human remains of someone’s mother. Imagine going to a concert with the ashes of your beloved one…
12. Rolling Stones And A Ton Of Mismatched Shoes
July 24, 1978 in Anaheim, California, or the day The Rolling Stones will never forget. They were on stage when someone – as a dare of just for fun – got off his shoes and chucked them on stage. Mick Jagger went along with the joke and asked the crowd for all of their shoes. Ask and you shall receive. The stage was soon littered with shoes and the cleaning crew had to come and sweep it clean.
13. Metallica Got a Pig’s Head
From weird to weirder! The guys were playing the Monsters Of Rock festival at Donington in 1985 when lo and behold, a pig’s head landed on the stage. A real, bloodied, pig’s head. And as an encore, Kirk Hammett, who’d recently became vegetarian, got his guitar covered with the contents of a devilled ham sandwich.
14. Blobbie Williams And The Prosthetic Leg
Granted, this was an act performed at Williams’ request but it’s still weird. He was performing at the Angels at the Guildford festival in 2014 when he saw a women in the crowd waving with the help of her prosthetic leg. His reaction was predictable, “Jesus, you’ve taken your leg off!” He asked her to throw it on stage, she did so, and the rest is history.
In the era of TikTok and reels, in an era when people would go all the way just to go viral, we can expect fans to reach new levels of quirkiness or pure craziness just to make the news.
Adele said it best, guys. “Have you noticed how people are like, forgetting fucking show etiquette at the moment? People just throwing shit on stage, have you seen them? I fucking dare you. Dare you to throw something at me and I’ll fucking kill you,” she somewhat jokingly added. So, if you’re thinking of throwing weird stuff on stage, don’t. Just go for the meet and greet.
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Why do people throw weird things on stage at concerts?
Well, for starters, some people do it as a way to show their appreciation for the artist, while others do it as a way to get attention, a more and more popular motive due to social media and the need to go create ‘fresh content.’ Others do it simply because they think it’s funny, bt plot twist, it rarely is.
Why do fans throw bras on stage?
Bras, knickers, basically all types of underwear have become a common occurrence when attending concerts. Elvis Presley, Tom Jons, these two were among the first to cause such a ruckus among the female population, commotion that led to seeing bras thrown on stage.
Is it dangerous to throw things on stage at concerts?
Yes, it can be dangerous to throw things on stage at concerts. In some cases, objects that are thrown can hit the artist or other people on stage, which can cause injuries, like Harry Styles and the Skittles. Another possibility is that the objects that are thrown can damage equipment or even start fires.
Bottom line is this: throwing things on stage is not only dangerous, but it is also disrespectful to the artist. It cuts their flow, it’s disrespectful to those around you and it should stop.
