Royal Blood, a rock duo made up of Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher, are going viral for all the wrong reasons following their set at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Dundee.
A video of Mike saying his goodbyes to the festival crowd has been making the rounds, in which he starts by telling them off for not being enthusiastic enough about their music, and ends by walking off stage with both middle fingers raised in the air.
Following that display, social media users are in near-unanimous agreement that Mike's attitude didn't reflect very well on him or the band.
In the video, Mike says: "I guess I should introduce ourselves seeing as no one actually knows who we are. We're called Royal Blood and this is, uh, rock music? Who likes rock music? Nine people. Brilliant."
He continues: "This is Ben Thatcher. He plays drums. Everybody say hi to Ben, please."
As the crowd cheers, Mike makes a show of saying: "We're having to clap ourselves because that was so pathetic. Well done, Ben," as he claps dramatically.
He goes on to point at someone, presumably a member of the crew, telling him: "Can you clap for us? Can you clap? You're busy. Can you clap?" then adding: "Yes, even he's clapping. What does that say about you?"
Then, Mike walks off while holding his middle fingers up for about 30 seconds.
Royal Blood making their feelings known about the crowd at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend yesterday 😂 pic.twitter.com/Meh6GZnByJMay 29, 2023
One Twitter user commented: "Speaking as a Royal Blood fan, I'm all for back and forth with the audience but ideally not: 1) to an audience of teenagers... 2) when you come across like a sassy walk-on from Made In Chelsea. Respect your audience, always."
Another said: "What happened before this to make that posh man in sunglasses so angry?"
Someone else commented: "I’ve liked Royal Blood for a long time, but this was torturously embarrassing to watch. Toe-curling stuff. It’s a festival crowd, not everyone’s there to see you. Especially a Radio 1 curated festival. They knew what they signed up for, & still acted like v entitled & childish."
Another person echoed that sentiment, saying: "Royal Blood shouldn't have agreed to Big Weekend anyway. Most of the crowd were likely there ready to see Lewis Capaldi as they are entitled to do. Bit of a dick move flipping off a crowd that didn't necessarily pay to see you, instead of using the opportunity to make new fans"
Last but not least, one viral tweet read: "I’d be so f***ing p***ed if a band called ***ROYAL BLOOD*** hopped up on stage to play rock and roll, patronised me in a Waitrose accent and then had a literal tantrum because I wasn’t making enough noise. I’d actually lose the plot"
Well, then.
