Australians are kind of gross for this one. One of the nastiest things I've ever heard is that it's tradition for any performer to pour a beer into a boot and chug it. If it's not a brand spankin' new shoe, you can forget about it. I'm not drinking anything where foot sweat comes from. It's funky and I've always judged those who act like it's normal. The folks in Australia can keep that freakish activity to themselves. Thankfully, I've got an ally in this gross trend with Chris Stapleton. If you expect to see him perform in Australia, don't expect him to pull out the boot for a beverage.
Videos by Wide Open Country
Recently, the country crooner spoke with the local news in Australia to promote the shows he's doing out in the massive continent. There, Stapleton politely declines to be a part of any shoey related activities while he's performing for the crowd. "I've heard about this. I asked somebody before I went on for the first night, 'Is there anything that I should be prepared for?' And then they're like, 'Yes, a shoey. They'll want you to drink beer out of a shoe'. And I said I will graciously decline to do that," Chris says.
Chris Stapleton Gives a Hard Pass on Doing a Shoey in Australia
He does note that no one has asked him to do a shoey yet. He maintains that he'll still likely decline but Chris does seem a little wary that now the people are going to hound him about it before he leaves. "But no one has asked me to do that yet and maybe this interview will make someone want to do that. I don't know. But I'm probably going to decline that request. I mean is there some kind of penalty if I don't do it? Are they going to throw things at me?" Stapleton quips.
Unfortunately, plenty of country stars have done this gross trend. I might come to expect some musty, unhygienic behavior from artists that look the part. As much as I may like Luke Combs or Zach Bryan, I don't necessarily put it past them to do something gross like that to make fans happy. But my heart sinks a little bit when good looking women start drinking foot sweat and beer concoctions on stage. I'll be spending a lot of time trying to scrub the visual of Lainey Wilson doing it for a while. More people should follow Stapleton and his example.
