Country music band The Red Clay Strays knows how to put on a good show, but last night, they also established that they know how to put on a safe one, for themselves and the audience members involved. At a performance in Cleveland, Ohio, frontman Brandon Coleman had something to say after he saw one of his crowd members being violent towards his partner.
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The incident began when the band paused their song upon noticing two people in the pit behaving aggressively. Halfway joking, Coleman remarked, "Well, sorry, ladies and gentlemen. Yeah, they're trying to kill each other down there." After a brief pause, the singer got serious after realizing that someone in the pit had hit their partner while the situation was unfolding. "Did he hit a woman?"
The crowd started booing immediately after Coleman said this, and the singer didn't waste any time dealing with the situation at hand. He told the man, "You should probably just leave," which was also met with a strong reaction of supportive boos from the audience. Not every artist will go to such a length for their fans, but before resuming the set, The Red Clay Strays made it clear that at their shows, that kind behavior simply isn't tolerated.
Country Artists Know How To Take Care of a Crowd
Country music stars have made it clear in the past that no matter the size of the crowd, they feel a responsibility to look after fans like they're their own. Just last year, Cody Johnson established that for him, this is a non-negotiable. After helping a fan get medical attention at one of his shows in February, he let the crowd know what they can expect from him at future concerts. "This is not a Travis Scott concert. We will stop to help people out," the singer told the audience.
Johnson and Coleman aren't the only ones. A few years back, Eric Church had to stop a concert while performing because of the way one of his security guards was dealing with a female fan. What had happened was that the fan had walked to the front of the stage in an attempt to get her boot signed by Church, and a security guard started "manhandling her" according to the singer. Instead of discouraging the attempt, Church praised her enthusiasm, even encouraging more fans to come to the front of the stage as well.
Between The Red Clay Strays, Cody Johnson, and Eric Church, it seems like country music fans have hit the jackpot. It's one thing to deliver a great performance, but for an artist to have the heart to give fans the promise of security and safety at events, that's something we can't take for granted.
Photo by: Stephen J. Cohen/Getty Images
