The Black Crowes got into it with a segment of their fans, who started booing after frontman Chris Robinson rebuffed their “U.S.A.” chants at a May 31 show in Tampa, Florida.
According to various reports, the flare-up occurred near the end of the Black Crowes‘ set, after they flashed their Black Crowes mascot on the big screen, dressed as Uncle Sam. This being Florida, a chunk of the crowd apparently took that as their cue to launch into a patriotic chant.
To be fair, the Black Crowes have never been an overtly political band, so this isn’t like a “U.S.A.” chant breaking out at a Rage Against the Machine concert. But Robinson was nevertheless compelled to make his feelings known. According to TMZ, he responded to the chants by quipping, “Thanks for the geography lesson,” followed by, “I don’t know what you have to be so proud of right now.”
While neither of those remarks appeared in any of the videos of the incident shared online, a few fan-shot clips captured the mix of boos and cheers that followed. They also showed the end of the exchange, during which Robinson stated, “For those of you fucking booing us, some of us are not afraid. And we most assuredly are not fucking ignorant!”
While some of the crowd walked out, the Crowes continued with their set, launching into their 1991 hit, “She Talks to Angels.” A rep for the Black Crowes did not immediately return Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.
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Robinson’s clapback really was a rarity for the Black Crowes frontman, who’s made the occasional quip about Donald Trump over the past decade, but has otherwise kept his politics to himself. In a recent Mojo interview, he stated, “I’m not interested in politics. I’m more interested in poetry and art and people and experience.”
“But,” he continued, “I know right and wrong. The world’s teetering on the edge with all this bullshit, but if there’s a street fighting man out there, he’d got to be a young man, right? But these kids don’t seem to give a fuck. I get it, I guess their phone is their interest. I don’t know, though, I still go to bookstores and read books and all the lyrics on this album were written in pen. I’m a mid-20th century product.”