Royal Blood respond after backlash to ‘arrogant’ comments at Radio 1’s Big Weekend

Rock duo frontman Mike Kerr stormed off stage after calling Radio 1 festival crowd ‘pathetic’

British rock duo Royal Blood have responded to criticism they faced after frontman, singer/guitarist Mike Kerr, made “arrogant” comments during BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend festival.

On Sunday 28 May, the two Brighton-based rockers performed at the annual event in Dundee, Scotland, alongside acts including singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi, indie duo Wet Leg, and pop singers Niall Horan and Anne-Marie.

Towards the end of their set, Kerr began mocking the audience and suggesting they didn’t know who he and his bandmate, drummer Ben Thatcher, were.

Now, over a week after Kerr called the crowd “pathetic” and stormed off-stage with his middle fingers in the air, he’s said he “meant no offence” and chalked his behaviour up to his “dry as MDF [medium density fibreboard]” sense of humour.

Speaking to Greg James on Radio 1 on Monday (5 June), Kerr said “I didn’t feel like I’d done anything morally wrong.

“Walking off from that show I felt I was being entertaining, in a way of trying to make light of the situation, perhaps I was doing a performance where I felt a little bit out of place,” he explained of his stage exit.

“I expected to be a little bit bemused and maybe confuse a few people, but not to that kind of scale. [It was] pretty wild.”

Kerr added: “The ending to me, I felt like a sort of pro wrestler. I was walking off like a sort of pantomime villain.”

In clips of the incident, which emerged shortly after on social media, the 32-year-old guitarist can be heard addressing the crowd, saying: “Well, I guess I should introduce ourselves seeing as no one actually knows who we are.

Royal Blood frontman Mike Kerr at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Dundee (BBC)

“We’re called Royal Blood and this is rock music. Who likes rock music?” he asked. “Nine people, brilliant. This is Ben Thatcher, he plays drums, everybody say hi to Ben, please.”

He later quipped: “We’re having to clap ourselves because that was so pathetic. Well done, Ben.”

Appearing to address the camera-man, Kerr asked: “Will you clap for us? You clap? You’re busy. Can you clap? Yes, even he’s clapping.” Turning to the crowd again, he asked: “What does that say about you?”

Several fans responded to the footage in anger, with one person tweeting: “The arrogance is absolutely off the scale.”

“Man, some gigs are tough and you have to win over the crowd, but this is exactly how NOT to react,” the band Lottery Winners tweeted. “Very disappointed with Royal Blood here. No matter what level you get to, you’re never better than the audience.”

“Royal Blood don’t make music anywhere near good enough to be acting like this,” another said, while one remarked: “Every great band I’ve ever seen has never felt the need to do this. Hateful, especially from such a f***ing mediocre crock of s*** as Royal Blood.”

The band just announced their new album, Back to the Water Below, which is scheduled for release on 8 September. Their previous album, Typhoons, was released in 2021.

They are booked to play Glastonbury Festival 2023, which takes place between 21 and 25 June.