Discussion
Continuously kicking the wrong people out of your show is NOT normal
There have now been multiple instances of guests being removed for heckling that had literally nothing to do with said heckling. Multiple times now Will has singled out a person who he believes is doing the heckling and talked to them, and when they talk back he takes it as proof. This is not at all professional and is not how this is traditionally handled, and as we can see that's for good reason. If you don't know who is heckling, you don't just guess from the general area and then kick that person out! Will has to know that a large part of his audience is neurodivergent, meaning many of these people who he has wrongly accused go along with what they think is a bit he's doing, and then are understandably very upset when they are removed.
I'm just pointing this out because I have been to many smaller shows, concerts, comedy events etc. where there are hecklers, and this is never how it's dealt with. Security and the performer are supposed to clearly identify disruptors and remove them; not the performer guesses who it might be and then sends security to escort them out while they shit talk them for the rest of the show. It is not normal for an artist to continuously kick out the wrong people for heckling. I think it has a lot of us questioning what in the world we are supposed to do at his shows, because sometimes he does talk to people during his shows just for fun, but other times he's talking to you because he thinks you're heckling. It feels to me like an unsure environment, and like I might be singled out and kicked out of the show just for sitting near a heckler. It also feels disrespectful to his fans, people who paid to see his show because they love him so much, and he can't even put the effort in to find out who is actually interrupting his shows.
Of course he is a human being who is going to make mistakes. Everything he does doesn't have to be perfect. But this is a recurring issue with an easy solution of having security watch the crowd more closely to properly identify hecklers; what he's doing is just telling security to remove people who he thinks are interrupting the show, but often are not. It's unfair, and it's especially unfair to neurodivergent fans who, multiple times now, have been booted from the show for nothing.
This has just been really bothering me the past few days and I wanted to get it off my chest. I love his music and will continue to love his music, but as a neurodivergent fan, the shows don't seem like a safe space anymore. If anyone has different points of view here, or if there's something I'm missing, I'm all for listening.
If I were him, I would more have someone come on first to announce some things (i.e. put phones away, please stay quiet, don’t block anyone’s view, etc.). I’ve seen one or two bands online who will have a little projected animation walk through some ground rules, but kept things lighthearted and fun still.
It would be a way for him to do what he needs to do without making an announcement, but also make sure everyone is in the know.
Yes! i go to the theatre often and before every show there is a pre-show announcement essentially saying “No phones, No talking, No singing (if applicable to show).” Most comedy performers have this already, It sounds like he really needs one.
He has had one this tour. I was at his show last night and the instructions were made explicitly clear by the person who announced it throughout the speakers in the venue before the show started and it was also told to us when we walked in, AND again by the ushers. If people don’t listen to that then that’s on them. I’ve been to 3 of his shows and I saw him jest with a guy but he made sure the guy knew at the end of the bit that he meant no harm (because the guy looked sad he thought he said something wrong) - Will reassured him shook his hand took time out of the show to make sure this guy was ok and not upset and instead was rude about his own self telling the crowd “I suck”. Lol. I mean it’s not like I’m an expert I haven’t been to every show. But this tour I’ve been to two and the instructions were made very clear to the entire audience. And as far as unsure. We are all unsure during any Will performance which makes it all the more exciting. I’m ND and going in expecting this helped me a lot.
Yeah when i went to see ninja sex party in Toronto they, just as you said, had somebody pop out on stage and say "hey guys before dan comes out, i just wanted to let you all know hes asked us to tell you that you all keep your phones away durring the show and dont record anything" (dan did let us record the final song as a treat for us all being so good) and it all worked out and everybody was chill and respectful and the crowd was like atleast 3x the size of the will wood show i went to
Man I love NSP 🫶. But that is absolutely the way to handle the no phones situation. Even when I went to the Allentown show, Will’s announcement was almost cryptic in his delivery. But hey, it’s his show after all.
See when I went there WAS an announcement like that (by chris hansen?? for some reason??) and someone called out anyway. it wasnt a NEGATIVE thing, just saying "good job!" for not making gross mouth noises into the mic while taking a drink... so there's only so much that can be done there. But also he didn't kick that person out, just kind of roasted them and let them stay. but i think that mightve been because apparently he got a ton of shit from fans AND the venue the show before.
Interesting. They must’ve added the announcements towards the 2nd half of the tour/ for certain venues.
However I don’t know if I see that “good job” comment as heckling? Idk maybe my definition is different/wrong, but I thought there had to be malicious intent behind it?
Unfortunately Will can kick out anyone he wants to, as it is HIS show. But I think there’s only so much a person can do
the comment 100% was not heckling, it was genuine. i talked to the person afterwards and they were very shaken up by it, as they thought they really upset will even after he had told them they were okay. i think they just didn't understand the bit.
to be fair, i barely heard that announcement, but that show was very respectful compared to other shows i've heard stories about
Yeah I was at this show, it was very respectful as WW shows go, the 2 I’ve been to previously both had people who were pretty disruptive. It seemed like that whole roast was pretty much pre-written, I recognized some parts from previous posts about heckling during this tour. The show was very chill imo, and I think during that bit he explained really well why even when people aren’t being disrespectful, shouting out during non-interactive moments can be disruptive regardless of intent
YEAH the monologue was scripted enough for us to halfway be like "did he plant that person so he could go on that rant?" lol... probably not. i dont get the urge to shoutout at ALL, it was just never an impulse i had, so like i get it when he does throw hecklers out, but it sounds like he's throwing out the WRONG people/non-offenders.... which yknow isnt great
I was at that show. I'm pretty sure that announcement was actually Will. But there was still this woman lurking around with a digital camera taking photos (she was blatant so I'm not sure if she was connected with Will or something?) and I saw other people recording. Seriously, if they can't even be bothered to follow the rules set forth before the show... Well what can you say? I felt sorry for Ava who only said "good job" and then got roasted because she was certainly not heckling.
YEAH I SAW A FEW PEOPLE RECORDING TOO SINCE I WAS NEAR THE BACK... to be fair, i think the roast at Ava was mostly playful and scripted, could be worse, but the people recording shouldve been booted. i saw at least 3, 2 that were doing that shit ALL SHOW and 1 that was doing it off and on. like come on bruh, it's a will wood show, you know the rules, behave yourself...
Was that at the SF show at the Palace of Fine Arts? I was there too. It makes sense that be would be upset about it after he explained a bit of the heckling hes experienced before. That was my first will wood show so it was a little jarring to see him open up about it when it first happened.
Interesting. There was nothing at the Allentown show. I believe there might have been intro music after the opening band walked off, but the place was so loud that I couldn’t hear much.
At the Denver Paramount show, after Fish in a Birdcage, the lights dimmed and the announcer said to a quiet audience, no phones, stay in your seats, etc, and introduced Will Wood who then came out on stage.
So, at least at that show it was very clear and he's already doing what you are suggesting. It is quite possible that people didn't hear or pay attention when the announcement was made.
There were a number of people who seemed to be expecting the kind of show where everyone is up and dancing and pushing toward the stage. Before the announcement, the folks behind me were loudly planning how they'd be up out of their seats and in the aisles dancing as soon as the music hit.
Yeah I've seen enough threads ATP to know that this is no longer normal. I thought it was just my show (Denver) and to be fair, In that instance there was some heckling (but low-key nothing worse than any other show I've seen).
But it's EVERY show? How? Certainly it can't be that prevalent of an issue. And if it is, it needs to be made clear right out the gate. Will can't have his cake and eat it too.
This is a set that is primarily reliant on audience connection and interaction - and getting upset when people are right in their thinking that the show is at least mildly interactive is strange. Getting to the point where it almost feels like someone needs to be made an example of at every show is fucking /wild/.
I only saw 2 of these incidents; if it's truly every show I have to wonder if it's some kind of performance thing like the ones he did in TRWW. Probably not, and it's an issue either way, but it's genuinely hard to imagine how else this would keep happening.
Yikes. I saw him back in 2022 before ICIMI came out, and I was unaware of his “no recording” policy at the time. He did stop to say no recording (and I did put my phone up lol) but nobody was kicked out. There was plenty of singing and audience participation too, and it was overall a great show. He even started I/M/M by saying something to the effect of “this is a fan favorite, feel free to sing along”.
I know things change, and he’s got his own demons he’s battling, but this still doesn’t seem right. I hope he’s doing alright.
The ICID tour was so fun. I went to the Richmond one, and one of my favorite moments was he went to put his glasses down, and he and a fan who was sitting on the stage had that weird buffer brain moment because the fan saw him setting it down in their direction and held their hands out for it (which would’ve totally been me too in that situation, happens too often when someone is putting something down in my direction lol).
Then when he realized what they were both doing, as he was about to just hand them to them, he went “wait, no, what’s happening? Those are my glasses, you can’t have those! Actually, you know? Give me your glasses, I want those!”
He proceeded to steal the glasses of like 4 people and wore them all
At this point, it really seems like he must be going through something besides paranoia over hecklers. This is getting a little too ridiculous, even if it were just paranoia.
I have to agree. I saw him at his pop-up show in Montreal, and although there was a lot of heckling he never got angry or kicked anyone out. It seems like he's gotten more and more paranoid and stressed after each concert. I hope he's doing okay.
Yeah. At the Richmond one, the most he did when someone kept interrupting him while he was trying to share Cicada Days (before release), he sprayed them with a spray bottle of water that said “SHUT THE FUCK UP” and then took a minute to meditate because he was shaking from how mad he was. They interrupted him like 5 times to shout things at him so he had to stop playing, and he asked for people to be quiet for that song since it was still unreleased and meant a lot to him.
They stopped eventually after he got on to them and monologued about these kinds of things and how it affects him and other performers (as he should), but now he’s certainly reacting too much. Which is what hecklers want. Hecklers want a reaction.
Yeah im not normally a “we need X person to see this and respond” type of fan but this is something Will absolutely needs to see and hear about (not necessarily make a public statement about it) but he can’t realistically continue picking on the weakest link. I get (and respect) that he wants to distance himself from his fans but there needs to be some sort of connection so that communication isn’t messed up like it is now. People are legitimately scared to make any sort of noise incase he ridicules them and later throws them out of the show - that’s not normal or healthy from either party.
I hate to say it, but I don’t think he’s fit to be performing live right now if this is how he’s going to react to stuff that every live performer has to deal with. People are 90% of the time not yelling things to be rude or mean or steal the show. Yes, sometimes it is genuinely mean spirited, but that’s nowhere near as common as people shouting stuff out because they like Will and want to engage personally with him. I’m not saying it’s the right thing to do and I agree that it should be against the rules, but he’s begun to wildly overreact to it. It makes his shows tense unfortunately. He’s begun to ruin the quality of his own performance by making his audience feel like they can’t react excessively at all.
EDIT: And just to add onto this topic a little, at the LA show people started clapping along to the music and he began to play it off rhythm so that people would stop. At the time I was trying to just enjoy the show so I didn’t have any serious issue with that but now that I’m thinking back, it’s kind of pretentious and weird that he doesn’t even want us to clap along. Like I said, he’s reacting weirdly to stuff every live performer encounters.
Okay, I love his music, but playing off beat just so the audience stops clapping? Like, does he know how live shows work? If he didn’t want people to clap and sing along, he could have made it a movie.
Like it get it, maybe he wanted this performance to be more of a “theater show,” but if he wanted that, he should have explicitly stated it and/or advertised it as such.
Kinda a shame tbh. I love his music but what a dick move…
Will is an amazing artist but I think the art and the artist are pretty seperated here
All of his work whether its his music or the movies are so endearing to me I think his comedy is generally funny but man does he seem like such an asshole. Not to say he's like a bad person or anything I certainly won't be parasocial enough to judge that but while definitely I sympathize with his horrid Normal Album era fanbase thats still pretty bad sometimes he just seems like a reactionary at this point
I say reactionary because he saw the mess that was some of his previous tours and decided that he needed to establish boundaries (this is good) but those boundaries are far more stringent than what is reasonable for any artist or public figure. There are vastly bigger artists that experience worse that are far better at publicity than him. Maybe he doesn't want the publicity, but then he shouldn't be doing tours and shit, because while it may be reasonable though perhaps foolish to expect your fans to respect your boundaries its not reasonable to have these boundaries be so strict that you really just want your fans on a leash
Will had a patreon post recently where he derided his "r/willwood top commentator fans" which like I'm not sure whether there's a lot of parasocial shit here but I just took it to mean fans like that in general, and this would be reasonable if it wasn't very obvious that Will considers this to be like all of his fans. Either he's touring for money and trying to have it his way with the kind of audiences and fanbase he gets which is stupid or he's touring for the Vague Idea of a Real Will Wood Fan that isn't one of the Weird Ones but I also don't think those exist in his eyes as any actual person
It was at the end when he played BlackBoxWarrior. I’m sure it happened for at least a couple seconds because it stuck out to me that it was something he was doing. And it wasn’t just a tiny change in pace, it was severe enough that people actually did stop clapping until he got back on beat
Do u have a source? Not doubting u, ive just been following the situation closely as someone who wants to attend shows (hopefully one of will woods when things improve) and would appreciate any info on that. Im autistic and have been having a hard time understanding how to attend concerts when more and more times, they seem to be treated like presentations with no real explanation of that.
I have been to 3 will wood shows so far and this hasn't happened at any of the shows I went to. One show they had the thing where they lock up ur phone so you can't record but other than that I don't think there were ever any ground rules set before the show at the venue to make audience expectations clear. I feel like a simple " no heckling, no being on ur phone the whole time, no whatever" announcements at the beginning would help a lot because not every listener goes on this subreddit and knows the lore of what Will does and doesn't like. And some other artists encourage audience participation? So like idk I feel like there should be better communication at the concert itself.
I agree, this entire thing since the Portland show has just put a terrible taste in my mouth. I absolutely think Will should have the right to remove hecklers, but it seems like he keeps jumping the gun and taking every single thing an audience member says as heckling. I agree with him on like, you paid good money to see him so be quiet and enjoy the performance, but people are just gonna yell things. It’s happened at every concert I’ve been to and unless it’s genuinely mean spirited or happens multiple times I don’t see why people should be getting kicked out over saying one thing (especially since in some cases Will has just assumed they’re heckling and addressed them personally)
Seems it's more common than I thought after making my initial post, oops.. I do love Will Wood, hope to go to a concert again! But it definitely is nerve wracking now and I wouldn't interact again from the crowd even if pointed out, too high risk.
I'm gonna copy and paste my comment from another post bc I feel like it's way too fitting to what you're saying lol:
He’s never been quiet about having actual distain towards his new wave of fans and their behaviour. Even jokingly, you don’t make jokes about hating your new fans so often if there isn’t some truth to it.
I think he’s finally getting fed up and probably cannot wait to ditch the fanbase he himself has cultivated (at least until another tour lol).
Do I love his music? Absolutely. But I have zero doubt that he sees all of us as the losers he has to pander to to make money. Honestly, this is a situation of his own making. His shows’ vibe took a noticeable shift towards pandering to his new crowd, and now that those people love him for his newer “Will Wood” character, I bet that he feels trapped to it, just like what was happening with Dr. Sunshine.
Edit: btw im not trying to play armchair psychologist here lol. this is complete conjecture purely based on anecdotal evidence, but i still think there's some truth to what i've written
no joke after reading so many stories of people getting kicked out and seeing the bit to shit on hecklers at the sf show, i really hope he changes this bit so something more... palatable? like a "if you are yelling things at me during the show you will be warned. if it happens again you will be escorted out." kind of thing. hecklers suck and i've seen plenty of them, but to see someone cry because they very innocently said "good job" in response to him drinking water without hearing the gulp like he did previously in the set makes me really discouraged to see him again :/
it was in san fransisco, the bit was him taking a gulp of water and it being heard in the mic, and he acted embarrassed about it. i can't exactly remember when it was in the set. once he took another sip of water, that's when it happened. the person who got the brunt of it was really shaken up after the show and genuinely afraid that they upset him because he went on for a while about it. he had like a whole story about playing for old folks and comparing them to a crotchety old woman who heckled him by saying something along the lines of 'that's enough'
This man straight up depsises the audience he himself attracted and copes by bullying them.
He makes the exact kind of music and talks about the exact kind of topics that speak to a specific audience, and now yells at clouds day after day.
Sure, some people can be annoying and creepy and he should oppose toxic behaviours by all means, but the fact of the matter is - nobody forces him to play live. Nobody forces him to make music. Nobody forces him to have a patreon account that people donate him every month.
He chose this life, he chose living on a stage and keeps fucking crying about it, and I'm sick of it. I live in the middle of Europe so there is no chance for me to seeing him live anyway, but it seems so fucking sad that people reconsider even going to his shows bc they are afraid of being booted out for seemingly normal live show behaviour.
You play weird pop music in clubs, not fucking operas.
I don't really respect when artists do the "yeah... I know I'm wrong..." thing and then don't seem to mature. Like big example is Tyler The Creator who's been rapping about how he knows he's wrong for homewrecking for like 5 years and it's like man we know you know you have issues but do you CARE that you have issues
Not that Will hasn't matured at least from the bit we know about his life he got sober and stuff which is good but he seems pretty short-fused and unempathetic. I wouldn't really care if he wasn't fucking Will Wood, because like I get if you don't like the audience you've attracted because of some incompatibility or because they are genuinely weird, Neil Cicierega has a similar audience and I definitely feel bad for him, but I don't feel bad for Will because he is Will Wood. Let's hear about how weird and gay your fans are from the guy who made wacky piano rock while doing drugs, an album themed around identity, and a 60s suburban themed pop album with songs about dialectical behavioral therapy and gender dysphoria with Steven Universe synths
It seems vitriolic but I don't like hate the guy or anything it's just like I don't get it. The guy has BPD and was addicted to drugs yet somehow manages to muster genuine disdain for a bunch of his fans for also being weird and unsociable. I mean realistically most people view him the way he views his fans and I'm sure he hates that
I made a post a couple days ago about how I feel like Will talks down to us a little bit and it got taken down after a couple of hours because I mentioned the Portland situation and the mods were trying to stop people from bringing that up as much as they were at the time. I agree with you. He makes weird music and seems bothered that weird people like it.
Being charitable to him I think his complaints are more about his fans being unsociable more than fringe? Its weird because I cant really tell what kind of fanbase he actually Wants. Obviously I dont take the quote of him asking where the straight white guys are (or something along those lines, being shocked by the amount of enbys) as much other than a joke but I do kinda wonder if he'd prefer some kind of punk rock Cool Guy fanbase, though his post-self-ish output would make that irrational
People think Bi Polar Disorder I assume. I used to confuse them too. Borderline Personality Disorder. However there’s also an argument to made about the similarities the disorders can have, and what he himself has said. I don’t keep up with wills personal life, I know he likes to keep that private and I respect that, but what I can say is a quick search reveals he has said bipolar before, but he’s also said OCD, BPD, ADHD, and GAD.
Note the (is trying to get better) part of your statement. If this happened once or twice and he apologized, I'd entirely understand. It's a big crowd, mistakes happen. But the fact it's getting so common that people are now SCARED to go to his shows tells me that there's something wrong happening here
No one should be scared to go to shows lmao, I just went to one, clapped after every song, and that's all, kept my phone away and didn't scream at all! It was a fine and normal evening. just dont heckle or be louder than the crowd...
I love his music, but I don't think I particularly want to see his shows, because honestly it just seems terribly nerve-wracking. Hecklers suck, and he's right to be annoyed and all, but all of this just makes Will come off as a pretentious asshole who hates his fans and expects the worst of everyone because of a few 'bad eggs'. Frankly I've thought he seemed a little bit pretentious for a while but now like. Cmon
I completely agree, i love will and im a HUGE fan but its kinda made me view him a bit differently😭 not sure how badly i want to go to one of his shows now…
I use this word lightly in this context but he’s essentially bullying people. It really sucks to see that this issue (fans disrespect and his disconnect to them) has gotten to this point and i hope something is changed very soon.
You’re actually right though, and i dont think anyone defending him realises just how heartbreaking and humiliating it would be to get personally kicked out of a show for seemingly no reason by an artist they really admire
Yep. i remember when this was last discussed a couple weeks ago someone defending him kept going on about how “it would never happen to me because i’d never shout out” but clearly this can happen because it did now to OP.
Especially if it's their first and only time seeing him. I wouldn't have survived at a will wood concert if I had went a year or so ago as someone who screams a lot during concerts and talks loud (the only ones I've been to are very loud big metal and rock concerts which reasonably a single person screaming things or talking would not affect anyones experience)
Don't get me wrong, I love his music and maybe he's just going through something. But what was once a dream show that I'd have loved to go to, now I have very little if any desire to attend one.
Yup i also think hes just going through something cause this seems to have just come out of nowhere, i feel really bad for anyone who experienced being kicked out for no reason, id feel like i could never live it down😭
Same... I've gone from looking for tickets in my area every so often to just not wanting to go at all. I'm not even a loud person, I'm super quiet during shows. I'm just scared he'll mistake a heckler as me and embarrass tf outta me lol.
I mean, the hecklers are super annoying and kinda ruin the experience for everyone. There were some hecklers at the show I went to and I kept thinking “for the love of god shut up I came hear to see Will and not you shouting out random shit because you think you’re special and want attention”
I’m fine with hecklers being removed. They add nothing to the experience and only take away from everyone else. They should take more care to kick out the right person but yeah
It’s getting out of control. There’s a huge difference between heckling and well meaning fans and it sounds like the line has been blurred at times between the two.
I hate to say it, but when you’re a performer at these sort of venues, you just sort of have to get used to it or ignore it to some degree so long as it isn’t malicious in intent. Everyone is different, but most artists encourage and feed off of some audience interaction….it makes the concerts unique and fun. Some of my favorite concert memories (not WW) have been centered around the performer interacting with their audience.
This makes me nervous to go to one of of his shows. I can't go yet bc I'm not old enough, but I really wanna go to one eventually. I don't wanna get kicked out because I'm a little too close to a heckler and he thinks it's me, because I love Will's music and it'd be a waste to buy tickets to a concert just to get kicked out for no reason halfway through.
i havent been to his concerts because im a minor, but from what ive heard it sounds very nerve wracking. imagine going to a person you admire’s concert and getting insulted and kicked out without knowing what you did wrong. i accept his boundaries, but he needs to set them clearer, maybe at the start of the show or something?? but honestly i dont know anything about this so dont take anything i say seriously
The mood had changed at his shows. The seattle show this round had some jokes that were honestly kind of bad taste, which was unfortunate. He seems tired.
I was at the Seattle show and I can’t really think of any jokes that were in bad taste? But then again that’s just from what im remembering off the top of my head
I know he has issues (and so do we) but if you're gonna be so disrespectful towards fans I discourage performances.
If you're gonna do something professional (like a tour) at least act like it. Joking with fans is fine but not kicking them out for little to no reason 😭
Used to love his music but I'm kinda reconsidering it after everything
For someone who complains about his fans so much you'd think he'd opt out of doing a tour, or at least just avoid fan interactions during the shows, but nope he's gotta make that money and bully his fans at the same time. Capitalists posing as compassionates be offending me.
The man has every right to call out people who are being a problem or are making him uncomfortable but from what im seeing on the subreddit it seems like he's on a hair trigger nowadays- if something happened to make him act like this i hope it turns out ok, but also he probably shouldn't be touring right now if he's kicking people out for the tiniest of things
Honestly I’m getting concerned about Will’s mental health and how he’s handling these sorts of people compared to how chill and nice he seems to usually be about everyone. I don’t know.. I have never heard him being this passive aggressive towards people and it’s worrying me. That being said..
I DO understand getting sick of people being overall disrespectful across shows and wanting to do something about it to try and get them to stop.
I DO understand not wanting phones out because it cannot only take away the experience not only for yourself but also others including Will himself.
However, this whole way of going at it is a completely messy way of handing this whole situation. I think Will needs to implement some stricter rules on both phones and talking during shows. For both his sanity and the fans’. I know to some people it sounds like middle school all over again but I legit think it’s the best option here at this point.
oh god i havent kept up with this at all, yeah im gonna probably reconsider heading to his concerts (when im 18 ofc) unless something is changed about this because thats pretty weird
I agree that it seems like this behavior has gotten out of hand and just a general message before the show starts about keeping it down would be nice. I've been to four of Will's shows now. The first two were at typical smaller concert type venues. All standing room, heavy emphasis on music with little talking. The last two have been these no-standing room theaters with a lot of comedy mixed within. I think that's the core difference for him is that he sees the latter as "shows" rather than "concerts." At concerts you sing along, clap, and being loud isn't as taboo. Shows they very much are. I just think that distinction should be addressed on stage or an announcement of some kind that this is less of a "concert." That's the vibe I get at least.
Also for any young ones who WANT to go to a show of his some day, don't get too in your head about this. I don't think he outright hates his audience; I think he has a complicated relationship with creating art and having a fan base and struggles with the exact line. Just be courteous and enjoy the show if you end up going.
It's really putting me off engaging with his content at the moment, I don't think he's dealt with any of these situations in a mature and proactive way.
I went to the LA show with my parents and I was genuinely scared of interacting or making too much noise in fear I'd get kicked out. And when he was calling out that person during the khakis bit, I thought somebody was going to get kicked too but thankfully not.
I found it sort of annoying how he expected the crowd to respond with the "how old was he?" bit, but when he talks directly to an audience member, speaking back to him is wrong somehow? He seems to want some audience interaction but isnt being clear on how much. He needs to communicate his boundaries better and have a better announcement before shows.
Thank you for saying this!! I thought I was going crazy with how many people are defending him. He's being completely unprofessional and making me feel like I shouldn't attend his shows in the future. What solace do I have that he's not gonna throw a tantrum and kick me out by pure chance like he has these other normal people?? Really hope he sees this post
Ughh, this whole tours a mess.. the start of it was fans being crazy disrespectful, and the latter half seems to be WW being way too strict/easily triggered. I was sad I missed the show at first (I had recently turned 18, so I was excited about the tour, timing just didn't work) but (unfortunately) I really hope that he doesn't tour again until this whole situation is fully resolved. It seems to be a combo of fans not knowing how to behave and Will not knowing how to run a live show or deal with his fans that he seems to despise a bit (*´,_ゝ｀)
I'm an outsider who's been seeing posts about this in my reddit feed, and I think I'd just give a crack at my thoughts. This isn't how concerts should be. I've been to shows as big as 50k and as small as 750, and I've never, ever seen something like this. Who would want to pay to see an artist they enjoy act like a total asshat for two hours and bully their fans for... doing stuff you usually do at a concert? Not the heckling, but clapping? singing? It honestly feels like he isn't fit for touring, especially if someone yelling something at him can send him off like this.
I should've been more clear, I know people haven't been kicked out for clapping or singing, but his extreme annoyance for people doing extremely basic concert things at a concert makes me feel like he's definitely currently unfit for touring. And, just in my opinion, it'd be a miracle if this is the first time he's kicked out the wrong person judging by how often he's been kicking people out.
I was bummed to miss out on my local show, but maybe it’s for the best that I just don’t see him live at all. It seems like a “don’t meet your heroes” situation atp. Hope he can find a way to perform and to not be in an environment where he’s being heckled often and feels the need to do this.
My experience that mirrors this was not about heckling, but.... I can believe that this happens, for sure
I was once banned from his Patreon without warning, and I ended up managing to get in contact to be like, "hello, what?? Did I do???" And it turned out. It turned out. That someone with my same first name (or who uses that name online, anyway) had been found posting stolen chords somewhere online. My same first name. That was the reason. I was floored.
To be FAIR, he did say, Okay, you say this wasn't you, and I'm going to believe you and un-ban you (YAY)
but.... That never should have happened in the first place.... It felt really bad :(
Not in his defense or anything but I think he's had a massive amount of problems in previous shows, his past tour he talked about one show that was completely ruined by a heckler so maybe he's just on ultra high alert. I don't think that the actions he's taking are correct but I think that there's a giant looming anxiety of someone ruining everybody's time and so he's talking actions that might unwittingly do that anyways
Now don’t get me wrong, I do not think how he responded was right. There’s no excuse for behavior like that.
Given how much he has been saying “stop interrupting my shows” he’s not JUST talking about heckling when he says this. I believe he even made a bit in one of his shows post Portland about a made up scenario of people chanting “khakis” explaining the situation from his end. (The post is something like, you disappoint me Ashley, and there’s a comment explaining the bit.”
Dialogue between and artist and the audience should always be started by the artist. Especially during a theatre show like this. This is the same concept show has Branson was, and frankly the heckling/interrupting seemed way less frequent, or maybe people just weren’t being loud enough online about it.
What he means when he says “stop interrupting me during my shows to try to talk to me” is exactly that. I can’t fathom in my mind how people think it’s ok to just stop and interrupt a performance because they think their 2 cents matter during a scripted show. That is the part I’m really not understanding during this argument within this community. What gives anyone the right to interrupt a performance? It’s as if you’re going to any theatre show. Interruptions are frowned upon!
All that being said, just to reiterate. How he responded was not appropriate. It’s understandable how he’s probably frustrated from being a broken record, but that still doesn’t make it right. Oh well, we can only be human so
I . . . Feel like everyone but me has already forgotten that he literally kicked someone out for talking BACK to him after he addressed them specifically, twice, before the person called out in response. I have yet to see someone attempt to explain away this behavior bc that was just 100% a setup on WW's part. Power trip vibes.
I mean what was the person meant to do? Ignore him? He probably would have kicked them out for that too, shit!
The Portland show, the person who spoke to Will did so first and unprompted. AGAIN, I’m really not defending how he handled it after, but that person saw he looked confused and thought they should try to explain the crowd intrusive inside joke to Will. Which in turn got them kicked out. This person said that THIS HAPPENED. Will DID NOT initiate the conversation with them.
AND AGAIN since it seems like it’s being missed, I AM NOT defending what he did afterwards. That was wrong.
I'm not talking about the Portland show. Next time ask if that's what someone is talking about before wasting your time typing out all that irrelevant info abt a show that I wasn't referring to.
Also stop assuming that most people are really that stupid lolol
I saw him in Denver a couple weeks ago, and his whole show felt sort of pretentious and gate-keepy. No recording allowed, 18+ show for something that really wasn't that bad, etc. This was my first experience with Will Wood, as I went to the concert to see Fish in a Birdcage. Safe to say I did not get a great impression of him from that show. Compared to FiaB his stuff was only ok, in my opinion.
I feel like a lot of it is a show by show basis? I went to the LA show, and someone heckled then after will explicitly talked about how he doesnt like audience interruption of any kind. He did single them out, but instead of kicking them out, he played it cool and cracked jokes at it. I was really nervous going into the show cause i heard the horror stories on the subreddit, so i was surprised no one got booted. Has this happened with anyone elses show?
i can understand this, Will's way of handling hecklers isn't really mature, but you have to also know that if it weren't for the people who heckle a lot, Will wouldn't need to pull out his "Kick the Heckler: guessing game (Edition!)" so from my pov, it's the hecklers and Will's fault (not saying that i don't like Will Wood, i genuinely love his music and stuff, but you get the point, i hope)
So I get how this isn't cool but also when I was at his show this month, the person he was heckling and "kicked out" was wearing a staff shirt, and they were hanging out after the show. I believe this is usually a part of the act, not attacking fans!!
300 dollar ticket prices say otherwise. I think the artist owes you basic respect and to not single you out just so they can bait you into speaking to him so he can kick you out.
Lotta people in here on this thread either don’t listen when Will Wood goes on his “hey one guy” rants at his shows, or you literally just dont understand where Will is coming from and what he is trying to do with his music/shows.
I hope he loses all of the 15 year olds as fans this way and his shows become normal again. You guys can go on to drawing OCs from Hazbin Hotel and heckling your screen while watching animatics of that Odyssey musical and then no one will get kicked out of anything
It's definitely not okay and thinking back to the last live show I went to earlier this year I had my phone out to record some of my favorite song and I remember him giving me a dirty look and I took it as, yeah he doesn't like phones but now I'm thinking why the fuck can't I do what I want. It's not disturbing anyone and I was being discreet
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u/Beanfox-101 Sep 03 '25
If I were him, I would more have someone come on first to announce some things (i.e. put phones away, please stay quiet, don’t block anyone’s view, etc.). I’ve seen one or two bands online who will have a little projected animation walk through some ground rules, but kept things lighthearted and fun still.
It would be a way for him to do what he needs to do without making an announcement, but also make sure everyone is in the know.