Royal Blood are a terrible wannabe rock band, whose set fell absolutely flat up at Camperdown.
In among all the joyful tunes, sunshine and success of Radio 1’s Big Weekend, these guys were a sole black cloud.
The singer exited the stage with his two middle fingers raised at the crowd, after slagging them off repeatedly throughout the lame set.
Their petted-lip petulance has subsequently gone viral online.
And they have been roundly – and correctly – slagged for it.
But first, some quick context for the great many of you who won’t have heard of them…
Royal Blood are a two-piece band from the little English seaside town of Worthing, West Sussex.
The pair are in their early middle age, and have enjoyed reasonable chart success over the last handful of years. They play a sort of rocked-up, radio-friendly edgy pop.
Fine, nae harm tae them.
But then they turned up at the Big Weekend, at a sunny Camperdown, where families and fans of all ages had turned out in their thousands to enjoy themselves.
I bet no more than a handful of them had turned up to see Royal Blood.
Yet these two guys came out onstage, in their predictable black outfits and sunglasses, and expected the audience to swoon, sway and scream for them before they had even so much as plugged in an amp.
“We’re having to clap ourselves because that was so pathetic,” said the singer, Mike Kerr, of the audience reception at one point.
At the conclusion of the show, as he walked off giving the middle finger to aabdy in Camperdown, the drummer Ben Thatcher stood on the edge of the stage pointing at people in the crowd and demanding they cheer up, before storming off.
Royal Blood were a dud, but Dundee crowds know how to rock
The hissy fit would be funny if these two prima donnas wernae actively trying to ruin a fun day out for the thousands in attendance.
The pair have subsequently become a laughing stock among huge swathes of the music community online, which is heartwarming.
It’s been very hard to find posts about the moment that don’t include swearing. But Manchester Band The Lottery Winners put it nicely, posting: “No matter what level you get to, you’re never better than the audience.”
Man, some gigs are tough and you have to win over the crowd, but this is exactly how to NOT react.
Very disappointed with Royal Blood here.
No matter what level you get to, you’re never better than the audience.
— Lottery Winners (@LotteryWinners) May 30, 2023
Even Royal Blood fans (the puir craiters) wernae impressed, reminding them of the golden rule: “Respect your audience, always.”
Speaking as a Royal Blood fan, I'm all for back and forth with the audience but ideally not:
1) to an audience of teenagers
2) when you come across like a sassy walk-on from Made In ChelseaRespect your audience, always. đź‘Ź
— KILL, THE ICON! (@KILLTHEICON) May 29, 2023
See, it doesn’t have to be like that.
I went along to see an actual rock band in Dundee a wee while back: Machine Head.
The time-served heavy metal legends were about to embark on a stadium tour of Europe. So they decided to do five wee Scottish gigs in small venues to get themselves amped up for the bigger gigs ahead by drawing upon the famous energy of Scotland’s crowds.
It was a cold Monday night at Fat Sam’s, and the crowd were sober and initially downbeat.
But Machine Head constantly worked the room, kept engaging, even sent their bassist out into the mosh pit to get the energy up.
By the halfway point the place was bouncing. And all of the initial sparks came from the stage.
We’ve got the audience, we just need the venue
The football fans among us will know the feeling too.
A packed Dens or Tannadice can be as quiet as a library when the home side gives us nothing to cheer.
But give us a performance, give us energy and dedication. Snap into a 50/50 or rattle in a goal and the place will roar and crackle.
Royal Blood have hopefully been taught their lesson in Dundee.
But the whole incident, and the success of the big weekend did remind me that back in 2018, the folk who own the Mecca Bingo proposed turning it into a 6,000 seater venue.
That didnae happen. But they went back to the drawing board and are now proposing a ÂŁ70 million venue that will have a maximum capacity of 10,000.
What a brilliant thing that would be.
In the old days, The Beatles, David Bowie and the Rolling Stones all played Caird Hall but that venue doesnae cut it anymore.
And when the big acts want to play around here, they end up stuck, like poor old Elton John, at St Johnstone’s football ground, in an industrial estate out the back of Perth.
That’s nae use.
The Big Weekend showed the city can host these big acts, and that there’s an audience there for them.
Hopefully that gives the developers at the Mecca Bingo confidence to push ahead with their massive venue plans.
When the great acts are booking their tours, Dundee should be on every list.
But Royal Blood might do well to stay away, for a wee while at least.
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