He explained what happened in a series of Tweets after the show.
Photo (cropped) by Jason Cox/Flickr.
Rock musicians have a long history of jumping into the crowd. Guns N’ Roses singer, Axl Rose, was once so infuriated with a fan illegally taking pictures that he asked security to handle the situation. When security failed to act, Rose took care of business himself by jumping into the crowd and stealing the camera from the man, assaulting audience members and security guards in the process.
Over the weekend, Circa Survive guitarist Brendan Ekstrom walked off stage and into the crowd for a completely different reason: to protect a female fan from apparent sexual harassment.
Circa Survive was co-headlining a show with AFI at St. Louis’ The Pageant theater Friday night when he noticed an uncomfortable interaction between audience members. “For almost a whole song I watched a guy stand a row behind a girl flirting and then trying to kiss her,” Ekstrom wrote on Twitter. “It was hard to tell what was really happening.”
After the woman pushed the man away, Ekstrom thought something needed to happen, so he walked off the stage and confronted the man.
Due to the fog of rage, Ekstrom doesn’t remember what he said to the man, but security soon took over, and the guitarist returned to the stage. Ekstrom’s decision to confront what looked like sexual harassment head-on is commendable at a time when misogyny is still so prevalent in popular music.
Ekstrom believes the situation struck a nerve because he has a daughter. “I’m almost forty and flirting doesn’t look like that,” he wrote. “Maybe It’s that I have a daughter or that I’m older.”
Here’s how Ekstrom told his side of the story the day after the incident.
\nQuick note to those who were at the show last night. I've been doing this for 20 years and I've never walked of stage during a song before.
— Brendan ekstrom (@Brendanekstrom) July 22, 2017\n
\nFor almost a whole song I watched a guy stand a row behind a girl flirting and then trying to kiss her. It was hard to tell what was really
— Brendan ekstrom (@Brendanekstrom) July 22, 2017\n
\nHappening. At times she seemed ok with his advances but after the second time of watching her push his face and hands away and try to turn
— Brendan ekstrom (@Brendanekstrom) July 22, 2017\n
\nBack to watch the show I asked the security guard to go check on them. He couldn't see what I was pointing to and it was still happening
— Brendan ekstrom (@Brendanekstrom) July 22, 2017\n
\nI left the stage and walked straight for them, my mind an emotional blur. Security followed me. The man seemed dumbfounded when I showed up
— Brendan ekstrom (@Brendanekstrom) July 22, 2017\n
\nI left the stage and walked straight for them, my mind an emotional blur. Security followed me. The man seemed dumbfounded when I showed up
— Brendan ekstrom (@Brendanekstrom) July 22, 2017\n
\nAs if nothing was wrong. I don't know what happened after. I went back to stage to finish the show. Security took it from there. I didn't
— Brendan ekstrom (@Brendanekstrom) July 22, 2017\n
\nSee them again after that. Maybe they were removed or just moved. Maybe they were in a relationship.
— Brendan ekstrom (@Brendanekstrom) July 22, 2017\n
\nMaybe they weren't. Regardless what I saw from stage was disturbing to me and completely removed me from the mindset I need to be on stage.
— Brendan ekstrom (@Brendanekstrom) July 22, 2017\n
\nMaybe they weren't. Regardless what I saw from stage was disturbing to me and completely removed me from the mindset I need to be on stage.
— Brendan ekstrom (@Brendanekstrom) July 22, 2017\n
\nIt wasn't cute. It was alarming. I'm almost forty and flirting doesn't look like that. Maybe It's that I have a daughter or that I'm older.
— Brendan ekstrom (@Brendanekstrom) July 22, 2017\n
\nMaybe it's that I watched this video not long before we played and I couldn't shake it. https://t.co/oIQViwxm1q
— Brendan ekstrom (@Brendanekstrom) July 22, 2017\n
\nI Really don't know but it made me furious to watch a girl forcibly remove someone's hands from her body multiple times.
— Brendan ekstrom (@Brendanekstrom) July 22, 2017\n
\nI still don't feel great about how I handled this situation. I borderline blacked out in some weird rage mode. it makes me nervous to think
— Brendan ekstrom (@Brendanekstrom) July 22, 2017\n
\nAbout how I would handle situations like this in the future especially if it was with someone I knew or cared about especially if it is
— Brendan ekstrom (@Brendanekstrom) July 22, 2017\n
\nMy daughter. I don't really know what to say about it all. I'm sorry to my band for not communicating the situation better and leaving
— Brendan ekstrom (@Brendanekstrom) July 22, 2017\n
\nThem standing on stage confused. And I'm sorry to fans who were equally confused and saw a bit of an unusual show.
— Brendan ekstrom (@Brendanekstrom) July 22, 2017\n
Here’s Circa Survive’s new single, “Lustration.”
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