Amos Shouts Obscenities At Two Harlots

Tori Amos had two concertgoers removed from the Copley Symphony Hall during her December 12th concert in San Diego according to the San Francsico Chronicle. After being continually distracted by two fans in the center front row talking loudly, taking photographs of each other, and repeatedly vacating their seats, Amos could take no more. She stopped in the middle of “Code Red”, a tune off American Doll Posse and pointed at the guilty party, saying into her microphone, “Get the fuck out of my show! It's a privilege to sit in the front row and I reserve those seats for people who appreciate music, get the fuck out!" Amos received a standing ovation from the crowd for her outburst. A gentleman then summarily escorted the not sufficiently appreciative girls from the venue. Amos returned to her piano and started the stalled song over, finishing up the show with palpable anger.

Amos is not the only musician to have reacted angrily to audience interruptions. Anton Newcombe of the Brian Jonestown Massacre was arrested for assault after kicking a disrespectful fan in the head, a moment captured in the 2004 documentary DIG!. Jeff Tweedy of Wilco punched an admirer who jumped up onstage to give him a hug at a 2006 concert. Amos herself has had negative encounters with fans before, though her preferred method of retaliation is verbal and not violent. On a 1999 tour with Alanis Morissette, she entreated two male Mansfield, Massachusetts fans to “eat my pussy” and “either pull out your dicks or shut up” when they babbled on during a show.

While I have no great love for the potty mouthed Tori Amos, I can understand her frustration, having spent many a show with some loser yakking in my ear and screaming into his cell phone about how awesome the band is while neglecting to, you know, watch the band. The more libertarian among us might argue that if you paid for a seat, it is your right to act as you wish when occupying this seat. As usual with libertarians, this answer is self-serving, self-righteous, and just plain selfish. I also paid for a seat and it is my right to enjoy the show without you actively trying to ruin the experience for everyone else but yourself. It is also my right to call you a rude prick who needs to have their tongue surgically removed before attending another show. And if you can’t hang, Tori Amos will publicly humiliate you and a video of it will end up on the Internet so the entire world knows what an asshole you are. So suck on that!