I watched a man get booed off stage last week.
It was honestly the most painful thing I’ve ever seen in my life, and days later I still think about it.
Even though I didn’t participate in actually kicking him off, I am carrying a deep sense of guilt over having been there to witness it.
I was at a massive outdoor event just outside Cape Town. It was at a ranch type of place, so everyone was sitting on the grass, soaking in the tiny bit of sun that came out for five minutes that day.
Everyone was honestly in a really good mood, but I think the weather quickly becoming cold was playing with everyone’s emotions. They just wanted to get to the good part of the show, so they could dance their butts off, have a good time and then head back to the city.
It was not the time for up-and-coming artists to be surprising them.
Now, I have nothing against dudes who are trying to blow up. I think it’s admirable to get up on stage and reveal your gifts to the world, and I can only hope there is a great reward in that.
I myself work in the media. I write, I perform poetry (sometimes, allegedly), I’m an MC, I’ve stood in front of crowds of thousands, I’ve been on television. So I understand that it’s not an easy feat.
If anybody ever started booing at me while I was on stage, I think I would have to pass out right then and there. If I didn’t immediately evaporate into thin air from sheer embarrassment, then I would simply collapse and an ambulance would have to carry me home.
I might even take that as a sign that I should move back to my own country and retire from public life.
So I really do feel bad for this dude. But at the same time, I kinda think he brought it on himself.
This is what I can say for sure:
No one in the crowd knew who he was. I went to look him up on Instagram afterwards and couldn’t find a single recognisable song or notable appearance, and he performed right before one of the headlining acts of the show – a slot normally reserved for other big artists or upcoming musos who have become really popular recently.
The only thing I can deduce from that is he either paid for that prime slot or he is a cousin, uncle or brother of one of the owners or organisers of the show. Because what he came up with to deliver was not what anyone in the crowd wanted to see or hear at that time.
If he had performed earlier in the evening, and not between massive musicians people were waiting to see, perhaps things could have gone differently.
When he first got up there, it killed the mood a little bit, and everyone kind of just stared at him with that bored, glazed-over look people get when they’re waiting for the microwave to ‘ding’.
Then there was a bit of chatter in the crowd, and it only took one person to yell “BOOOOOO”, before others joined in like a choir.
If cringe was an experience, it would be that exact one. I wasn’t even the one on stage, but I felt like I wanted the earth to swallow me whole. The second-hand embarrassment I felt for this man was just too much for me to bear.
And the fact that he actually kept going just made it sadder and sadder the longer it went on.
Eventually the DJ played him out like when the background music just starts getting louder when award winners take too long with their acceptance speeches.
The MC came out and said: “No, no, no. One thing we aren’t going to do is hate!”
Someone in the crowd responded: “WE DON’T HATE HIM, HE’S JUST WACK!”
This spurred the crowd on more. They had started celebrating that poor fellow running off the stage with his head hanging low.
The next artist was announced, and everyone swiftly moved on. They danced and sang and were happy again. Like I said, this all happened right before one of the headliners came up, so the crowd was ready to hear hits.
I like to find lessons in every experience. Almost every day I ask myself: What can I learn from this situation?
But honestly, right now, I’m stumped. What could the universe possibly be trying to teach that man with such harsh methods?
I mean, today it’s him, tomorrow it could be anyone else (including me) getting “booed” by people, by relationships, by circumstances, by debts, by fears, by mistakes, by tough times.
I think what bothers me most about this is accepting that sometimes life just sucks and that’s it. No lesson. Sometimes you get booed and you just have to go home and lick your wounds and get over it.
- Anne Hambuda is a writer, commentator and poet. Follow her online or email her at [email protected] for more.
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