Music

Joyce Manor want oafs to stop stagediving at their shows

by Tyler Munro

With apologies to Scott Vogel, stage-diving is totally obnoxious. Crowdsurfing? Fun. Mosh pits? Hell yeah! But unless you’re, say, a Terror show, there’s little reason to launch yourself skull first at a crowd that otherwise might not be ready for you. That’s the controversy boiling around Joyce Manor, the California punk band who recently called out a stage diving goon in Florida after he decided to launch his massive body into the band’s crowd of young, mostly tiny teenaged fans.

Joyce Manor’s Barry Johnson stopped the set, asked the guy how much he weighed. The answer? 190 pounds. But that was the tip of the iceberg. Days later, a shitdisturbing brat thought the controversy was his time to shine; in Houston, Texas, the band stopped their set again mid-song to call out a stage-diver, one who Property of Zack discovered was gloating before their set about going to the show just to “give these bitches a constant headache.”

COOL, DUDE. Here’s the video of this adult baby trying to ruin people’s night.

The next day, the band once again turned to social media to defend their stance.

To which, because The Internet, a fan posted a picture of Johnson balancing on an audience—that’s it above—while playing guitar. Thing is, it’s different. Forgiving that Barry Johnson isn’t a 190 pound dude, his engagement with the audience is part of the show. Launching yourself face, sometimes leg, sometimes front-flip first into the crowd isn’t. It’s arrogant.