Rock ‘n’ Roll: In the toilet?

Rock ‘n’ Roll: In the toilet? By now, you may have heard the story, but if you haven’t, it’s so good that it bears re-telling at least five times a day.

Kings of Leon, dad-rock band that they are, recently played an outdoor show in St. Louis. Three songs into their set, a pigeon, thoroughly disgusted with this display, earned his stripes by taking a poop on the band, which subsequently landed in the bass player’s mouth.

This prompted the band to exit the stage in a hurry, citing “unsanitary conditions.” Despite the jeers from the angry crowd of simultaneous sandals- and socks-wearers, KoL did not return to the stage. They were upstaged by a bird. Hats off, bird.

Now, granted, I am not the biggest fan of Kings of Leon. However, this raises a bigger issue: Is Rock ‘n’ Roll wussing out?

Metal bands have always been a different league. When Mötörhead and Judas Priest were in their heyday, all sorts of kooky stage antics occurred nightly. Ozzy bit the head off a bat. This kind of behavior was expected; many longtime music fans saw Metal as a young genre, and like an infant or adolescent, braying for attention is par for the course. Rock n’ Roll, the long-time symbol of shrewd, sophisticated bad-assness was a constant.

When Kings of Leon stormed off stage after having just ingested pigeon excrement, they exhibited conduct unbecoming of the steadfast image of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Do you think Mick Jagger would stop the show if a pigeon crapped in Keith Richards’s mouth (even though Richards probably wouldn’t mind)? Not at all. Every band that busted their asses upholding the hallowed image of Rock took a pigeon load to the face when Kings of Leon walked off stage that day. Let’s hope this is the first and last time this type of disrespect is perpetrated. You play music for a living—something a lot of people would kill to do. Harden up, your majesties.