So, Bebe was performing in New York City the other day, during her "Best F*n Night of My Life" Tour. It seemed like a pretty good performance, until some moron chucked a phone in her general direction. It clunked her on the left side of her head, to which she responded by grabbing her affected head area and falling to her knees.
Warning: The following video depicts an injurious, violent assault.
At this juncture, the concert ended prematurely, and she had to be rushed to the hospital and receive some stitches. While I'm sure that she had a massive headache after that, she seems to be faring well nonetheless, and still looking great in spite of the incident.
With her saying "I'm Good", not only is she expressing genuine sentiment that she is faring well, it was also a not-so-subtle self-promotion of her recent song "I'm Good (Blue)", which is a joint effort alongside her long-time collaborator David Guetta. "I'm Good (Blue)" is an original song, but one that takes heavy nods and is even blatantly modelled after the Eurodance classic "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" by Eiffel 65. (Side point: I wonder how they got the legal rights to release and distribute the song, or if such was necessary. Whatever the case, it's a massively catchy and superb song.) Rexha has also collaborated with Florida Georgia Line, Lil Uzi Vert, Travis Barker, Dolly Parton, and others.
As for that vomitstain against human existence who threw the phone at her; who is the type of cowardly, grotesque, human-shaped organism that is not worth naming in this article; he was tracked down pretty quickly and arrested. Good. When asked, he apparently threw the phone because he "thought it would be funny"; I don't have to analyze why that's equally disturbing and stupid. Another explanation; given by the lawyer of this fecal-minded mammalian reprobate who, worst of all, is from New Jersey; is that he wanted to toss the phone in her direction in hopes that she would take photos of herself, then return the phone to him. Which, well, okay, but there are far better and more practical ways to go about that.
Based on the nature of smartphones, especially ones with cases, they can have a quality similar to that of a brick. So, throwing something like that at a person is similar to throwing perhaps a rock. It is very dangerous to throw any type of projectile toward performers, especially of hard material, or material such as glass that can shatter.
Black and Blue
It reminds me of a few years back, when I read about the Black Sabbath show in Milwaukee in 1980 that got cancelled because someone clunked Geezer Butler in the head, likely on accident, with a beer bottle. (As I've done research, I remembered it as nobody having been hit, but that it was too close. Now, my memory is corrected, and Butler did, in fact, get hit and his head was injured.) Blue Oyster Cult had opened and performed a routine show, then the bottle event happened between sets. When the lights were turned on and there was no Black Sabbath present, a full riot ensued.
Below is real audio footage from the incident. You can tell the scene was chaotic, but it would pass excellently for an experimental sound collage. Some of the one-liners uttered that stick out from the rest of the melee can be quite interesting.
Remembering the time, in 1980, when Black Sabbath fans rioted in Milwaukee
“We wanted to give a lot for you, but not our blood. If you don’t want to enjoy it, then tough shit!”
milwaukeerecord.com
Wild Man Fischer
Also, one musician that Frank Zappa supported, patronized, and released music for was the mentally ill Sunset Strip musician "Wild Man" Fischer. An Evening With Wild Man Fischer was released in 1968 via Bizarre Records, and it was produced by Zappa. However, their friendship abruptly ended in 1968 when Fischer threw a beer bottle at Zappa's then-infant daughter Moon Unit Zappa. Fortunately, the beer bottle narrowly missed, but Frank Zappa the dad didn't want him around anymore for obvious reasons. Fischer later released three records on Rhino Records. When Zappa died in 1993, his wife Gail refused to re-release the aforementioned Fischer album, saying that it was not his finest work.
Wild Man Fischer: Outsider musician who was discovered by Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa was not only one of the most prolific and idiosyncratic American musicians of the rock era, but also a great discoverer and enabler of other people's talent. In the late 1960s, the guitarist and his then manager, Herb Cohen, set up the Bizarre and Straight labels and issued a raft of...
www.independent.co.uk
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Back to Bebe
And now, my life has a new mission. And that... is to be one of Bebe Rexha's most valiant defenders! I am now forming the Bebe Rexha Defensive Alliance, and will be showing up at all of her concerts to ensure that no one ever again throws a phone in the direction of our holiest singer. The consequence of such will include an extremely passionate oratory which, while verging on crying, will consist of an analysis about "how much we care about her" and "how wonderful of a person she is".
I will go to the ends of the earth, and do it only for you, my most gracious and immaculate Bebe. And I will do as you wish 'til my dying day.
Basically, Bebe is working exceptionally hard at her music career, and has a career that has accomplished much already while harbinging greater things to come. She has released three full-length albums as of yet, including this year's Bebe, which does have a retrograde, classic imagery that almost echoes a Dukes of Hazzard aesthetic. To be completely honest, I only discovered her a few months ago, so I'm still learning about her, but I believe that her music is exceptional and noteworthy amidst the modern pop scene. She is simply more interesting than many other pop singers with similar success. Another very good pop artist is French singer Yelle; her music is totally worth checking out.
And also, regarding the phone being thrown at her, you should never do anything like this to a creative person, including when they are performing. This is not just a moral stance, but also an artistic stance. The morals are obvious, but from an artistic standpoint, it is often adversity that gives musicians, actors, and comedians some of their best material. As a musician, some of my own best music are diss tracks regarding the past mediocre minds who grotesquely and creepily interfered with my life, perhaps in a way that could constitute as abuse. And let me get folksy for a minute and give you a personal anecdote.
The First Play
The tourism town that I spend my summers at has two theater troupes. The first time I ever went to a performance for either troupe was almost a decade ago, and boy was it memorable. The first act was the play, while the second act was a skit show. Before the show started, I remember seeing a tubby, blonde-haired guy with a Superman t-shirt (he will henceforth be referred to, sarcastically and cheekily, as "Superman") interacting with the staff in a cavalier fashion. My recall of what Superman first said is vague, but it went something like, "Could I go and do x" or "y", basically already wanting to be a part of the play, or something. I believe he was already drinking. So, now the play is in process. It is a Victorian, England-based murder mystery with a suspenseful quality, but with a somewhat predictable quality. The action crawled instead of climbed. Okay, sure. But then, partway into this play, Superman stood up, waved his arms horizontally in front of himself, and yelled to THE ENTIRE THEATRE with just one word: "LAME!" He yelled this out in the middle of a woman's dialogue, and she visibly paused upon reception of his outburst. He walked out, because his intentions were clear that he did not want to see anymore of the performance. But wait, there's more...
In the next scene he appeared in, the main antagonist, a handlebar-mustached fellow with distinctive linguistic mannerisms, went against the script and quipped something like, "I heard a noise from the basement, and thought it was rather lame." I also remember him using the word "lame" once more in his dialogue. It was clearly a snarky response to Superman's heckle. Later, when the house musician broke the play's first act, so as to give intermission before the second act, he ended his address of the audience with, "...and I promise that the second act will be 20 percent less lame". The audience was very amused at this quip.
After the play was over, the actors went to the bar next door. I remember speaking to the previously interrupted woman, and my advice for her was to share with her a quote that has helped me get through life during adversity. It is my favorite Einstein quote, and the most impactful way the brilliant scientist Einstein has impacted my life. I shared with her the pep talk that, "Great spirits will always face violent opposition from mediocre minds." (This is the first quote in my DD signature.) She was very appreciative. And, at the very least, I did witness Superman talk with one of the other actresses, and apologize for his actions. So, all right, cool. But even with that, Superman's outburst continues to be a great story to share with friends and coworkers, and be an excellent reminisce over drinks, for years to come. Through one act, he gave these very good actors free material to work with and free inspiration to draw from for eternity.
Conclusion
I do believe that the phone hurt Bebe Rexha's head for a while, but will help her career in the long-term. First off, as I described above, she used the incident to promote her hit song. Secondly, anyone who may have not previously heard of Rexha and her music career will now be interested in her music, thanks to the media reporting on it. "Sure, she got hit in the head during a concert, but what does her music sound like? Hey, this is actually pretty good? Cool, man. I'll play this at my next social hangout or something. Maybe my friends will like her music too." From personal experience, I saw the news about the phone hitting her head, and I eventually responded by, having done so yesterday, purchasing her debut album Expectations. While it is still possible that I would have bought one or more of her albums eventually, I know that I would not have bought that album specifically yesterday if it was not for the news of the incident combined with my concern for her personal safety. But I did, and I believe that she may get a slight royalty from my purchase. So many people will see this incident, then respond with interest in her music. Some of them will become fans. And, in the end, not only does it help Bebe's music get exposure, but it will help generate royalties for her, all while emerging as a stronger person from the adversity and pain. A stronger and more resolute and more confident human being than the creep who threw that phone, and almost immediately got caught. And she is continuing her tour as otherwise scheduled, without needing to postpone or cancel any shows. Hell yes! Again, that shows how much of a hard worker and resistor of adversity she is.
Horns up, Bebe. You have my support. You are a beautiful and spectacular musical talent, and you'll be fine. You'll be good, and you'll feel all right.
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