Enter Shikari are bizarrely one of the biggest bands in the UK right now, and are currently on a pretty decent tour of big venues which is really great for them, seriously. Fair play boys, I doubt anyone thought you could do it.

Unfortunately for the band though, it seems like their singer Rou Reynolds took a leaf out of Afroman’s book last week and decided to viciously beat a member of the crowd during a gig at Portsmouth Pyramids. The clip is only five seconds long but looks pretty savage with Rou really unloading on the dude.

Ouch. In fairness to Rou though he has stepped up and left a comment on the video explaining his actions:

Hi all, Rou here.

Just seen this video and in order to stop speculation just thought I’d clear up what happened.

After performing the end of ‘Radiate’ in the crowd some people behind me began trying to pull my trousers down . I tried to push them away a few times but due to the density of the crowd this didn’t work. It then progressed (perhaps fuelled by some sort of stubborn oneupmanship) and I began to have my buttocks and my… er, ‘undercarriage’ groped. At this point I spun round pretty shocked and intimidated and asked angrily if they “wanted a punch” – lighter approaches having not worked! – hoping his would stop it.
That seemed to do the opposite and gave them more vigour. I defy anyone to have their scrotum grabbed and not lash out instinctively…

Obviously violence is never the answer and I’m very unhappy personally with how I acted. I should have left the crowd and headed back to stage immediately when this started happening but due to the density of the crowd and the intensity of the situation things played out differently, I’m only human.

The rest of the show was thoroughly enjoyable and the audience overall were great. Everyone else we met before and after the show was absolutely lovely too. It’s a shame but obviously because of this incident I won’t be heading into densely packed crowds in the near future.

P.S. To address the “they paid to see you, so it doesn’t matter what they did…” argument; the ticket price for an Enter Shikari show doesn’t include free access to my gonads I’m afraid. You’re not a doctor. And I’m not a prostitute.
We appreciate & respect every single person that supports us and all we ask in return is respect back. The way this person/people acted was not respectful whatsoever.

To be honest, I think that’s a pretty well thought out and reasoned response. Maybe he shouldn’t have lost it as bad as he did but at least he’s recognised that and it’s way better than Afroman’s excuse that he hadn’t had his dinner.  You’ve got to admit it’s going to be pretty annoying if people are trying to pull your trousers down and refusing to stop – it’s probably enough to make you snap.

In fact it’s the whole reason Iggy Azalea had to stop crowdsurfing. Add Rou Reynolds to the list now.

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