Alternative R&B artist, producer, singer-songwriter, and guitarist for five-piece LA outfit; The Internet, Steve Lacy yesterday issued a statement via Instagram in response to his seemingly odd antics after he was captured obliterating a fan's disposable camera on stage, after taking it from them and slamming it hard.
Before we blame Lacy for his controversial overreaction, it has been pointed out that the same disposable camera that he destroyed was allegedly thrown at him first, even hitting him, and several angles of crowd footage show that he didn't react lightly, taking the camera back from the fan and hitting it towards the floor.
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The show at the Orpheum Theater in New Orleans on Monday night was part of Lacy's ongoing Give You The World tour across the states, soon heading to the UK/EU for dates in December 2022. In an Instagram post, Lacy shared that he isn't sorry at all and doesn't feel he owes anyone an apology, after stating "shoutout to the people not throwing disposable cameras at me" in the post.
The artist has been filmed by many in the crowd walking off stage abruptly after throwing down the fan's camera, and as reported by Rolling Stone, he was meant to return for an encore of his tracks “C U Girl” and “Dark Red” as he had done at previous shows but did not this time around.
Lacy states in his response on Instagram, "I don’t believe i owe anyone an apology- maybe i could've reacted better? sure. always. i’m a student of life. but i’m a real person with real feelings and real reactions. i’m not a product or a robot. i am human."
Evidential footage has emerged and been uploaded to Twitter by user @10031905fc, discovered by PetaPixel, that shows the artist actually being hit by the camera, which then falls off the stage and seemingly onto the floor for the fan to re-grab. This angle of the incident certainly makes his reaction and lack of remorse for the situation seem completely justifiable, and a lot less obnoxious.
Additional video footage from TikTok users shows the artist stating "Don’t throw shit on my f*cking stage. Please!”, before asking fans on the concert floor, “Can I see this camera?” and the consecutive incident of destroying the camera occurred.
Watch the video below of Lacy being hit by a camera
You could say that Lacy's fans have a pretty Bad Habit of acting disrespectfully, as is the title of his latest number-one hit Billboard song, and also the last track on the tour setlist before the encore that never arrived.
In all fairness, considering that the fan threw a camera at him first, his anger and overall reactions are understandable, though as he stated in the post - could've been handled calmly without ending the show early. Being a disposable camera that he damaged, it's probably not that expensive to replace either.
Some reports do however suggest that it was a phone, and not a disposable camera, that the artist took from the fan and smashed on stage. Although videos shared from within the crowd make it extremely difficult to tell.
Foremost a guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer, the 24-year-old Steve Lacy (not to be confused with the late American jazz saxophonist) joined the R&B band The Internet back in 2014 as their guitarist, and the group has since become a highly sought-after collaborator across many genres.
Lacy while still a member of The Internet, has embarked on a very successful solo career as of late and has self-produced a debut EP, Steve Lacy's Demo in 2017, followed by two full-length studio albums Apollo XXI (2019), and the more recent album Gemini Rights (2022).
What do you think of Lacy's behavior? Have any similar experiences of having your gear obliterated by a musician on stage? Let us know!
You may also want to take a look at the best camera settings for live music photography, as well as 5 essential tips for editing live music photos.
