Joyce Manor Defend Public Shaming Of Stage-Diver

The frontman of Californian punk-rock quartet Joyce Manor, Barry Johnson, has defended his decision to publicly call out a stage-diver at a show being held at Jacksonville's 1904 Music Hall at the weekend.

"Seeing a lot of people online saying I'm a 'pussy' and a 'bitch' for calling out that grown man trying to crush a group of teenage girls," Johnson wrote on Twitter early this morning (AEST).

"I love a crazy show as much as any1 else I just don't think any1 should have to go 2 the hospital cuz of sum idiot w a tank top & Moz hair," he added.

The original incident, which you can see in the video below from the 1:00-1:45 mark (it's footage of the entire gig, hence the specificity), occurred when a member of the audience — the "grown man" in question — got up on stage during one of Joyce Manor's songs and proceeded to stage-dive onto a group of young fans, overwhelmingly described since as being no older than high-school-age. Johnson, noticing the commotion, abruptly stopped the song and pulled the diver up on stage.

"Hey man, how tall are you?" Johnson asked the stage-diver. "How much do you weigh, if you don't mind me asking?"

Upon being told he weighs about 190 pounds (86 kilograms), Johnson turns to a girl in the audience: "How much do you weigh? Sorry, that's really rude. You're much smaller than him, right? It's completely unacceptable for him to impose himself on top of you. Completely unacceptable, right? Under no circumstances is that acceptable? OK."

In fairness, he ended rather politely, turning to the stage diver and saying, "Please don't do that again," before shaking his hand and letting him off the stage.

Despite the emergence online of a vocal minority of fans who maintain the frontman was in the wrong and in contravention of the "punk rock spirit" (whatever that is supposed to mean), a great number of supporters, peers and contemporaries from Joyce Manor's circle have voiced their approval for Johnson's decision to halt the show.

But perhaps the greatest, most rational response — and a fitting punctuation mark on the controversy — came from one Brian McKenna, who expressed a sentiment even the band can't argue with (presumably, given their retweet):

Well said, Brian. Well said.