Bring Me the Horizon frontman Oli Sykes got a mild concussion after a fan in the crowd threw a phone at him during a show. It was on Monday night, May 11th, at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. The video quickly went viral, and the response was overwhelming.
It happened early in the show on the band’s 2015 track Happy Song. As the musician kneeled at the front of the stage, the phone hit him squarely on the left temple. Sykes grabbed the device and responded, “Who the fuck just threw a phone at my fuckin’ head?” before adding, “You fuckin’ tosser.”
Later footage shows him rubbing his temple and struggling through the show, but in the end, he put it out. The band did axe YOUtopia from the set list, and Sykes did not do his crowd walk during Drown.
A supporter on X claimed that “the guy who owned the phone came up to security a few songs later and said another guy grabbed his phone and threw it,” (via Metal Injection).
The Fallout
Sykes took to Instagram the next night to address the situation and said it caused a mild concussion. “Alright everyone – just wanted to let you know I’m all good. The phone to the head definitely smarted and I ended up with a mild concussion, but the swelling’s gone down a decent amount already,” Sykes wrote on Instagram stories “Last night I was struggling a bit on stage afterwards because singing was putting a lot of pressure on the wound and making things feel a bit disorienting while performing, so I’m sorry on my part for what may of seemed like a half hearted performance.”
Sykes closed his statement with, “Appreciate everyone checking in and worrying about me though. Everything should be fine for tonight’s gig.”
The band was slated to play in Kansas City, Missouri, the next night. Fans were scrambling to figure out how Sykes would survive the final North American legs of the tour. The group also had a big European festival scheduled. This was planned before heading back to North America in the fall for the “POST HUMAN: NeX GEn – THE THIRD ASCENSION PROGRAM” tour.
Sykes’ injury was reported just days after rock legend Eric Clapton took a hit in Madrid, Spain. This occurred when a rock was thrown from the crowd while he was performing. The trend of fans throwing objects at performers has become a growing threat to the live music industry. There is currently no sign of this trend slowing down.
