Symmetry – CRAZY TOUR STORIES

In this Crazy Tour Stories segment, the pop rock band, Symmetry, talk about one of their crazy moments from touring. You can check out the feature, after the break.

It was our very first UK tour and we were in Manchester. what we later would call one of our favorite cities to perform. We had a show at the Academy 2 and seeing as it was our first ever show in Manchester, we obviously wanted to make a good impression! It’s never easy being the opening band but we happily embraced the opportunity to leave lasting impressions on all of the new faces we’d traveled so far to see.

Our 25-minute set was near finished as our singer Mike introduced the final song. At previous shows, this was the moment Mike would hop over the stage barrier and into the crowd mid-song for a more intimate experience. We weren’t looking to hold back, we wanted every city we played to get the best possible show. Mike wasn’t going to hold back either and it was time.

Mike gave a hand signal towards the crowd that implied dividing the audience in half right down the middle so that he could have somewhat of a path once he had successfully made his leap over the barrier. The audience received the hand gesture well, just as previous shows had, except for a couple of young girls that appeared to be the age of about 14 or 15. They had been front and center the entire show and were clearly standing their ground. Mike instinctively leaped up on the barrier and jumped over the girls. He did his piece and everyone appeared to be enjoying the moment. Afterward, Mike threw himself back onstage for the last bit of the song. It wasn’t until he turned around that he realized the young girl in the front row was giving him the middle finger.

At the time, Mike was unsure what he had just done and assumed she just didn’t like the band. He threw her a t-shirt to maybe cheer her up but she quickly batted it away with her hand like an amateur baseball or cricket player. Now the set was over and instead of loading gear backstage, Mike approached the girl to apologize for anything that he did to ruin her time, and asked what had happened. She explained that it was rude of Mike to hop over the barrier with them standing there. Apparently, Mike had kicked the girl’s shoulder on the flight down from the stage barrier. He said a brief and sincere apology, offered her another T-shirt (she refused) and then Mike joined the band for load out.

Mike explained to the rest of the band what had happened and felt crushed that this girl felt so offended by his actions. After the headlining band was finished the streets were filling with fans reminiscing memories from the night. Mike spotted the girl again and saw an opportunity to make a final attempt at an apology. She was acting like it was the worst night of her life so Mike thought, she had been seriously injured or something. She clarified that she wasn’t injured whatsoever. It was over, Mike knew that there was nothing he could do so he assumed she will forever be a Symmetry hater, or at least a Mike C hater. He still is bothered to this day by how affected she was by what seemed to be a standard rock concert performance. Maybe it was her first show?

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(Photo credit: Anna Lee)