Chaos at Louder Than Life: Machine Gun Kelly’s Performance Plagued by Boos, Fan Scuffle, and Lingering Slipknot Rivalry
The highly anticipated set by recording artist Machine Gun Kelly at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday, September 25, 2021, quickly descended into a series of contentious incidents, leaving both fans and critics with much to discuss. What was expected to be a high-energy performance from the genre-bending musician turned into a spectacle of boos, verbal altercations, and even a physical scuffle with a concertgoer, further fueled by his ongoing public feud with rock titans Slipknot.
As Machine Gun Kelly, 31, was nearing the conclusion of his performance, moving closer to the audience at the edge of the stage, an unexpected confrontation unfolded. An unidentified individual from the crowd lunged forward and shoved Kelly. Quick-thinking concert security personnel immediately intervened, creating a barrier between the fan and the artist. While the security team worked to escort the aggressor away from the stage, footage of the incident appears to show Kelly reacting by taking a swing or “swipe” in the direction of the fan. The exact impact of this gesture, and whether Kelly’s fist made direct contact, remains unconfirmed, but the intensity of the moment was palpable, highlighting the volatile atmosphere that characterized much of his festival appearance.
9/25/20- Machine Gun Kelly releases a “pop punk” album that went #1.
9/25/21- mgk gets booed at Louder Than Life for talking shit about Slipknot, and punches a guy in the face.
I love my city😂 502 come up! pic.twitter.com/FVFurIgOc7— H4 • IICHLIWP⚔️🩸 (@bigHstan) September 26, 2021
The physical altercation was merely the crescendo of an evening punctuated by a pervasive wave of disapproval from a significant portion of the audience. Reports from outlets like Rolling Stone, corroborated by numerous fan-shot videos circulated online, describe a relentless “serenade of boos and middle fingers” that greeted MGK after nearly every song. This wasn’t isolated to a few disgruntled individuals; the dissent was widespread and audible throughout his set. At one point, before performing his track “Concert For Aliens,” segments of the crowd attempted to initiate a unified “You Suck” chant, a stark demonstration of their collective displeasure. Even after completing songs, Kelly was met with a chorus of boos. His defiant response to the hostile reception — “Fuck yeah, dude. Everyone f-cking get on the fucking shoulders of some strong, sweaty guy and fucking crowd surf up here” — appeared to do little to quell the crowd’s vocal protests, which continued unabated.
However, Machine Gun Kelly presented a distinctly different narrative of the events. Following the festival, he took to social media to dismiss the widespread reports of booing, claiming a positive experience overall. He retweeted a video shared by a fan that purported to show the crowd singing along with “no boos,” implying that media coverage was misrepresenting the situation. Accompanying the retweet, Kelly commented, “I don’t know why the media lies in their narrative against me all the time, but all I saw was 20,000 amazing fans at the festival singing every word and 20 angry ones.” This statement directly contradicted the observations of many attendees and several media outlets, creating a clear divergence in how the incident was perceived and reported.
Responding to Kelly’s counter-narrative, music publication Loudwire offered a different perspective, asserting that “multiple fan-shot videos… indicate there were far more than 20 disgruntled fans who were responsible for the resounding boos.” Loudwire further highlighted that Kelly reportedly “used much of his time on stage to engage in verbal altercations with members of the crowd,” suggesting that his interactions with the audience contributed to the heated atmosphere rather than diffusing it. This direct engagement with hecklers could be seen as both a defiant stance and a factor that intensified the already negative reception, painting a picture of an artist in direct conflict with a segment of his audience.
i don’t know why the media lies in their narrative against me all the time but all i saw was 20,000 amazing fans at the festival singing every word and 20 angry ones. https://t.co/hcjJ3LCfKU
— blonde don (@machinegunkelly) September 26, 2021
The Louder Than Life incident was not an isolated event but rather the latest escalation in Machine Gun Kelly’s high-profile and often contentious interactions with the rock music community, particularly his ongoing feud with Slipknot. Just a week prior, on September 19, Kelly had publicly taken a jab at the veteran metal band during his set at Riot Fest in Chicago. With Slipknot and MGK performing simultaneously on different stages, Kelly seized the moment to articulate his feelings, stating, “Hey, you want to know what I’m really happy that I’m not doing? Being 50 years old wearing a f-cking weird mask on a f-cking stage.” This thinly veiled insult was widely interpreted as a direct attack on Slipknot’s distinctive image and the age of its members.
The jab at Riot Fest was reportedly a retort to an earlier interview given by Slipknot’s lead singer, Corey Taylor, in February. In that interview, Taylor had seemingly criticized artists who “failed in one genre and decided to go rock,” adding, “I think he knows who he is. But that’s another story.” Although Taylor did not name Machine Gun Kelly directly, the timing and context of his remarks, made after Kelly’s high-profile transition from rap to pop-punk, led many to believe the comment was aimed squarely at him. Kelly’s rise in the rock world, particularly with his successful album Tickets to My Downfall produced by Travis Barker, had been met with mixed reactions, with some purists questioning his authenticity within the genre.
The feud escalated further on social media, with Machine Gun Kelly taking the dispute to Twitter. He claimed, “Corey did a verse for a song on [Tickets to My Downfall]. It was fucking terrible, so I didn’t use it. He got mad about it and talked shit to a magazine about the same album he was almost on. yalls stories are all off. just admit he’s bitter.” This assertion sparked a rapid and public response from Corey Taylor, who refuted Kelly’s account by posting two screenshots of emails exchanged between himself and Travis Barker. These screenshots were intended to demonstrate that Taylor had, in fact, professionally withdrawn from the collaboration, explaining that he did not feel he was “the right guy for the track.” His emails conveyed a respectful and professional decline, contradicting Kelly’s narrative of a “terrible” verse and subsequent bitterness.
Corey Taylor concluded his public statement on the matter with a clear and concise tweet: “I don’t like people airing private sh-t like a child. So this is all I’ll say: I didn’t do the track because I don’t like when people try to ‘write’ for me. I said NO to THEM. So without further ado…. #receipts. This is all I’m going to say about it.” This decisive response, complete with supporting evidence, aimed to put an end to the public spat from Taylor’s side, emphasizing his professionalism and distaste for what he perceived as childish behavior in airing private discussions. The entire series of events, from the initial perceived slight to the festival altercations and public Twitter war, underscores the intense rivalries and passionate fan bases within the music industry, particularly when artists cross genre lines.