Badly Drawn Boy Has Bizarre Meltdown During Troubadour Show, Leaves after C-Word Rant, Returns to Whine about Everything [UPDATE: Video]

• Thank you for this.  It sounds like the LA nuts got what they deserved and the "decent folks" who like this guy saw him for who he is - a gifted talent with heart.  I really appreciated your comments.

• BDB seems to be a decent sort - maybe the crazy LA-types just got to him?  Americans, whom I am one, can be alot to handle, particularly those from LA - No?

• i guess thats what happens when you can't handle the cunt atmosphere of LA. nothing is ever going to stop that. so before you have a meltdown about the fact you can't change cunt-town USA, accept the fact that some towns are full of cunts and that makes them special. besides, who has never had a meltdown before. like, its hard not to in this age of fragmentation, unless you are a total narcissist of course. in which you are too busy saying OMG when people show fucking real emotion in situations the narcissist wish they were the center of attention for. i mean, any real fan of this dude's work would get the behavior. it's too bad LA is full of cunts who just go places because they heard from a friend, and have nothing better to do than make appearances and attend events as means to further their fashion statement lives. but once you know that about the LA scene, you can accept it, and see it for what it is...just back ground noise:)

• I saw him play at Amoeba once and he sucked--it was insulting. He spent more time prancing and trying to flirt in this weird, edward scissor handy, deer stuck in headlights. He shouldn't play live again- he's a studio project.

• BDB always moans about sound but why hecklers think they are king? Hidden in the crowd and in the dark. The big I AM.

• i was there wed night and he seemed real sarcastic but he was pretty funny. it got kind of weird when he sang his last song because he like threw a mic stand and started yelling at the sound guy to put it down or something. then he knocked down another mic stand. it was very awkward. everyone was kind of looking at each other like wtf is going on. but it was kind of entertaining. im still a fan regardless of what happened.

• Who cares? He's crap anyway.

• LD was spot-on. Yes, he was frustrated because he couldn't hear himself through the monitors right at his feet. Yes, he was testy when someone told him it sounded great -it sounded *amazing*, but we weren't on the stage to know what it was for him. And yes, out came the hecklers to make it worse. I think a comment flying in from the audience aimed at the one person in the room who everyone's watching, would surely invite a snappy retort right back, and well Damon Gough can hold his own there. I'm a woman, so is it really wrong to call a woman a cunt if she is one? Or to call out the L.A. twats in the audience, if that's what they are (and they were), too? I don't see how his discerning comments in response to the hecklers reflected a flaw of any kind. So glad the hecklers, "real" fans, et al., took a hike because they were *SO* not deserving of the incredible performance that followed. Damon commented on things affecting his outlook: his sister and her husband (now ex-husband? I was clapping when he said he wrote a song for them but then I think he said that they had split -my enthusiasm drowned out the clarification) who lived in L.A., being away from home, and other comments that led us all to infer that the music business is an emotional roller-coaster. He is an incredible songwriter with a gorgeous voice, and he brought that out for those of us who stayed. Steve, his friend and sound guy joined him onstage for a few taps on the keyboard, Justin Jones who opened, rocked the tambourine, and Mike, bassist/friend all created a support network that helped to get everything back on track. Damon Gough did perform a bit of "Like A Virgin", but he ended the night at almost 12:30AM with "Thunder Road" describing it as the song that started him on a path toward a career in music. He sang it beautifully, walking over to his left with Jack and Coke in hand, gently setting it down and reaching out to shake hands with everyone, then picking up his drink, moving to center stage and doing the same, and so on, to his right, drink traveling with him, and his gorgeous voice singing all the while. Sure, it was a memorable evening in ways no one expected. I'm glad he filtered out the bad energy and scooted them home, because what was left was the perfect setting for an outstanding performance. I hope he releases live versions of his songs performed in smaller venues -I have Live at Glastonbury, but the smaller setting would be amazing. The old ones would be fun like "You Were Right" with everyone whistling along -I had my own version of the sound issue as I couldn't tell/hear, but reasonably suspected, that my whistling was just a focused exhalation of air with no sweet sound to it. Every year, the holidays come up too fast, but one gift to myself was to see Badly Drawn Boy. It didn't start out as expected, but it turned out to be one of the most intense, real, beautiful, personal, incredible performances I have ever been fortunate enough to witness. Epic indeed, LD! I go to live shows, large and small, all the time. Thursday night turned out to be one of the best ever.

• He did the exact same thing at the Grog Shop in Cleveland in 2003. I guess his music isn't the only thing that hasn't gotten any better since 2003.

• Eddie, that was a wee bit poisonous

• if you cant already tell im terrible at typin. If you have half a brain you can make out the fuck ups. Thank you

• The singer of Badly Drawn Boy is the biggest douche bag cry baby asshole I've ever seen. While working at The Troubadour as securityI listened to this guy bitch about how bad the sound was as he bashed the crowd that was trying to encourage him by calling them "LA twats" and "american idiots". FYI dick face, the troub has been around for 6 decades and none of the folk heroes and legends complained about it. If the sound was bad, they were professional enough to work through it (the polar opposite of you). So do this world a favor walk into on coming traffic and fuckin die... I wish the worst for you and that your death is slow and painful. People like you should'ne be allowed to breathe. When you were born, the doctor, along with your parents should have decided to pull a 300 and thrown you off a cliff because you're fuckin useless and a waste of good organs that should go to a dying boy somewhere in AMERICA. I hate you, you fuckin fuck! p.s. Don't challenge people to fight you. You're short, pudgy and you smoke. The would've have widowed your wife and i would've let it happen. So fuck off shit bag.

• The LA twazzers are not there for live music.They are there to be seen.They are waiting for disco to return.

• I was there and he's just a human with human emotions, who was under a massive amount of stress. We've all had horrible days- he just had to live one on stage with all our eyes watching. Some of the audience members did not understand that he is a person like us, not a wind-up toy. He was wrong to yell, he admitted it, and was so so genuinely sorry. And he kept playing all night because he wanted to try to do his best for those plenty of us that remained. I'm just glad I got to hear his music, which was still beautiful despite the circumstances :).

• This makes me sad, I'm a huge fan of BDB and couldn't make it to last night's show because I caught a terrible cold. But I like LD's comment. He's human, cut him some slack. Not all musicians are the same, just because one can handle exhaustion and heckling doesn't mean they all can.

• What the fuck is Badly Drawn Boy?

• Actually, to correct the correction (LOL), he was in fact complaining about sound coming out of the board and not the acoustics of the venue, Had he been complaining about the venue, which might I add has been graced with hundreds of artists much MUCH bigger than Gough who have NEVER had such outbursts, then why on earth would he come back for a second night? Though he didn't call out the house mixer by name, who looked like he was having a Southwest "Gotta Get Away" moment, he continued to look up at him to voice his displeasure. Apparently he couldn't hear himself, which is an understandable complaint, but still no way to react. Eventually, he would be happy with the sound (even though he continued to complain about being pissed off and angry over it all, not letting it go), then he said something like "Finally, if it had been this way from the beginning, this never would've happened". Nonetheless, there is NO EXCUSE for the way he behaved. he was heckled because of his childish outbursts. I have seen and worked with artists in that same venue who have handled technical issues more professionally. And as JAGE mentioned that Gough did the same thing several years ago, and indeed this was about the acoustics of the venue, again I beg to ask, why the hell do you come back? I'd really love to see him play the Palladium. His head would probably explode over the acoustics in that place!

• We saw him at the Wednesday show and though there was no meltdown, he was clearly not enjoying performing. He made some disparaging comments and also some self-depricating ones too, but the bottom line is this man clearly doesn't want to tour and perform. I have no sympathy for him, though. If you're going to be like that, don't sign to a big label, make records and tour - no one's putting a gun to his head and making him do this. Go find a day job BDB.

• Whatever, he had a bad night. Obviously frustrated with sound problems, tired of the heckling crowd and he obviously missed his family. True, he went off a little too much but honestly how many of us have not wanted to tell everyone at one time or another to F-OFF? I still am a fan seen him before many times and this show did bum me out. We left at the start of "Too Many Miracles"

• I saw him play a show at the Troubadour four years ago and the same thing happened -- part of the reason I didn't go to this show. He went on about the sound and had a similar fit. Maybe he should consider playing somewhere else. Too bad cause he's super talented...

• Whatever, he had a bad night the crowd was heckling him, the sound (to him0 was nit right. He obviously was having a bad night. It was over the top but I am still a fan. We left though at the start of "Too Many Miracles"

• HA! I saw him at the Troubadour several years ago. He did the EXACT same thing. Less attacks on individuals, but complaining about the sound the whole night. I vowed never to spend another dime on him after this show. The fact that he played the Troubadour again after the last sound incident makes me wonder if he's just messing with us. After all, he just got another story about him in the LA Weekly. Whatever dude, you have 6 pretty dope songs from 10 years ago.

• The sad thing about this whole meltdown is that everyone there was a real fan who went out of their way to see BDB play live. We got tickets months in advance and were excited for the show. When he began complaining about the sound, the crowd shouted out supportive comments like, "You sound great!" or "We love you!" He responded, "Shut the f*ck up, you have no idea what I'm hearing up here so stop saying it sounds great because it doesn't." He also told the crowd to "Shhh! Stop talking!" When he returned to the stage after his hissy fit, we were ready to give him a second chance. But when he continued to whine about everything and say terrible things to the crowd, we walked out. He said things like, "I just want to get home to my kids." Listen, I've got kids, I know what its like to be away from family. It sucks. But, c'mon. You're a professional musician. You know the drill. You are bound to have an "off" night, but in the end, you have to get it together and finish the show that people paid good money to see.

• I should of gone to Dr. Dre or Snoop Dogg show....I didn't expect so much disrespect from what is suppose to be PROFESSIONAL artist...next time buddy eat a cookie. From one LA C**T to an English F**K

• He sounded great but he couldn't hear himself. It's understandable. He was extremely frustrated but when he came back, he absolutely killed it. It turned out to be one of the most intense shows I've seen. The people that wanted to hear him stayed, and they got a great show. A very real, emotional show. At the end he shook hands with people around the stage, taking a moment with each. He took time to look around room, almost making eye contact with every person left. It seemed like a personal, unspoken apology, though prior he gave about a million "i'm sorry"s to the crowd. For lack of a better word, it was epic. I'm glad the hecklers took off. He's a human being. It was a beautiful thing.

• What's funny after reading this, is I completely forgot about when this exact same thing happened YEARS ago when my friend and I saw him at the Troubadour of all places. Granted, he did not go off on that bad of a rant, but I remember he'd start playing a song, it would sound perfect, and halfway through, he'd just stop the song and start bitching about how badly it sounded. And everyone in the audience would be like "nooo! don't stop!" He did it throughout the show, and my friend and I commented about how it ruined the entire show and made it so uncomfortable for the whole night. Ultimately, you are performing for a crowd. That's what you're there for. If the crowd is totally digging it, don't f*ck it up just cause it doesn't sound right to you. It reminds me of when I was watching Glen Hansard's sound check one time, and he told the sound guy he couldn't hear out of his monitors, but they couldn't figure out how to fix it, so after a while he just said f it, I'll make it work. And he just played without the monitors working. Just be a professional and power through it. If the audience thinks it sounds good, ultimately that's all that should matter to you. And if you think the Troubadour really sounds that badly year after year, stop letting your agent book you there.

• Our Evening with a Badly Drawn Wanker 1st, let me say I am a big fan of Damon Gough (aka Badly Drawn Boy). I think he is a great songwriter and I love his work. So do my kids (ages 16, 20). We were excited to finallly get a chance to hear him live. Here's how I remember the evening. I am sure I am off on a few details but I think it captures the gist of what went down:1st song: Damon solo with guitar & harmonica. Sounds great. Witty banter with crowd after. 2nd song: still sounds good but audience senses something is amiss as BDB angrily shakes his head a few times while glowering up at the sound guy. After the song, he complains that sound is "worse than last night", but not "Steve's fault..it's this building...I'm never fucking playing the Troubadour again". If Damon had checked the photos in the front bar he would have seen a host of future Hall of Famers who, early in their careers, somehow managed to get by at The Troub. Crowd is supportive. Someone shouts "It sounds great to us". 3rd song (Is There Nothing We Could Do): more angry shaking of head and complains after that "it's all muffled, I can't hear myself". female shouts out: "you sound great". BDB:"Stop fucking saying that. I have different speakers I'm listening to". 4th Song (Journey From A to B): I love this song but BDB doesn't, at least not tonight. Slams his harmonca down at the end. Bitches about the sound and missing his kids. Says "maybe I should leave". Women calls out "maybe we should all leave". Damon responds: "Shut up you stupid cunt". BDB says "I am ready to fight and will take on anyone that wants to have a go with me". This from a guy that looked to be about 5' 8", pudgy, a smoker. Most people in there would have handed him his ass on a platter. 5th song (Once Around the Block): as he starts to play, some people are walking out. He is giving them the British version of the finger. Maybe they flipped him off first? I couldn't see them. He stops playing after a minute, says "cunts" at least once more. says he is going to have a smoke and may or may not come back. Walks off stage. At that point we headed for the exit. Did not care whether or not he came back because he was being such a douche-bag. I understand that's it's really annoying to him that his sound was off and I certainly understand missing his kids after 5 months of touring. But we were fans/supporters of his. Be a professional and not a whiny bitch. My take- he managed to turn much of a very supportive audience against him by being such an asshole. I hope he straightens out because he is a great talent. P.S. the opening act- Justin Jones- played at the same spot, with guitar and harmonica. Not a peep about sound problems.

• It was amazingly over the top. Upset with the sound, he was also upset with the fans who would tell him, in an attempt to encourage him, that it sounded fine from th audience. Called them c***s, and LA twats. He said several amazingly comic self-regarding things like "At least I'm being honest. You could at least applaud me for that." And, talking about the sound, "It is like being in a roomful of f***ing lions or something. No one should have to go through what I'm gong through up here." And "No one cares about this as much as i do." He also ordered the auience to "Have no reaction to anything I say up here." BUT -- to be fair -- he was aware of how badly it had turned for him, was struggling to get through it, and by the end played a full set and was sincerely, if again in a somewhat over the top way, apologetic. Demonstrated himself to be an incredible jerk; also, by the end did much to redeem himself.

• this story is way too generous to this loser. notice that no actual music reporters attended this show... tells you something about how boring his music is. my gfriend dragged me to this and boy were we sorry. he's a cry baby. sound was fine and he couldn't make it through a single one of his crap songs without playing the prima donna, swearing at the audience and the troubadour, cursing out the soundman, and storming on and off stage. i laid out over $100 incl drinks to see this turkey of a show and he spit in our faces, calling his own fans "LA tw*ts." badly drawn boy/damen gough should take his stupid hat home and not come back.

• Oddly, Gough began the gig with sincere, touching kindness, telling the audience he felt that L.A. was his home away from home, that this was the last night of his tour and he wanted to make it special, and that he really appreciated everyone attending his shows. But once he started playing and the sound wasn't to his liking, he seemed to forget all that, getting bizarrely angry with audience members who encouragingly shouted that he sounded great. (One of the posters above got it right, btw, he wasn't miffed at his soundguy, but that the room just sounded bad. He intimated he'd had issues with it at the previous night's gig. I dunno, Damon, a *lot* of folk heroes have played in that room and seemed able to get through it.) I would've stuck it out because the audience members were right -- he did sound great. He's quite a lovely live performer. But I could see a bigger meltdown coming after about song #3, and since two nearby douchebags were talking loudly and getting bizarrely aggressive with a nice couple standing next to me and my wife, I split before any of the more egregious stuff described by others above started happening. Sometimes there's just a weird atmosphere at a show and it's a better idea to bail.

• Apparently Seattle was no walk in the park either: http://flotzam.com/post/Badly-Drawn-Boy-Justin-Jones-at-The-Triple-Door-December-13-2010.aspx

• The 2 most offensive pieces: 1. One of his targets whom he called and Fing B&@$ was a true fan, telling him he sounded great 2. A younger kid was walked out by parents after the C word hit We go to shows to be happy. This was depressing and confusing. Worst comment from that shmuck: "you have no idea what this is like". Yes, poor you.

• It was uncomfortable for a while to say the least, but the sound was pretty horrible for a bunch of songs - and to correct another commenter - he never criticized the sound guy - but the sound system and acoustics at the venue. His sound guy has been with him for years and even came out during a song later on to play with him. It was clear that he over reacted, and he was well aware of that later on, apologizing continuously and even going out of his way to shake hands and hug the people during his last song, even welling up with tears slightly. Like I said, it was uncomfortable, but I think the hecklers were being a little shitty and don't understand how difficult it is for a performer on stage to sing when you can't hear yourself through the monitors on stage. Bottom line - it was a memorable night. The art comes first, and some audience members just won't get that.

• I decided to go to the show because my boyfriend convinced me that Badly Drawn Boy was an amazing artist live...but the singer decided to have a meltdown after only four songs, he started off by insulting the Troubadour and stating that he will never do a show at this venue again... later he called a lady in the audience an L.A tawt after she demostrated how disappointed she was with the show and asked for her money back. The singer also decided to called another a lady a Cunt after she asked him to stop being a lil bitch....My boyfriend and I stood for the remainder of the show and after a while he came around and did apologize but never stopped complaining about the sound system...I don't know not a fan yet but at least I was entertained.

• Never in 20 years of going to shows have I seen such a melt down! Nothing was wrong with the sound but apparently he couldn't hear himself and wouldn't stop whinning! Then a couple of people were heckling him but only because he was being such a jerk to the engineer! He threatens to leave the stage, then he does and says he might come back. He comes back. Continues to whine. Starts threatening everyone saying he'll fight anyone who comes up on stage. He then begins calling girls in the crowd fucking bitches. He plays a few more songs while complaining about it. Finally he's happy with the sound. But he goes into how shitty it is he's been away from home for the last 5 months and now he has to get through these songs even though he's fucking pissed off. Yes, just what every fan who spent 30 bucks wants to hear. He then begins to get heckled again. He says anyone who doesn't want to be there can "fuck off you l.a. Twots." At this point more people leave. He then corrects himself and says we're not all twots. He eventually apologizes. He explains his anger but it' too little too late. He lost his audience and clearly he doesn't want to be there. I left before it ended and seriously doubt he did an encore.

• I left when he took his "time-out". He was angry about the sound, and the audience was telling him that he sounded great. That set him off and things went downhill from there. He threw his harmonica stand onto the stage. He started swearing and was heckled by the crowd, I think heard him called a "little bitch", among other things. It was painful to watch, to be honest. Totally uncalled for, especially since the crowd was completely supportive of him until he grew aggressive.

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