Steve Lacy is totally a Gemini

"You can't surprise a Gemini. I'm everywhere. I'm cross eyed and now that you’re back I can’t decide if I decide that you’re invited." That was the next line of the song. 

Steve Lacy was performing his hit song Bad Habits on his tour in 2022, and when Steve cut the band off and let the crowd sing the lyrics, his "fans" had no idea what came after the chorus. 

Steve was clearly disappointed that the crowd didn't know the next part of the song and said into the mic, "You fuckers, you sang the first verse twice." 

I get that some songs on every album will inevitably be more popular than others, but this was a reasonable reaction from Steve. 

After performing show after show where the audience would only sing along to a bit of Helmet and a snippet of Sunshine but ultimately belting the chorus of Bad Habits and nothing else, I understand Steve's attitude. 

In the comments under the video, some people are confused about why Steve was berating his fans when they paid to see HIM sing the song, not the other way around. Some also think he's being rather ungrateful, considering the streams of Bad Habits alone added a zero or two to his bank account.

However, it must be frustrating for an artist to put countless hours into a project to only have a fraction of people at your concerts who listened and enjoyed the album in its entirety. Bad Habits is a banger, but the whole album is a "no-skips" gem.  

Another clip from his Gemini Rights tour also went viral when a concertgoer asked Steve, "Can you say 'hi' to my mom?" right before the start of his song Helmet, where he replied, "Can you be quiet?". 

He received a lot of backlash for this comment, but this was an accurate response to the circumstances. 

From the video, it appears that the crowd was mostly quiet, and Steve and the band were creating a specific vibe for the intro of the next song when a girl from the audience interrupted the moment to make it about herself by cutting through the silence and asking, "Can you say ‘hi’ to my mom?"

Okay, maybe I'm a tad critical by assuming she intended to make it about herself, but where were her self-awareness skills? She gave the same energy of the lame-ass people who don't shut the fuck up at the Beyonce concerts during the "mute" section. 

Steve wasn't on the street denying a picture with a fan or brushing past somebody begging for an autograph after a show. This was a momentous build-up for Helmet that she severed because she wanted to be quirky or whatever. 

The premise of this post wasn't really to defend Steve Lacy's controversial behavior (even though that's basically what I'm doing), this is to invoke a conversation about concerts nowadays being overwhelmed by people who aren't necessarily fans of the artist but since they're financially privileged enough to purchase the tickets to these shows - they attend to make aesthetic social media posts that boost their egos and send the implication to their followers that they're edgy, hip, and super fucking cool because they're at this concert singing this viral song.

Now, people can do whatever they want with their money; knock yourself out. But most of the venues Steve booked for his Gemini Rights tour were not NEARLY big enough for his growing fan base. With limited space, this resulted in tickets being, on average, $300 and reselling for 5x that amount. And let's be so forreal: $300 for a general admission ticket is absolutely insane. I better not have to zoom my camera from my seat if I pay $300 for a single concert. 

To add insult to injury, the tickets were selling out ridiculously quickly. Considering that he performed only ONE night in New York City, and it was at Terminal 5, which has a capacity of 3,000 people, it's no fucking mystery why the ticket sales were like that. He booked the Filmore in Silver Spring, Maryland, which only holds 2,000, and the Vic Theatre in Chicago, which only has 1,400 people. What the fuck, Steve? 

Obviously nobody could finish the fucking lyrics. The motherfuckers who could finsh them were waiting at home staring at their Ticketmaster app that had the resale tickets for $1,000+. 

If Steve had performed at bigger arenas, more fans who have been with him since the beginning would have had the opportunity to attend his shows and pick up the lyrics that the posers lacked. 

Personally, I'm not mad when people who aren't die-hard fans get tickets to concerts because, all in all, the proceeds go toward the artist, and that helps them make a living. Recognition is recognition.

 I'm not trying to be the only Steve Lacy fan on the face of the Earth. I don't want him to be an underground artist because his music deserves to be shared. 

Just because an artist becomes "mainstream" doesn't mean they're a lousy artist. They're simply getting the flowers they worked hard for and rightfully deserve. I want the space to enjoy their music alongside people just getting acquainted with them. 

During his last tour, I was a broke college student who didn't have the money for that kind of purchase, but I wish I could have gone. I'm bitter. 

I've been a fan of Steve Lacy since his EP Steve Lacy's Demo. He's become one of the best-emerging artists in the last five years, and I'll definitely be snatching tickets to his next tour. 

But for people who aren't pleased with his "outbursts" or sassy attitude about people not knowing the lyrics and ruining his suspenseful pauses, considering he is an artist with feelings and emotions deeply tied to his craft, who can blame him?

And he's a goddamn Gemini, so what did you expect?