Gabe Saporta, lead singer of the spectacular band Cobra Starship, has recently gotten some heat from his behavior at a concert (see above video, then go ahead and keep watching for “Snakes on a Plane”). In the video, he attacks a heckler, beginning the conversation with “Yo, fat boy giving me the finger, what’s your problem?” and he ends it with “go the fuck home, go look at pictures of your mom and jack off,” and he says all kinds of things in between.
Saporta defends his actions in his blog, where he wrote
It’s also insane to me that people can expect an artist to not be prone to the same fluctuations in emotion and mood that everyone else succumbs to. Having different emotions is what makes us human. And just because I’m on stage, doesn’t mean that I’m not a person. I am not better than anyone, and I am thus susceptible to the same emotional volatility that anybody else is (arguably, even more so). I never go on stage and put on an act; I go on stage, lose all my inhibitions, and become who I am.
And I don’t know why this seems like it’s a news flash to anyone, but ummm…. I’m not exactly the most peaceful guy in the world, for better or for worse.
I always speak my mind, and I have a sharp tongue. I’m full of love and gratitude for my brothers and sisters who support us and save us from having to work shitty jobs in order to do what we love (music). But I also have no place in my heart for dudes who only want to tear us down and hurt the thing we work hardest towards everyday with all our hearts.
He goes on to acknowledge that he “acted like an asshole,” but that he’s not sorry.
I love Cobra Starship. So, so much. And when I first heard about the video and when I watched it, I was a little upset, but after reading Gabe’s blog entry and considering it, I’m not so upset anymore. We can’t see what the guy was doing in the audience, but it was obviously enough to catch attention from on stage, so it can’t have been too mild. And regardless of rather Gabe’s actions were right or wrong, they’re not surprising – with lyrics like “I’m not street but I do what I gotta do” and song titles like “I May Be Rude But I’m the Truth,” you kind of know what you’re getting into.
What do you guys think? Is Gabe Saporta a total douchebag or what? Do you guys even like Cobra Starship?
well, i LOVE cobra starship (in fact, i saw them a few days ago) and they are so supportive of their fans.
seriously, even though they’re blowing up, they still take time to acknowledge their fans and try to make every show amazing and intimate. gabe is (or at least seems) like the sweetest guy and is always so gracious to his fans so the fact that he got so angry at those hecklers makes me believe that those guys were out of line.
gabe said that he doesn’t take shit and expresses how he feels when he feels it, and although others might have reacted in a different fashion, gabe is who he is and doesn’t lie about it.
i will still continue to support cobra and defend them because they are passionate about what they do and have fun with it. gabe – stay sassy.
FANGS UP
snakes on a plane is one of my favorite songs ever. seriously.
its part of the show all acts do stuff like this it goes all the way back to old Van halen,.
David Lee Roth would threaten to kick someones butt at every show and then the crowd would go wild.
the only thing different here is it’s being done by a skinny white guy trying really hard to act like a black gangster.
or as he would say as he did over and over again
YO!
I love Cobra Starhsip and their songs. I think Gabe Saporta is awesome at writing, and recording. But dayumm they cannot perform live. His voice sucks live. :( But I love them all the same
He did what was right, and it is not the first time I have seen someone doing it. Ricky Wilson, Kaiser Chiefs’ frontman (they’re proper big in Europe), stopped a gig I was at in Barcelona, and I kid you not, there were at least 5,000 people there (it was a festival), because someone was calling him a wanker. He even challenged the bloke to come up on stage and ended up getting the audience to yell him to fuck off.
So yeah, go Gabe and go confronting someone who’s being a dick.
Mireee, you are one of my favs. Keep on doing what you do.
I saw them a few weeks back, awesome concert. The band was very friendly with the crowd, kid probably offended Gabe. It’s their concert, if the kid was ruining the experience for Gabe, he probably offended the true fans who were there too.
I j’adore cobra starship! I totally agree with him, hecklers should be punnished, I mean If you don’t like the band why are you paying to see them? It doesn’t make any sense. Gabe will allways be awesome/adorable.
Kudos on the post Emily! More on Cobra please!
I MISS WHEN GABE SAPPORTA WAS IN THE BAND MIDTOWN! no one seems to remember them or give them the credit they deserved. midtown was a group of awesomely talented musicians
Midtown was fantab. I wish I’d been aware of them when they were big, because I would have fangirled my heart out.