The Boy Who Cried Wolf

The news that Patrick Wolf had somewhat of a hissy fit in Germany last week at the C/O Pop Festival doesn’t come as much of surprise, given that his temper has been known to flare up on occasion. And rightly so, sometimes – such as when he was allegedly hassled at a Madonna gig for kissing his boyfriend. If this is actually what happened, then kudos to the guy for standing up and striking out against that kind of unwarranted homophobic aggression. But his violent histrionics last week were something else entirely – watch it below if you haven’t already seen it.

This was nothing more than an exaggerated, childish temper tantrum, displaying none of the respect for people working around him and for him that someone in his position should have. Okay, somebody might have screwed up, but it surely wasn’t deliberate, and it certainly wasn’t a violation that warranted such an ugly outburst of self-important, pop star arrogance. Yet it’s symptomatic of something that’s been happening in the pop world for the last few years, especially over here in the UK – the creation of egos before they should even be allowed to develop (not, one could argue, that they ever should). But the problem is that these ‘artists’ – most of whom, Wolf included, aren’t particularly good – is that a cult of celebrity, and, consequently, a heightened sense of entitlement and superiority are consumed by the hype and start to behave like spoiled brats, thinking they can act with impunity because, if they aren’t already rich and famous, it’s guaranteed they will be soon. Like a kid born with a silver spoon in his mouth who can’t understand why some people are poor, Wolf has demonstrated by his actions a total disregard for the people – those who sort the sound, clean the venue, work in the box-office, etc, etc – without whom his life as a performing artist would be very difficult, if not impossible. Instead, he seems to have developed a very unwarranted but strong case of megalomania that’s totally out of odds with both his talent and importance as a musician, and also the situation in question. Because the fact is, he deliberately, and continually insulted, abused and attempted to injure someone in a particularly malicious and personal attack. It’s not like this is a Gallows gig, where the crowd (and, presumably, the venue owners) expect a bit of physical aggression and some damage to be inflicted as Frank Carter hurls himself around with scant regard for his own safety. That’s what the people there have paid to see. But the band would never attempt to deliberately hurt anyone, let alone someone who isn’t in any way involved in the onstage antics, but working behind the scenes to ensure the show can carry on.

Mr Wolf, it seems, needs both to learn some manners and some perspective. Unless, of course, the poor person in question was just fed up with Wolf’s dreary performance and pulled the PA plug to make a (very valid) point and save their ears. Then, and only then, would Wolf’s hostility be acceptable, as his inability to take criticism (however harsh and inappropriate) would reveal his inner insecurity and make him more human and less of a pop star. Because for those few seconds, as much of a twat as he was, he was actually mildly interesting. Poor guy can’t really win, can he?