Machine Gun Kelly’s Performance Drowned Out by Boos at Metal Festival

Machine Gun Kelly and Slipknot are unlikely rivals, but it’s 2021. Expect the unexpected. Rolling Stone reports that singer-rapper Machine Gun Kelly was met with a barrage of boos during his performance at the hard-rock Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday night—a week after MGK called Slipknot, who was playing at the same time slot, “old weird dudes with masks.” Kelly, 31, allegedly had plans to collaborate with Slipknot’s Corey Taylor but the deal fell through. Taylor has referred to Kelly as an artist who “failed in one genre and decided to go rock.”

The backlash from Kelly’s comments at Chicago’s Riot Fest the week before clearly struck a chord, as every song he performed at Louder Than Life was met with a fury of boos and middle fingers. The artist even got into it with a festival-goer and pulled out a Star Wars lightsaber he, for some reason, had handy. “I see you, dude, I see you mad as fuck in your weird fucking outfit,” he bellowed. “You keep fuckin’ with me, homie? Trained Jedi, bitch!” Security had to escort the star away after he attempted to slug someone in the pit.