The Bloodhound Gang has long had a reputation for saying and doing exactly what’s on their minds, but a recent display of onstage shenanigans in Odessa resulted in the band being kicked out of a music festival and deported, and an attack on one of the band members.
What got the band’s Russian fans so hot under the collar was bassist Jared Hasselhoff putting the Russian flag down his pants and pulling it out the back, something the musicians say he often does with various items onstage. Other band members acknowledged during the show that they didn’t agree with his choice of props, but that did nothing to endear Russian fans to them. As they moved on with their tour, they were reportedly pelted with eggs and tomatoes by angry residents.
The incident was captured on camera and uploaded on YouTube, and as it grew in popularity, the band made more and more enemies. They were promptly kicked out of the Kubana Music Festival; according to Rolling Stone, culture minister Vladimir Medinsky tweeted: “Bloodhound Gang packing suitcases. These idiots won’t perform in Kubana.”
Hasselhoff publicly apologized, but the band was reportedly deported anyway and at least one member was attacked by Russian nationalists as they arrived at the airport. Russian law enforcement has threatened to press charges, and music lovers have begun taking sides on the issue.
“The difference between real punk and the Bloodhound Gang is that real punk is about context: here is what makes them mad, here are their ideals. Jimmy Pop and company were not about context, only the form. Their goal was to make as many people mad as possible,” said misha Kozyrev, a music critic.
