Sevendust Drummer Recounts Band’s First Experience With Racism

Sevendust drummer Morgan Rose has recounted the very first time the band experienced racism. During a show, some attendees in the venue threw rocks at the stage and made offensive gestures.

Rose explained during a discussion with the podcast Rocking With Jam Man that in the beginning, he and his bandmates were a bit more ignorant toward racism and may not have noticed some things that happened. But the first time they did realize it was happening, specifically at a show during the Tattoo the Earth tour in the early 2000s, it disturbed him.

The band were playing a concert in Phoenix, Ariz., when Rose heard a clinking sound.

“And I looked. My drum tech looks at me, and he lifts up this fucking rock. It was, like, big — that if it were to hit me in the face or in the head, it would do real damage. And they’re all over the place,” he said.

He looked out at the crowd and saw several guys with their shirts pulled over their heads, and they were making the Nazi salute gesture.

“So we got off the stage and hauled ass immediately. Like, literally, show’s over, and we ran to get to ’em. And the police had already gotten there. But it happens. A few times that’s happened to us,” Rose continued.

Check out the full conversation below.

Frontman Lajon Witherspoon went into detail about racism in metal a few months ago, and stated that he feels metal is a pretty welcoming community.

Sevendust’s Morgan Rose – Interview With Rocking With Jam Man