Black Veil Brides vocalist Andy Biersack has weighed in on the criticism he and his band have faced since opting to take part in Falling In Reverse‘s newly launched summer tour. There’s been some verbal pushback on social media against Black Veil Brides for accepting that trek in light of commentary shared in the past by Falling In Reverse vocalist Ronnie Radke.
Radke‘s combative nature with his detractors online, and his divisive opinions on transgender identity, etc., have generated enough controversy over the years to find him banned from several social media networks. Radke for his part has railed against allegations of homophobia and such put against him.
This latest situation Black Veil Brides find themselves in of course mirrors a position a different planned opener for Falling In Reverse found themselves in last year. After facing similar concerns from their fans online over agreeing to tour with Radke, Canadian alternative metal band Spiritbox withdrew from their planned tour with Falling In Reverse. That departure led to a lingering beef of sorts between Radke and the band.
Black Veil Brides now find themselves facing similar criticisms due to their involvement in the ongoing tour. Taking to X this past Monday, August 19th, Biersack commented of the trek and the backlash he has received over it:
“We have and will continue to tour with alot of different artists. I’ll say this though even though it likely won’t land because I imagine you have a presupposition here but thus far we have been treated with a level of kindness and enthusiasm on this tour that we aren’t accustomed to, in fact for 3 legs of Trinity we were fairly universally loathed by the other bands fans either passively or in many cases overtly whereas last night the people in attendance who maybe didn’t know much about BVB gave us a chance and seemed to want to really have fun at a show rather than lean on the scene oriented “BVB sucks” take.
@RonnieRadke went out of his way to show kindness to us which is again something that is uncommon for us to experience on non headlining runs historically. You needn’t come to a show if it’s not for you and that’s entirely at your discretion but to attempt to grand stand on moral grounds to me who is a member of a band once called ‘the most hated band in the universe’ as if anything I believe changes by virtue of us being afforded the opportunity to play our music for more people who seem to actually enjoy it and hopefully share our message and entertain them is an extremely myopic and in my opinion unfair position to take.”
Biersack is indeed no stranger to disdain from audiences and even his peers. One needn’t look further than his infamous award acceptance speech in response to the icy reception his band received at the 2013 Revolver Golden Gods Awards as an indicator of the level of hatred Black Veil Brides have endured over the years.
However, as with Spiritbox, Black Veil Brides have often been seen as being inclusive when it comes to welcoming their audiences. As such, Biersack‘s statement on this latest tour hasn’t exactly gone over entirely well on social media, as evidenced by numerous replies to his aforementioned post on X.
In contract to Biersack‘s measured response, Radke meanwhile has continued to adopt an even more aggressive approach in dealing with his critics, going so far as to include TikToks from his haters into the video screens featured on this latest headlining run. Black Veil Brides‘ immediate touring plans with Falling In Reverse are available below.
With Falling In Reverse, Dance Gavin Dance, Tech N9ne & Nathan James:
08/22 Auburn, WA – White River Amphitheatre
08/23 Ridgefield, WA – RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater
08/25 Salt Lake City, UT – Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre
08/27 Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheater
With Falling In Reverse, Dance Gavin Dance, Tech N9ne & Jeris Johnson:
08/29 Irving, TX – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
08/30 Houston, TX – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman
09/01 Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
09/02 Charlotte, NC – Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre
09/04 Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheater
09/06 Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live
09/07 Scranton, PA – The Pavilion at Montage Mountain
09/09 Boston, MA – Leader Bank Pavilion
09/10 Buffalo, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater
09/12 Burgettstown, PA – The Pavilion at Star Lake
09/13 Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
09/15 Sterling Heights, MI – Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre
09/16 Indianapolis, IN – Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park
09/17 Chicago, IL – Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
09/20 Franklin, TN – FirstBank Amphitheater
09/21 St Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
09/23 Denver, CO – The JunkYard
09/25 Phoenix, AZ – Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
09/26 Los Angeles, CA – Kia Forum
We have and will continue to tour with alot of different artists. I’ll say this though even though it likely won’t land because I imagine you have a presupposition here but thus far we have been treated with a level of kindness and enthusiasm on this tour that we aren’t…
— Andy Biersack (@andyblack) August 19, 2024
