Courtney LaPlante is not backing down. The Spiritbox vocalist has responded to a wave of online criticism over her decision to stop a recent show and have a concertgoer thrown out, making clear the man was not removed for moshing — he was, in her words, assaulting other fans.
The clarification follows footage from the band’s July 15 set at Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre in Phoenix, where Spiritbox were opening for Evanescence alongside Nova Twins. Video of LaPlante halting the show to have the man identified and ejected spread widely this week, and the reaction split sharply.
Once the clip went viral, a portion of the response turned on LaPlante herself. Citing a Metal Injection write-up of the incident, some social media users assumed the ejected man had simply been moshing or crowd-killing — normal, if rough, pit behavior — and framed her intervention as an overreaction. Others took issue with her calling the concert a “rock show” at all, pointing out that Spiritbox were the opening act on an Evanescence bill.
LaPlante pushed back directly, explaining that the situation was nothing like what her critics were picturing. In a social media reply, she wrote:
“It was old drunk man punching people in head who were facing the stage in small amphitheater vip pit, several times while we were playing. Not appropriate or fun for anyone else there!”
In other words: not a pit, not moshing, not the usual give-and-take of a heavy show — an intoxicated man repeatedly hitting people who had their backs to him and were simply watching the band.
Some of her other replies on X (formerly Twitter) are:
“I didn’t say what was happening on stage, and it doesn’t say what actually happened in the article, but I wasn’t thinking about the internet when I stopped the show, 3 times we told security about him so that was the final straw and I’m glad I did it, he wasn’t moshing.”
“So I get that it’s easy to dunk on us, with the info actually provided. It is what it is, the person who already thinks I’m lame and not a part of this culture isn’t crazy to assume from the article that I kicked someone out for moshing, and I will survive another day”
The incident, covered here earlier this week, unfolded just before the set-closing performance of “Soft Spine“. Drummer Zev Rose, positioned up on the riser with the best view of the floor, spotted the trouble first and alerted LaPlante, who stopped the show and refused to continue until the man was found and removed.
She then had security escort him out and checked on a fan who had been struck, telling the crowd — in the line that has been quoted most widely — that this was not “the damn gold medal karate match” but a rock and roll show, and that everyone in the room deserved to feel safe.
The response online has run both ways. Plenty of fans and fellow concertgoers backed her, with several who were present corroborating that the man had been violent rather than merely enthusiastic. The pushback she is now answering came from a smaller camp working off secondhand assumptions about what the man had actually done.
Her stance has been consistent throughout: a live show should be a safe place, and there is a firm line between the physical thrill of a heavy gig and someone using it as cover to hurt people.
Spiritbox — LaPlante, her husband and guitarist Mike Stringer, bassist Josh Gilbert and drummer Zev Rose — remain out on the Evanescence tour with Nova Twins. Remaining dates are:
- July 25 – Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre, Salt Lake City, UT
- July 28 – Hollywood Casino Amphitheater, St. Louis, MO
- July 30 – Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH
- Aug 1 – Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH
- Aug 2 – Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, MI
It was old drunk man punching people in head who were facing the stage in small amphitheater vip pit, several times while we were playing. Not appropriate or fun for anyone else there!
— courtney laplante™️ (@corklezlaplante) July 23, 2026
