If you're headed to see Sydney/Euroa hardcore band SPEED in the coming months, don't be surprised if you're battling for a mic grab with Shaq. The basketball Hall Of Famer, TV personality, businessman and general pop-cultural force of nature is one of hundreds of thousands of people currently losing their minds at footage of the mosh from their Sound and Fury festival in Los Angeles.
The footage went viral after former NBA player turned conservative Christian media personality Royce White posted a tweet lambasting the crowd for their behaviour captioning the footage with the words And I’m the one with a Mental Illness? We are in a spiritual crisis. What in the false catharsis is this? Vegan coke heads getting right up on the edge of physical confrontation to deal with their unresolved despair and angst — Only faith in God can do that. Gloves Off!"
And I’m the one with a Mental Illness? We are in a spiritual crisis. What in the false catharsis is this? Vegan coke heads getting right up on the edge of physical confrontation to deal with their unresolved despair and angst — Only faith in God can do that. Gloves Off! #Godspeed pic.twitter.com/b08Lv1OpZ9
— Royce White 🇺🇸 (@Highway_30) August 13, 2022
With over 1000 'quote tweets' and nearly 250k views, White's tweet unintentionally caused the already trending footage to go viral, resulting in Instagram viral clips posting account viralclipz sharing the footage and asking "Who's going to this concert?". The post from viralclipz prompted 'The Big Aristotle', Shaquille O'Neal himself to reply with "me". Given Shaq is about to hit Australia for a run of appearances, there's the outside possibility he might just make good on that claim. You can see the interaction below.
Irrespective of whether or not Shaq rocks up to a gig it is another sign that SPEED are in the process of speedily taking over the hardcore genre. Since forming in 2019, the band have found favour with hardcore fans across the globe, with the likes of We See You and Not That Nice racking up huge numbers on streaming services and their no-nonsense style and passionate live show earning them acclaim from fans and bands alike. One notable fan of the band is Comeback Kid vocalist Andrew Neufeld who made mention of the band in our interview with him earlier this year stating that "I’m buzzing on SPEED at the moment too!". The rest of the hardcore scene seems to be in agreeance with the band's profile continuing to boom following the release of their EP Gang Called Speed in July.
Speed - Not That Nice
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