At Cologne's C/O Pop festival on 13th August, Patrick Wolf got a bit howly, as has been widely reported.
I am very sorry that I became too much wolf on stage at C/O Pop. I was singing Shakira’s new song "She Wolf" and I felt my animal instinct to protect my audience. My music is very tribal at the moment, I feel I am protective of all of them. It had been a very long day. I slept well but woke at 4 am to fly to Cologne to start a full day of back to back interviews and photos. My band and crew were setting up onstage and I had no idea of stage times as I do not wear a watch and wasn't informed that my set was being cut short before I went onstage by the relevant parties.
One of the many people milling around backstage told me that the "music industry conference" had gone on too long. Being someone that thinks the audience comes before the industry, in my tired and promo overloaded tour brain, I took this as a demand for justice for the audience. This is why I directed my aggression, which came at the end of a very heated set, not at a man or woman. I was throwing the stool and the microphone at a black hole part of the stage where no one would get hurt but there would be a statement made...
The spit did not land on anyone but was in general a display of "I don't respect you". As I said, my show is very tribal at the moment as there is a lot of good in the world to be fighting for. The words "bitch" and "motherfucker" really are not misogynistic words when you live near Soho, London, so let’s put that to rest. My tribe will know that I have over the past 10 years been a public champion for feminism, against ignorance and always fighting in the name of the good fight.
The very bad footage you see on YouTube does not explain that the lady to my left is Victoria my long term violinist and good friend who I protect like a sibling and is not the one I am directing my words or aim to when throwing a piano stool. I would rather hit myself then see Victoria hurt by anyone, or any of my band.
I'm terribly sorry if anyone was upset by this display of closure on a show, but as a human who works like a dog to keep myself in music during these hard times in the industry, I do have off days and bad moments like every other person in the world - although I am not sorry that I am passionate enough about music to care that my crowd didn't get their money's worth due to curfews and mismanagement of stage times. I hope you agree. The display of aggression was directed at nobody in particular, just life and darkness and hard times. I'm sorry if any people got in the way and I hope you can forgive me for causing any damage due to excess negative personal emotion. As you heard or saw, the audience was encoring for almost half an hour.
My next album is about hope and romance and love, so I will bring you a bunch of bright red red roses and a box of After Eights next time from a helicopter when I see you all.
So, a summary, major miscommunications backstage x lack of sleep due to very busy schedule x singing many songs about battling x an intense education from the extreme parts of London nightlife/wildlife/streetlife as a teenager x Steve Strange going on very late x a full day of cameras flashing and questions x being 26 years old and should have known better = bad wolf sorry. peace. pace. truce. Patrick Wolf
Patrick Wolf @ C/O Pop, Cologne
