Chrissie Hynde insisted “only a moron could disagree” with her appeal asking for regular gig-goers to move away from the front of the stage.
The Brass in Pocket hitmaker caused a stir in October 2024 when she asked supporters to “give local fans a chance” to be on the front row at their concerts and she’s now explained her stance and admitted she started to feel like she had a “screw loose” seeing the same faces in the audience night after night, no matter where in the world she was performing.
She told MOJO magazine: “See, the thing is, of course you want the same people to come because it means they’re digging the show.
“And I understand why people follow a band.
“If you’re not in a band, the second-best thing is to follow a band around.
“One hundred percent do I understand that.
“But if it’s the same people in the front row all around the world, it takes some of the spontaneity out of it for the artist.
“Because, y’know, Hey, we’re in Warsaw. I’ve never been to Warsaw. Oh, it’s you again.
“And it’s like that every night. You start feeling like you’ve got a screw loose.
“Like, if we’re playing in Warsaw, and we’ve never been there, if there’s some local fans who want to be in the front, let them up front. You’ve already been to 500 shows.”
Asked about the backlash, she laughed: “Ah, go f*** yourselves. Come on. Only a moron could disagree with that.”
The 74-year-old singer admitted she isn’t particularly “sociable” before or after a gig.
She said: “I’ve had a bit of a problem in the last few years because I just want to do the show and get out of there.
“I don’t want to see people before a show.
“Not because I’m in a big meditation. I’m probably just eating a chocolate bar and sitting in a chair. That’s my meditation.
“But I don’t like to get my head full of other stuff.
“And then after a show, I just like to leave. And I feel very anti-social and I don’t think that’s right.
“I think I should be more sociable but I can’t deal with it after I’ve been in that, I suppose, elevated consciousness on stage where everything’s heightened. I can’t do the mundane stuff afterwards.”