A mishap happened to Gym Class Heroes’ lead singer, Travis McCoy, while performing on their tour in St. Louis, Tuesday night (7/1).

They had just finished the first song of their Warped Tour set, Peace Sign, when a black audience member near the front row called the New York-based singer a “fucking ignorant nigger”. Having heard of that, he calmly asked the man, “What did you just call me?” As security was removing him from the crowd, the frontman reached down and broke his microphone over the man’s head.

McCoy immediately apologized for his reaction, as he was saying, “I’m sorry. But when someone calls you something that ignorant and that offensive, you have to bash their head in with a microphone”. The audience cheered as the man in question was carried away by security. Local police didn’t released the victim’s name.

Later on, McCoy was arrested onstage. He was released early Wednesday morning on $500 bond. The band’s manager, Bob McLynn, said in a statement:

“Somebody in the crowd was taunting Travis with racial slurs. Travis invited him onstage with the intent of calling him out in front of the crowd, with absolutely no intention of a physical altercation. When he tried to help him onstage, the guy hit Travis in the knee area (which has been in a brace because of a recent sprain), forcing Travis to defend himself. At this point, a scuffle broke out. This whole incident is unfortunate. Travis McCoy and Gym Class Heroes are anything but violent. Their message is about racial unity and having a good time. It’s amazing that in 2008 there are still people out there that would say such ignorant things”.

He also added that McCoy has apologized to the Warped Tour’s founder and the band’s fans.

Sometime an audience is not a friendly one. Hopefully McCoy won’t be dealing with that kind of audience in the future, so he can keep singing those great tunes!

[ via RollingStone ]