“Don’t Be Mad”: Sturgill Simpson Gets Booed by Arkansas Crowd After Teasing Them About Kentucky Basketball
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At a recent show in Rogers, Arkansas, Sturgill Simpso riled up the crowd by teasing them about his native Kentucky’s college basketball team. Simpson is from Jackson, Kentucky, and the issue between Kentucky and Arkansas comes down to former Kentucky coach John Calipari.
Calipari left the Kentucky Wildcats, who he had signed a lifetime contract with, and went to coach for the Arkansas Razorbacks. Now, he’s coaching against his former team in the same division. So, Simpson mentioned the Wildcats while he was introducing his band.
“Back here representing them ‘Go Cats!’ on the drums, Miles Miller,” he said to the crowd. The boos started immediately, and Simpson let them get it out of their system before attempting to calm the riot. However, he only seemed to rile them up more.
“Don’t be mad. Don’t be mad,” he told the crowd. “You had your chance, now Calipari is gone. Now get ready to get that ass whooped. You know what’s coming. I’m just saying. Mark Pope [Wildcats new coach] ain’t f—ing around, okay? Not to mix business with politics.”
Sturgill Simpson Booed at Arkansas Show for Bringing Up College Basketball
Sturgill Simpson managed to diffuse the bomb he planted himself, launching into a couple of tunes. However, the Arkansas fans weren’t going to let the jabs go. They started up a Hog Call, the chant of “woo pig sooie” that Razorbacks fans use to encourage their team at games.
This time, though, it seemed to be used more as a taunt for a certain Kentucky Wildcats fan. Simpson interacted with the fans, raising his arms and encouraging them to give it to him. In fan-captured video, the entire crowd was in on the tease.
While Sturgill Simpson has been on his Why Not? Tour this year, he’s released some recordings from the road. Simpson partnered with Nugs.net, a live music streaming platform, to bring live recordings to fans. Nugs announced the partnership on social media in late September, writing, “An icon in modern country and rock, for [Sturgill Simpson’s] streaming launch we have official concert audio up from five opening nights of the Why Not Tour 2024.”
The live recordings are still available to stream or download, and Simpson is continuing his tour. The Why Not? Tour will go until late November, where it will conclude in Boston.
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