Security rarely escorts performers out of music festivals they just headlined, but that’s exactly what happened to country singer Dylan Marlowe over the weekend.
The 28-year-old artist found himself in an unprecedented situation at Country Jam in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, when security removed him from the venue while he was trying to watch fellow performer Jake Owen’s set.
Marlowe initially shared a video of the incident on social media Saturday, showing him being led through the festival crowd. At the same time, a security guard maintained a firm grip on his shirt. “Getting kicked out of a concert I just played,” he captioned the now-deleted post, according to Parade. “Got kicked out of our concert trying to watch Jake Owen. Good job, dude. I’m a huge threat.”
The video quickly gained traction online. Then, Marlowe decided to remove it and provide a more detailed explanation of what transpired.
“I just want to hop on here and kinda clear the air a little bit of what I posted yesterday,” Marlowe said in a replacement video posted Sunday. “I took the video down after sleeping on it and watching church this morning. I just decided that it wasn’t fair for that festival to have this video blowing up about their festival when it was really just one bad apple in the whole thing.”
Security Confusion Leads to Festival Drama
The incident began when Marlowe and his friend Dave positioned themselves on a front-of-house tower to watch Owen’s performance. Both carried “All Access” and “Artist Credentials” passes. They believed the passes granted them access to any area of the festival grounds.
The pair had been watching the show for approximately 10 minutes when security approached them. “This dude comes up and says we can’t be there,” Marlowe explained. “We were like, ‘Hey. We have ‘All Access’ wristbands given to our tour manager for us to wear to be anywhere we want to be. … So we had two different credentials. We’re like, ‘Hey. We have these. We’re good.’ He was like, ‘No. I don’t care.'”
The security guard suggested they move to the pit area to continue watching. However, Marlowe declined due to concerns about creating a distraction. He had just finished his own set while wearing the same clothes. But, he didn’t want to draw unwanted attention during Owen’s performance.
“The last thing I want to do is make a scene during Jake Owen’s set because that, to me, is disrespectful,” Marlowe stated in his explanation video.
The situation escalated when Marlowe and Dave relocated to a different spot, and the same security personnel confronted them again. This time, police officers became involved at the security guard’s request.
“We walk downstairs to where this guy continues to say, ‘Hey, you gotta get the F out of here. You gotta get the F outta here. You’re not allowed to be down here either,'” Marlowe recounted. “We had these passes, and we knew we were allowed to be there. These cops came up and I was like, ‘Oh God.’ So we talk to these cops and we’re like, ‘Hey guys. We had these passes. Not sure what the confusion is because we were told these are ‘All Access’ passes. We’re just trying to watch the set,’ to where the cops responded, ‘This security is our boss and he’s telling us to get ya’ll out of here.'”
Taking Accountability for His Actions
Rather than solely blaming security, Marlowe acknowledged his own contribution to the heated exchange. He admitted that his frustration led to inappropriate behavior on his part.
“I’m not going to paint it like I was this perfectly great dude who wasn’t rude back to him after he was rude to me,” Marlowe said honestly. “After that, there were definitely a few heated words exchanged with that guy, nothing crazy, but I feel like he was rude to me and I was rude back to him, and I shouldn’t have been.”
Marlowe explained that his initial social media post came from a place of frustration rather than ego. “I don’t think it was from a pride or ego standpoint. I don’t expect this dude or anybody to ever know who I am…I’m just a person who does this for a living. I think what was frustrating to me is that we had the ‘All Access’ credentials on and still got kicked out.”
The “Boys Back Home” singer concluded the clip by extending forgiveness and stressing that he harbors no ill will toward the festival or security personnel involved.
“That’s where he grabbed my shirt, yanked me out, just wanted to clear the air a little bit to say to the festival, there’s no hard feelings. We had a great time. To that dude, I forgive you. That’s pretty much all I have to say,” Marlowe stated. The country star performed his hour-long set from 3:30-4:30 p.m. on Saturday. He was part of a lineup that included Tigirlily Gold, Craig Morgan, and Sam Hunt.
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Country Artist Owns Up to How He Was Kicked Out of His Own Concert