Plenty of stars go out of their way to avoid criticising supporters, but country singer Zach Bryan made it clear that he wasn’t entertaining complaints after a recent gig ended early.
The 30-year-old Oklahoma-born artist was onstage in Lincoln, Nebraska, when a lightning storm forced the show to stop—an understandable call given the amount of metal rigging, staging, and electrical equipment involved at a large venue.
Even so, one attendee wasn’t satisfied with the safety explanation. After the shortened performance, they pushed for “refunds,” arguing they’d missed a significant portion of the Grammy-winning musician’s set.
Bryan didn’t hold back in his response. After the fan called for their money back—along with refunds for others—he dismissed the complaint by labelling the person a “Karen,” making it clear he wasn’t interested in the demand.
After the show, Bryan posted online and shared the night’s set list, seemingly to show that he’d gotten through most of the performance before the weather made it impossible to continue.
“I’m sorry for cutting the set short tonight! Lightening [sic] came in fast! We only missed the last six! I love you guys, the rain was a blast,” he wrote, alongside an image of the set list.
However, the Daily Mail reported that the list he shared represented the planned set rather than the exact songs performed, with fans noting that seven tracks appeared to have been dropped because of the storm.
Those songs were: Bad News, East Side Of Sorrow, Motorcycle Drive By, Torniquet, Heading South, Fifth Of May and Slicked Back. Despite the apology, some people online weren’t convinced and challenged his account of how much the crowd missed.
In the replies, several users pressed for compensation. One wrote: “Partial refunds need to be given… I know a lot of this was out of your control but we got half a show. Very disappointing”
Another commenter echoed the frustration: “I know a lot of this was out of your control but we got half a show. Very disappointing,” also adding that weather problems meant they didn’t get to see the opening act, Kings of Leon.
Bryan shot back at the attendee who complained about the shortened Lincoln set, calling the message a ‘Karen ahhhh tweet.’ His response then drew criticism from others who felt he should have handled the situation differently.
“What a scum response to a fan who probably waited all night to see you and the opening artists,” another person replied. “I paid over a thousand dollars to see this show and waited in my car for over 4 hours.
“Minimal communication by the stadium and zach bryan himself. Ridiculous.”
Bryan doubled down, responding with the same wording again: ‘Karen ahhh tweet’.
Still, not everyone took issue with how he reacted. One concertgoer defended the decision to stop, pointing out that ‘there were f—n lighting bolts?? Above?? Our?? Heads??’.