"It was kind of a collective gasp": Patron reacts after racial slur hurled during Detroit Symphony Orchestra concert
(CBS DETROIT) - Concertgoers were in for a surprise last week at Detroit Symphony Orchestra's concert. A racial slur was screamed at one point during the Christmas performance.
A lover of music, Matt Totsky frequents concerts all across Metro Detroit. He took his family along with him for the holiday performance.
"I bought the tickets because it was Charlie Brown's Christmas music from that TV special, which I love," Totsky said.
During the nearly two-hour event, someone reportedly hurled a racial slur aimed at the African American performers. The group of performers was Cyrus Chestnut & Friends.
"It was kinda a collective gasp... like Woah!"
From what Totsky noticed, the incident didn't take the performers off their game.
"You could tell they noticed it and continued the performance," Totsky said.
After the incident, Detroit Symphony Orchestra released a statement, adding that they are investigating and plan to place a permanent ban on the ticketholder once identified.
For concertgoers like Totsky, the incident overall stained his concert-going experience.
"I felt like that space was violated a little bit," he said. "But once we got past it the music brought us back it made us feel better."
Totsky plans to go to another concert by the DSO, but hopes Friday's mishap is an isolated incident.
"I don't know the context of why this happened. I mean it's not something you should say in any situation but not sure what the person's goal or motivation would be to say it in a concert," he said.
Totsky said the performers never acknowledged the incident but did remind everyone of the reason for the evening.
"The performer Cyrus said it's music that brings us together and that's what I was looking forward to at the show that night," Totsky said.
