During a recent Rascal Flatts concert, Jay DeMarcus thought to quickly perform the classic "Sweet Caroline" to an audience of West Virginians. I suppose he never got the memo.
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The Rascal Flatts have been on their Life Is A Highway tour, their first tour since they 'broke up' in 2020. The tour is early, as it only kicked off the other week. On Friday, the rascals performed in Charleston, West Virginia without doing some reading on the local traditions.
At some point in the show, Jay DeMarcus brought out the keyboard and performed "Sweet Caroline" for the audience of Mountaineers fans.
It's Western tradition to scream "bum, bum, bum!" after "Sweet Caroline" gets sung. Anyone who is performing the song will always motion to the crowd to let them have their moment, whether it's karaoke in a bar or a Rascal Flatts concert.
So after DeMarcus sets the audience up, he receives a resounding "Eat s--t Pitt!" in response. The funny thing is he keeps singing, probably still trying to work out what was just called back to him. This carried on a few more times before he simply had to stop playing to address the audience.
You can watch the video below, it's hilarious. Make sure to watch till the end!
Why The Audience Yelled "Eat S--t Pitt" During Rascal Flatts Performance Of "Sweet Caroline"
For those not in the know, it may seem like everyone was just insulting DeMarcus, although it's obviously not the case.
As is the case with most cultural things, this rather unique response to "Sweet Caroline" is a football thing.
Back in the day, the West Virginia Mountaineers were doing pretty well. However, their unstoppable momentum was crushed in 2007 when they played against the Pittsburgh Panthers. The Panthers beat the Mountaineers, and they seem to have struggled to reach those highs ever since.
They never made the Championship and their coach quit mere days later. So to a West Virginian, the Panthers are sworn rivals.
So, naturally, they modified the classic response in "Sweet Caroline" from "bum, bum, bum," to "eat s--t Pitt," and I think that's just poetic.
The context here does not matter. The moment that song plays, every West Virginian will be preparing themselves to yell those lines.
