Pearl-clutching viewers have expressed their anger at Knocked Loose playing Jimmy Kimmel Live! this week.
UK newspaper The Mirror has collected a number of incensed reactions to Tuesday’s (November 26) musical performance, which saw the hardcore stars smash their way through Suffocate with genre-smashing solo act Poppy.
The fury is, as you’d expect, hilarious and hyperbolic. “You know I was trying to enjoy the program,” one Facebook user starts to seethe, before insisting the show was so brutal it made their teenage son burst into tears.
“I was sitting on the couch with my son who is an ADOLESCENT waiting to see the musical guest because we like the nice music the show usually books. By the third or fourth ‘JUNT’ from the guitars my son was in tears. He doesn’t like scary things and quite frankly I think the Kimmel show and its staff should make a formal apology.”
Other outraged viewers repeated the age-old criticism thrown at metal with extreme vocals: that they can’t understand the lyrics and that the music is worthless as a result.
“If I have to read the lyrics I’ll just read them and not listen to someone yell them,” says one. “That wasn’t singing, anyone can yell lyrics and get paid.”
Another Facebook complainer adds, in a string of typos: “This what not enjoyable. And you can’t understand more than 5% of the lyrics. Moshing doesn’t not equal dancing.”
“How do I sing along with this???” someone else asks. “Lol sounds just like a screaming frenzy to me!! Actually starting to hurt my ears!! People who listen to this have no room to complain about crying babies or screaming two year olds taking a tantrum!! Ha ha unreal!!! They call this music Jimmy??”
It’s not all bad, though. The Mirror turned to X (formerly Twitter) and found several people thrilled to see Knocked Loose on the airwaves. One points out that seeing music so different from the norm on national TV could be inspiring to many people.
They write: “Some kid is gonna be up late tonight casually watching Jimmy Kimmel and hear Knocked Loose for the first time and they’re gonna say, ‘I wanna start a fucking band like that’ and change their whole life That’s how important this is”
Despite the red-faced parents taking aim at them, Knocked Loose are doing quite well at the minute. Two weeks before the Kimmel concert, Suffocate was nominated for the 2025 Grammy Award For Best Metal Performance, pitting Knocked Loose against Metallica, Judas Priest, Gojira and Spiritbox in competition for the prize. The winner will be named at the Los Angeles ceremony on February 2.
The band are also set to tour Europe and the UK next year. See below for dates and details.
Knocked Loose 2025 European tour dates:
Mar 17: London O2 Academy Brixton, UK
Mar 18: Manchester O2 Victoria Warehouse, UK
Mar 20: Tilburg 013 Poppodium, Netherlands
Mar 21: Paris Le Bataclan, France
Mar 22: Lille L’Aéronef, France
Mar 24: Brussels Ancienne Belgique, Belgium
Mar 25: Cologne Palladium, Germany
Mar 27: Berlin Columbiahalle, Germany
Mar 28: Leipzig Hause Auensee, Germany
Mar 29: Munich TonHalle, Germany