Sometimes admiration can turn into hostility when egos get bruised or you just plain suck. Either way we are happy the cameras were rolling when the shit hit the fan (or vice versa).
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1. Nickelback gets hit with a rock
Nickelback performs for a huge festival in Portugal and can’t seem to find one fan. Nickelback makes a huge mistake and complains about how shitty the crowd response is. Now maybe this is semi ok for one of your own shows but at a festival this is a huge no no! After making themselves look like a bunch of conceited assholes an audience member throws a rock and nails the singer in the head.
Verdict: Act like whiny baby then you deserve a rock to the head.
Winner = The 30k people that didn’t have to listen to another second of Nickelback.
2. Henry Rollins beats up fan
A fan in the front row decides to taunt Henry by trying to grab his microphone repeatedly. This kid thought he was being funny but Henry let him know he wasn’t laughing by pounding his head in.
Verdict: This kid should be lucky he didn’t get a mic stand to the face.
Winner = Henry Rollins
3. Faith No More – Take this bottle
At a show in Seville, Spain opening for Metallica and Guns N Roses the audience reaction to the opening band (FNM) is not to hot. A few fans throw their water bottles on stage and instead of running in fear, Faith No More (speaking some Spanish) decide to encourage the rest of the crowd to join in on the festivities.
Verdict: FNM thrive in moments that most would curl into a ball and cry but encouraging the stadium of people to throw their trash at them has created one of the most amazing videos I’ve ever seen.
Winner = Everybody
4. Josh Homme (QOTSA) pissed at fan.
So Josh is sick and is apparently in a bad mood and not having any shenanigans during their performance. Knowing this, I would say it’s a bad idea to start heckling and throwing shit on stage but this is a festival and that means not everyone is there to see you. If this is a rock fest then you are gonna have dumb ass kids being dumb and that’s that. A kid doesn’t head the warning and Josh calls him out and actually gets people to bring him up to the stage so he can kick him.
Verdict: While the kid probably deserved it, Josh definitely could have handled this a lot better. If this was a night club and their own show then this would be ok but not at a festival on a 15ft stage with security every 2ft.
Winner = Nobody
5. Kurt Cobain vs Bouncer
Live in Concert 10/19/91 @ Trees – Dallas, Texas.
After a night of bad monitor mixes Kurt decides to dive into the crowd instead of singing without them. While surfing the bouncer does what he’s supposed to do and pulls him in and makes sure he doesn’t get hurt. I guess Kurt wanted to stay on the heads of the crowd and crushes the bouncer with his guitar to free himself.
Verdict: Punk bands that complain about monitors aren’t punk. Smashing a guy in the head with your guitar for doing his job is not cool.
Winner = Bouncer
6. Glenn Danzing gets knocked the fuck out.
So a band called North Side Kings drives six hours to play a show opening for Danzig but with too many bands on the bill and Glenn refusing to move back his set time, they agree to play after him. When Danzig finishes, the lights come up and the crew starts breaking down the stage even though two more bands were left to play. So the front man of North Side Kings confronts Glenn backstage about not getting to play and Glenn flips out and gets knocked out.
Verdict: Being in a band, I’ve been in this exact situation and it sucks but this was more than likely the promoters fault for overbooking. If this is a package tour then Glenn calls the shots and locals are at the mercy of the tour manager. However Glenn acted like a little bitch and should not have pushed that dude into the wall.
Winner = North Side Kings
7. Axl Rose beats up a fan
This is an old and terrible quality clip but is still very worthy of of this top ten list. A fan was able to sneak in a camera to the show and when Axl sees him, he dives head first into the crowd when security doesn’t move fast enough. After a punch or two Axl gets back on stage and walks off, declaring the show is over.
Verdict: Axl lived the rock star life to the fullest and wasn’t afraid to carry around the baggage that goes with it. If people thought he was a prick, he didn’t give a fuck and when shit wasn’t going his way, he wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty and take care of business. The fan took a chance and violated the shows policy and suffered the consequences when busted.
Winner = Axl Rose
8. Green Day mud fight
Woodstock Fest in 94 suffered from lots of rain which turned the grounds into one giant mud pit. When Green Day came on, some festival attendees had began to through some of this mud on stage and by the end of the set, it had become a full on mud fight between Green Day and everybody else.
Verdict: Very few bands would have handled this situation so well (see Nickelback above) and turned this into a truly memorable event that will be replayed for years to come.
Winner = Everybody
9. L7 bloody tampon
Man, this one makes me squirm every time I see it. L7 had massive technical difficulties during their set at Reading and this began to frustrate the audience. If you’ve ever played in a band then you know this happens from time to time and you hope to get through it quick and painlessly. Well pulling out a used tampon and tossing it at the crowd did not help with the quick and painless part.
Verdict: Yes, you can call this punk rock and anything goes but I’m sorry you have to draw the line somewhere and this definitely crossed it.
Winner = Anyone who did not get spattered with…we’ll leave it at that!
10. GG Allin Vs Everyone
This list is in no particular order but if there was one clear winner then it is without a doubt any show GG Allin performed. The clip shows various performance footage but is fairly tame compared to some other things I could have linked to. Basically if you can think of it, then he did it.
Verdict: The fans knew exactly what they were getting into when they came to a GG Allin show and if that involved losing some teeth or getting poop slung on you, then so be it.
Winner = The psychiatrists still raking in the money from the mentally scarred after witnessing one of GG’s shows.
