Crazy stuff you've seen at concerts

[Equinox 95]

The post about Ace Frehley getting shocked onstage prompted this thread.

 

UFO- bass player (Pete Way) fell off the stage during one of their songs. They're jamming along, then all of a sudden KARWONNNGGGG and a low rumbling feedback. Roadies helped him climb back onstage, and the show continued.

 

David Lee Roth- someone almost pegged him with a beer bottle. The band played the entire song while Roth went off on a rant, then showed off his kung fu skills with the mic stand.

 

Nazareth- see above. No kung fu mic stand twirling this time, just an unintelligible rant all the way through the song.

 

David Allen Coe- Three band festival in Midland with Billy Joe Shaver and Willie Nelson. This was right after the OJ Simpson trial. The beer company mispelled his name on the banner (spelled it COLE). He was livid. So instead of the whole band, Coe came out with just a fiddle and bass player. They were all dressed up in black leather longcoats and looked more like Motorhead than a country band. They played three songs, then DAC stomped off the stage. He then comes back onstage and yells GUILTY! into the microphone. Weird shit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[heso 2785]

Ozzfest early 2000’s, Hatebreed on the second stage in Pittsburgh, two big circle pits with a wall about 3 people wide separating them. There was a ridge about 2-3 inches high where half of the parking lot was paved and the other half was gravel that ran through the pit. A guy comes crashing through the wall of people separating the two pits trying to regain his balance. His foot catches on the asphalt ridge and his ankle rolls right over. I look down and he’s upright but his foot is completely upside down. 

Sam stage, Mudvayne bassist gets hit by a plastic fishbowl full of beer and looses his shit. 

Later that night on the main stage, Slipknot playing. People up in the grass area start ripping up chunks of sod and stuffing them into the fishbowls and trying to hurl them at the security guards on top of the amphitheater. No one gets close but people join in resulting in thousands of chunks of sod raining down into the back rows of the amphitheater. 

Megadeth playing a small club. Guy near the back keeps shining a laser pointer at Mustaine. He flips out and demands if anyone sees the guy that they kick his ass. Guy is stupid enough to do it again, gets spotted and a bunch of people beat the shit out of him. 

Edited April 18, 2018 by heso

[bamachine 1230]

They have a Soundstages Festival in Bham every year. Went one year and found my way over to the rock stage in time to see Ratt and Poison. There was a dude right behind us wearing a Poison t-shirt. OK, that is fine. He also had a punk rock hairdo and about 50 different facial piercings, along with facial tats. Never would have figured this guy for a Poison fan.

[Scraps 13560]

I've been to Mini Kiss concert so I think that qualifies 

[Upgrayedd 5810]

Not really crazy, but saw Axl through a tantrum about sound quality and toss his mike into the crowd during Patience.

[deft 6833]

I’m no juggalo but I saw ICP at Stubbs.

 

2livecrew opened.

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

The guy next to me at the Rolling Stones concert was smoking weed! HE WAS SMOKING WEED! AND THE COPS DIDN'T ARREST HIM!!!

 

OK, I was 15 at the time and this was my first concert. Little did I know that errrrybody was smoking weed at every concert.

[hornfan785 555]

Metallica's Summer Sanitarium Tour in 2000 at Texas Stadium. All the people in the seats started ripping off the seat cushions and throwing them around the stadium. At first it was just a couple of people, then they got on the PA and said to stop, which just caused a lot more people to start doing it.

I saw Die Antwoord at La Zona Rosa on Halloween. That was fun.

Peaches at Fun Fun Fun Fest and the giant vagina costumes.

The lead singer of Valiant Thorr jumping into the crowd, grabbing a trash can, then dumping it on himself and the crowd.

I'm sure there are others, but those are the ones that pop in my head.

[HoustonHorn 1062]

I heard someone yell "play Summer of '69" at a Ryan Adams concert and he rolled with it and put on a great show.

[Moby Ric 2058]

Metallica in the Summit on the And Justice for All tour.  Metallica comes out starts playing and the entire crowd starts throwing cups and trash all over the place including the stage.  Hetfield stops playing and says if anyone sees another motherfucker throw annoying on stage kick his fucking ass.  Nothing else was thrown that night.

 

Monsters of Rock Rice Stadium, summer of '88.  The great trash war.  I was there.

[Ldogg53 514]

15 minutes ago, Moby Ric said:

Metallica in the Summit on the And Justice for All tour.  Metallica comes out starts playing and the entire crowd starts throwing cups and trash all over the place including the stage.  Hetfield stops playing and says if anyone sees another motherfucker throw annoying on stage kick his fucking ass.  Nothing else was thrown that night.

 

Monsters of Rock Rice Stadium, summer of '88.  The great trash war.  I was there.

Apparently at a Metallica show in 1986-87 at the Sam Houston coliseum there was an incident with everyone picking up the folding chairs and making a huge stack out of them.  Then people were climbing up to the top and diving into the crowd.  So I'm told. 

[Brisketexan 105046]

I saw a lotta boobs at a Jimmy Buffet show. Some good. Some bad. But boobs.

[hullabelew 3723]

Equinox.....bizarre shit. I've been to prob 20 shows a year since 1978 and never seen anything like any of those.

Best is probably Rusty Wier on stage the day after he broke his foot. Prob. 1978. He was playing guitar and dancing around the stage in an old style walking cast.

[Rollo Tomassi 80]

I saw Aerosmith at the FEC in 1986(?).  Joey Kramer was throwing out drum sticks about every 30 seconds.  People were killing each other to grab one of them (I got one). They went on to play "my big 10 inch" and Steven Tyler was slobbering his big ass lips all over his harmonica.  He throws the harmonica out into the audience, and the crowd just parted.  Nobody wanted to touch that thing.  It sat on the floor for a good 15 seconds before someone finally went in and grabbed it.

[yoshi 137]

Craziest thing I've seen was guys getting way too handsy (basically sexually assaulting) girls back when crowd surfing was a big thing in the 90's.  There were some straight up predators at some of the shows I went to back then.

[next2naus 437]

Ann Richards on ecstasy at the Eagle's "Hell Freezes Over" concert at Texas Memorial Coliseum 1995. She was seated in the same row as my group was, somewhere in the front rows. I was out of my gourd on X, I lean forward and look down the row, and there is Ann Richards looking right back at me. Needless to say it's something I'll never forget. 

[DalTxHornFan 3097]

JJW on stage too drunk to sing (or even stand up) at Paramount Theater in Spring of 1977.

[Quasimofo 406]

Two very attractive, busty teen girls in tube tops got into a knock down, drag out at a Molly Hatchet/.38 Special all day Southern Rock concert. Right in front of me. It was all kinds of awesome.

[Okie State 3804]

Metallica's Summer Sanitarium Tour in 2000 at Texas Stadium. All the people in the seats started ripping off the seat cushions and throwing them around the stadium. At first it was just a couple of people, then they got on the PA and said to stop, which just caused a lot more people to start doing it.

I saw Die Antwoord at La Zona Rosa on Halloween. That was fun.

Peaches at Fun Fun Fun Fest and the giant vagina costumes.

The lead singer of Valiant Thorr jumping into the crowd, grabbing a trash can, then dumping it on himself and the crowd.

I'm sure there are others, but those are the ones that pop in my head.

Ha, I was at that Metallica concert.

[40acredropout 2902]

Drove 5 hours to see Kings of Leon in Dallas, summer 2011.  Lead singer seemed shitfaced and sure enough, after about 4 or 5 songs he ran off stage to puke and didn't come back on.  Brothers in band apologized to boo's as they canceled the show.   They canceled the rest of their tour the next day and I think the dude went to rehab.  Good times.  

 

[Scraps 13560]

1 minute ago, 40acredropout said:

Drove 5 hours to see Kings of Leon in Dallas, summer 2011.  Lead singer seemed shitfaced and sure enough, after about 4 or 5 songs he ran off stage to puke and didn't come back on.  Brothers in band apologized to boo's as they canceled the show.   They canceled the rest of their tour the next day and I think the dude went to rehab.  Good times.  

 

OU sucks

[BearSchlong 8083]

Butthole Surfers at some venue in Houston, early 90s, maybe some old abandoned supermarket?  I'm pretty sure they poured gasoline on some cymbals that had been flipped upside down and set it on fire.  Fulldisclosure/ I was tripping balls and had a pint of Jager in me, so this might have been imagined.

Jimmy Buffett, Astroworld, late 80s - Early in the afternoon a guy a few rows up from me in the lawn stands up brandishing a fifth of Everclear, about 3 hours later the paramedics hauled him away on a stretcher.

Same concert - in the bathroom - woman walks in, jumps up on the counter, pulls up her skirt, squats over the sink with her snatch facing outward, and pees.  The 10 or so guys in line give her an ovation.

I was "working" oysterbake every year during the late 90s early 00s.  One year at the little courtyard stage Jack Ingram was the early friday afternoon act and I'm leaning up against a tree, drinking a beer, and he walks out and starts his show.  I looked around and out of the 200 or so people buying beer, armadillo eggs, oysters, etc. I am literally the only person paying attention to the concert.  I don't know why that stuck with me.

Edited April 18, 2018 by BearSchlong

[Druggist 303]

At Phish’s Coventry festival some guy wheeled a 4 foot high nitrous tank through the crowd right behind me during the show and was selling giant balloons.  Very convenient.  No security anywhere.  The lot was an open marketplace.

[BigDHornfan 6545]

At a Tom Petty show I saw a woman with her 2 kids, probably 10-12 years old, she was making them hold wet paper towels over their faces so they wouldn’t get high. Laughed in her face as me and my buddy smoked a joint.

 

[deft 6833]

Metallica's Summer Sanitarium Tour in 2000 at Texas Stadium. All the people in the seats started ripping off the seat cushions and throwing them around the stadium. At first it was just a couple of people, then they got on the PA and said to stop, which just caused a lot more people to start doing it.

Ha I was at that show too.

I also saw gwar at the hard rock in Vegas. Crazy shit.

[mr. sunshine 2824]

Scorpions opening for Iron Maiden in Beaumont in 1980 (also referenced in the First Concert thread). The crowd was there mostly for Maiden, who I was only vaguely familiar with at the time. Scorpions singer (Klaus?) takes a whiskey bottle to the head  from the balcony 2-3 songs in, proceeds to bleed like a stuck pig, cuss us all (I guess) out in German and the band leaves the stage. Crowd goes nuts. 

Later, when Eddie appeared I think I felt the effects of second hand smoke (probably covered on the shag). Damn I’m getting old 

[Lhorn 4908]

13 hours ago, HoustonHorn said:

I heard someone yell "play Summer of '69" at a Ryan Adams concert and he rolled with it and put on a great show.

He's gotta hear that three time a day, every day.  Unless he played it or "Run to you" he gets no respect from me.

[Stoogey 219]

MECCA Arena (1979). The New Barbarians fronted by Ron Wood included Keith Richards, Stanley Clarke on bass and Bobby Keys on saxophone. For months there was speculation on who was to be their special guest(s). Mick Jagger? Mick Taylor? Jeff Beck? Eric Clapton? When the band completed the encore and the lights came up, it became apparent there wasn't a special guest. A riot broke out on the arena floor. People were throwing chairs, throwing bottles, fighting - I grabbed my girlfriend's hand and led her up the stairs to the topmost exits.

Harley Davidson 100th Anniversary (2003). For months there was speculation on who the top secret surprise headliner at the free concert would be. The Rolling Stones? Aerosmith? Several metal bands (Motorhead?) which would appeal to bikers? Nope. Elton "Candle In The Wind" John walked out on stage. "I'd sing you a song about motorcycles but I don't know any." No riot. The capacity crowd quickly left, kind of like the Shaggy to Surly exodus.

Electric Ballroom (1981). Wendy O Williams of the Plasmatics arrested onstage while simulating sex with a sledgehammer. Near riot as a dozen audience members were arrested for throwing things at the police.  

Summerfest (1972). George Carlin arrested for saying The Seven Words You Can't Say On TV.  Carlin's career was not doing well as he shifted from a short-haired "square" doing his Hippy Dippy Weatherman routine to a long-haired stoned hippy. Carlin said he wasn't aware there were children in the audience and claimed as he was leaving the stage he detoured to dispose of a gram of cocaine. Bullshit. He had been warned not to do the Seven Words. Summerfest was still family oriented and it was fairly early in the evening. Police were waiting for him in the wings; there was no cocaine disposal detour. And Carlin cried in the bullpen and jail cell which also gets omitted. But the national publicity worked wonders for him. 

[Tailgate Jeff 3]

Saw Jefferson Starship in Fall of 1981 at Veterans Memorial here in Columbus.  Security started to aggressively remove fans from the front of the stage.  Paul  Kantner sees a security guard hit or kick a woman.  Kantner walks to the edge of the stage and hits the security guard in the head with his guitar and knocks him out. Columbus Police arrest Kantner on stage after the 4th or 5th song.  Concert is over and a riot almost breaks out.

Paul Kantner charged with assault and ended up spending the night in jail before posting bail.  Kantner pays off security guard and charges are dropped.

This concert was also memorable as I and a crowd of a couple hundred people watched a woman give a biker dude a BJ in the parking lot before the concert.  

[Underdog 28544]

Went to a VH concert @FEC back when the wife and I were dating, went with a few of her friends from Del Valle and a couple of these putos couldn't handle their liquor and proceed to vomit and have some of it splatter on the row in front of us.  Had to help carry one of them out after the show. 

Saw a fight break out after a Gary Allan show in CS at Hurricane Harry's, could hear the pop of fist hitting jaw of some pour sap. 

[Chad 1728]

On 4/18/2018 at 9:12 AM, heso said:

Ozzfest early 2000’s, Hatebreed on the second stage in Pittsburgh, two big circle pits with a wall about 3 people wide separating them. There was a ridge about 2-3 inches high where half of the parking lot was paved and the other half was gravel that ran through the pit. A guy comes crashing through the wall of people separating the two pits trying to regain his balance. His foot catches on the asphalt ridge and his ankle rolls right over. I look down and he’s upright but his foot is completely upside down. 

Sam stage, Mudvayne bassist gets hit by a plastic fishbowl full of beer and looses his shit. 

Later that night on the main stage, Slipknot playing. People up in the grass area start ripping up chunks of sod and stuffing them into the fishbowls and trying to hurl them at the security guards on top of the amphitheater. No one gets close but people join in resulting in thousands of chunks of sod raining down into the back rows of the amphitheater. 

Megadeth playing a small club. Guy near the back keeps shining a laser pointer at Mustaine. He flips out and demands if anyone sees the guy that they kick his ass. Guy is stupid enough to do it again, gets spotted and a bunch of people beat the shit out of him. 

Some of my friends were at that Ozzfest show. It rained all day so people who were completely trashed and drenched bombarded the amphitheater with chunks of sod from the general admission area.

[Paul Wesley 3278]

Saw Elton John stop in the middle of "Saturday Night's Alright" to scold a security guy, take away his flashlight, angrily shoo him out of the arena, and then walk back to the piano and start the song from the beginning.  

[Elvis Presto 21]

I saw a guy with devil horns on morph into a devil minotaur at phish in Las Vegas 2000.  I was on 3 hits of acid so im not so sure it was real.  

[Gil Bang 25907]

20 hours ago, BigDHornfan said:

At a Tom Petty show I saw a woman with her 2 kids, probably 10-12 years old, she was making them hold wet paper towels over their faces so they wouldn’t get high. Laughed in her face as me and my buddy smoked a joint.

 

I went to one of Petty's last shows, in Del Mar CA.

No smoking venue.  Dickhead in front of me fires up a cigarette in the very tight standing crowd. Woman next to him starts bitching at him (rightfully).  After they argue, she tries to rip the cigarette out of his mouth.  Dude wanted to punch her, but didn't.  He did keep smoking.  Asshole. 

[wreckatx 141]

At Rockfest at the Texas Motor Speedway in 1997 saw some white trash fellas (one wearing only super short corduroy shorts with how nuts hanging out) cutting up strips of acid right in front of their old lady's early elementary age kids.  Later on saw same corduroy shorts guy trying to climb the trackside of the safety fence from the infield to the stands.  Must have been 20 feet in the air.  

[DeathTongue 88]

Saw Pantera at the Tower Theater in Philly.  This is an actual theater with fixed seating, so no where for a mosh pit.  Some kid managed to jump on stage and strutted across and dove head first into the seats.  Security came over and grabbed him and started escorting him out when Phil stopped the song and told them if they threw the kid out they were leaving and then they will have a couple thousand pissed off people to deal with.  They let him go and Phil came down and shook his hand and told him that was some crazy shit.  That opened the flood gates and dudes were jumping up on stage the rest of the show.  Security was all like Whatever...

At a Metallica show, random chick was on some dude's shoulders flashing everyone.  Next thing I know, the dude beside me says to his buddy, "Hey, isn't that your sister?"  His buddy was pissed.

[zlavydra 2119]

On 4/18/2018 at 11:39 AM, Ldogg53 said:

Apparently at a Metallica show in 1986-87 at the Sam Houston coliseum there was an incident with everyone picking up the folding chairs and making a huge stack out of them.  Then people were climbing up to the top and diving into the crowd.  So I'm told. 

Slayer at the Omni in Atlanta in 1991 on the Clash of the Titans tour.  Geniuses leave the folding chairs on the floor, and that was fine for AIC, Anthrax and Megadeth.  Chairs didn't stay put for Slayer.  

[Heisenberg 162]

At a George Thorogood & The Destroyers show at Red Rocks outside of Denver in 1985 a fat girl blew a dude right next to me.  Vic would have dug her.

[Biff Tannen 45661]

On 4/18/2018 at 1:07 PM, Okie State said:

On 4/18/2018 at 9:04 AM, hornfan785 said:

Metallica's Summer Sanitarium Tour in 2000 at Texas Stadium. All the people in the seats started ripping off the seat cushions and throwing them around the stadium. At first it was just a couple of people, then they got on the PA and said to stop, which just caused a lot more people to start doing it.

I saw Die Antwoord at La Zona Rosa on Halloween. That was fun.

Peaches at Fun Fun Fun Fest and the giant vagina costumes.

The lead singer of Valiant Thorr jumping into the crowd, grabbing a trash can, then dumping it on himself and the crowd.

I'm sure there are others, but those are the ones that pop in my head.

 

Read more  

Ha, I was at that Metallica concert.

As was I.  That was also when James hurt his back jet skiing or some shit and couldn't play so the opening acts filled in.  The System of a Down guy sang Sanitarium.  I think Korn helped on Master of Puppets.  Kid Rock did something too.  What a shit-tastic lineup, looking back on it.

[Underdog 28544]

10 hours ago, Heisenberg said:

At a George Thorogood & The Destroyers show at Red Rocks outside of Denver in 1985 a fat girl blew a dude right next to me.  Vic would have dug her.

Maybe that was Vic's dad. 

[baboso 6054]

Willie Nelson at Midtown Music in Atlanta, circa 2000 or so.  My then wife got pissed off when a bunch of Georgia Tech baseball players pushed their way in front of us and blocked our sight line to the stage.  She took her cigarette lighter and lit one of their shirts on fire.  That was interesting.

[zlavydra 2119]

21 hours ago, DeathTongue said:

Saw Pantera at the Tower Theater in Philly.  This is an actual theater with fixed seating, so no where for a mosh pit.  Some kid managed to jump on stage and strutted across and dove head first into the seats.  Security came over and grabbed him and started escorting him out when Phil stopped the song and told them if they threw the kid out they were leaving and then they will have a couple thousand pissed off people to deal with.  They let him go and Phil came down and shook his hand and told him that was some crazy shit.  That opened the flood gates and dudes were jumping up on stage the rest of the show.  Security was all like Whatever...

At a Metallica show, random chick was on some dude's shoulders flashing everyone.  Next thing I know, the dude beside me says to his buddy, "Hey, isn't that your sister?"  His buddy was pissed.

Saw Pantera at the Backroom, maybe the first time they played there, on the Cowboys tour.  Some dude got on the stage and must have stood around too long. Phil went into testosterone/roid/yeyo rage and picked up the dude and piledrove the guy into the stage. He somehow got up and jumped back in the crowd.

[next2naus 437]

On 4/18/2018 at 2:11 PM, DalTxHornFan said:

JJW on stage too drunk to sing (or even stand up) at Paramount Theater in Spring of 1977.

could have been 1997

[next2naus 437]

On 4/19/2018 at 3:49 PM, Gil Bang said:

I went to one of Petty's last shows, in Del Mar CA.

No smoking venue.  Dickhead in front of me fires up a cigarette in the very tight standing crowd. Woman next to him starts bitching at him (rightfully).  After they argue, she tries to rip the cigarette out of his mouth.  Dude wanted to punch her, but didn't.  He did keep smoking.  Asshole. 

So her balls are bigger than yours

[midtown 3345]

Interpol show at Hammerstein circa 2003.  Girl wearing a very short skirt and no underwear standing on the balcony next to the rail.  At one point 95% of the crowd on the floor was looking up her skirt. 

[Ten Bears 2479]

On 4/18/2018 at 10:11 AM, HoustonHorn said:

I heard someone yell "play Summer of '69" at a Ryan Adams concert and he rolled with it and put on a great show.

He does a great cover of Run to You.

[TornACL 7698]

When Pantera made it to Corpus in the mid-90s some of the gangbangers in town had discovered that going to shows and mosh pits was "fun".

At this particular show these gang dudes would get into the circle and start picking on one guy. Slamming into him over and over until he finally would stop and give him the WTF bro or even worse, take a swing. As soon as the victim would take a swing three or four of the gangbangers buddies would jump into the circle and just beat the shit out of the guy. It was horrible. Saw it happen multiple times.

 

[Ten Bears 2479]

8 hours ago, baboso said:

Willie Nelson at Midtown Music in Atlanta, circa 2000 or so.  My then wife got pissed off when a bunch of Georgia Tech baseball players pushed their way in front of us and blocked our sight line to the stage.  She took her cigarette lighter and lit one of their shirts on fire.  That was interesting.

You got her number?

[WhatTheBuck 28772]

On April 18, 2018 at 10:58 AM, Cheeseweasel said:

The guy next to me at the Rolling Stones concert was smoking weed! HE WAS SMOKING WEED! AND THE COPS DIDN'T ARREST HIM!!!

 

OK, I was 15 at the time and this was my first concert. Little did I know that errrrybody was smoking weed at every concert.

At a Pink Floyd concert in '87 the guy sitting next me asked me to put out the joint my friends and I were smoking. I just laughed at him. "You're at a Pink Floyd show. I defy you to find another seat in the stadium where the person next to you isn't smoking pot." We kept right on toking.

[Don Keibals 113]

Show at the Coliseum in Austin in the 80s. for some stupid reason cops tied to maintain a space between stage and general admission crowd (no chairs) with the large crowd everyone kept getting pushed forward.  Chick got pushed by cop got pissed and kicked him in the nuts. all the cops started spraying mace into the crowd. lots of people starting running but my friend and I yanked off our shirts to cover our faces, bent down and started going forward and got right up against the stage.  Shirt had mace and got burned on the face some but wasn't too bad.

At another show there, I was at the front against wooden barricade built to allow security to stand behind it.  Started hearing pops, then saw two security guys look at each other in terror an they ran back under the stage.  All the supporting 2x4 broke and the barrer fell inwards.  People were panicking and getting pulled up on stage to "save" them.  We were too fucked up to realize if there was any danger or not. plus didn't want to lose our places.

several other times would get push around by the huge crowds all pressed together and could lift my feet up and move around with the crowd movement wouldn't fall or anything