Music History Events: Fan Problems
December 10, 1971 During a concert in London, Frank Zappa is thrown into the orchestra pit by a fan's jealous boyfriend, breaking his leg and ankle and fracturing his skull. Zappa takes months to recover.
November 18, 1963 Beatles manager Brian Epstein asks the group's fans to please refrain from pelting the group with Jelly Babies (soft, jelly-like sweets) at their concerts. The Beatles had made the mistake of remarking how much they liked them.
June 14, 1961 After a performance at the Majestic Theatre in Newcastle, England, Gene Vincent is mobbed by admirers who accidentally push him down a flight of stairs, where he is knocked out.
May 13, 1955 Elvis Presley's performance in Jacksonville, Florida, is the first Presley show at which a riot ensues. After Elvis tells the audience, "Girls, I'll see you backstage," he has some of his clothes ripped off, but escapes unharmed.
October 12, 1944 At Frank Sinatra's show at the Paramount Theater in New York City, police are called in to control the crowd, which is mostly teenage girls. Performances go on one after another, and many audience members refuse to leave, which leads to the tensions in what was dubbed the "Columbus Day Riot."
October 31, 2017 At his show in London, the crowd pelts Harry Styles with kiwi fruit when he performs his song "Kiwi." To protect the singer when he plays Manchester three days later, the grocery store Asda refuses to sell the fruit to anyone under age 25.
August 14, 2016 Nearing the end of a summer concert season where fans have been tailgating with improvised toilets, police in Mansfield, Massachusetts, warn they will not be tolerated at the upcoming Jimmy Buffett concert.More
March 13, 2013 Ken Casey of Dropkick Murphys takes out a skinhead fan after seeing him raise a Nazi salute. A crowd had gathered onstage for the encore and, seeing the fan across the stage, Casey hits him to the floor and lays into him. Calmly returning to his bass, Casey proclaims: "Nazis are not welcome at a Dropkick Murphys show."
December 14, 2012 Stalker Jacob Nicholas Kulke is arrested outside a residence belonging to Taylor Swift and is charged with trespassing. Kulke claims that he had been in touch with Swift through social media and had been planning to show up and "surprise her for her birthday." Though the singer had just had her birthday the previous day, she'd been overseas at the time and likely wouldn't be too happy with Kulke scaling her fence.
May 25, 2012 At a concert in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson interrupts a performance of "Stupid Girl" to call out a guy in the crowd who's being abusive. "Dude, never hit a woman," she tells him.
March 17, 2012 After getting pelted with cans and other trash at their SXSW performance, Rocky and the rest of A$AP Mob launch into the crowd, punching fans and igniting a brawl.
May 17, 2011 Rapper Wiz Khalifa and his girlfriend Amber Rose narrowly escape danger at a London nightclub. Khalifa is performing in the packed club when a bystander breaks a bottle over another patron's head. A fight ensues and Khalifa and Rose dodge bottles as they promptly exit the club with their entourage. Club promoters are upset that Khalifa ended his show early, as they reportedly paid the rapper 14,000 euros to do the show.
June 10, 2010 Appearing at Milan's PalaSharp Arena to promote his self-titled solo record, Slash, in the midst of performing the Guns N' Roses classic "Sweet Child o' Mine," is tackled by a concertgoer. The guitarist bravely keeps on rocking, eventually switching guitars and finishing the song. Afterward, Slash described the night as "a kick-ass rock show."
June 28, 2008 During her performance at Glastonbury Festival, Amy Winehouse punches a fan she mistakenly believes had thrown a hat at her beehive.More
July 21, 2002 At the Peoria Civic Center in Illinois, fans riot at the third annual Gathering Of The Juggalos when police try to stop Juggalettes from taking their shirts off. Peoria joins Novi, Michigan and Toledo, Ohio on the list of cities where this Gathering is no longer welcome.
September 3, 2001 When thousands more fans than expected show up for a free System Of A Down concert in a Los Angeles parking lot, authorities won't let the band take the stage and a riot ensues; their equipment is trashed and six are arrested. The show was to celebrate the release of their album Toxicity the following day.
July 15, 2001 Vanilla Ice opens for Insane Clown Posse at the second annual Gathering Of The Juggalos, this time in Toledo, Ohio (they aren't welcome back in Novi, Michigan, site of the first one). Once again, ICP's headline set is cut short when fans rush the stage.
July 25, 1999 Woodstock '99 comes to a fiery conclusion as the crowd loots and burns anything they can find while the Red Hot Chili Peppers play the last set. Poor conditions and a mostly collage-age crowd swelled by testosterone and nu metal have made the riot pretty much inevitable. Remarkably, there are relatively few injuries; when police arrive, the crowd seems more than happy to leave.
June 27, 1996 Fugees headline the "Hoodshock" festival in Harlem, which the group organized as a free event to encourage voter registration. The Notorious B.I.G., Sean "Puffy" Combs and Wu-Tang Clan also perform, but the event makes headlines for a panic set off at the end of the festival when a man fires gunshots into the air. In the chaos, about 30 people are injured.
October 5, 1994 Jamie Walters, who sang the #1 hit theme song "How Do You Talk To An Angel?" for the short-lived Aaron Spelling series The Heights, joins Beverly Hills 90210 as Ray Pruit, an aspiring musician. Unfortunately for Walters, his character takes a dark turn and starts abusing fan fave Donna Martin, causing his real-life music career to suffer.More
September 9, 1994 Green Day play a free concert at the Hatch Shell in Boston. A few songs into their set, many in the crowd cross the line from moshing to rioting, and police order an end to the show. With their album Dookie climbing the charts, the band has been playing to exuberant crowds, which causes problems when casual fans find themselves engulfed in mosh pits.
April 27, 1994 Ace of Base's Jenny Berggren is attacked in her parents' home by Manuela Behrendt, a 21-year-old German "fan" wielding a hunting knife. After stabbing Berggren's mother in the hands during a scuffle, Behrendt is arrested and banned from returning to Sweden.
April 12, 1977 At The Rathskeller in Boston, The Damned get a tepid reception for their first set, so when they return to the stage, they sit down and eat pizza while they play, telling the crowd, "We can sit on our asses just like you."
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