Music Blogs

Having just viewed the clip of Oasis's Noel Gallagher getting shoved offstage by what the media is describing as a "rogue fan" (somehow "fan" doesn't fit the description), I have to say we have a classic video moment on our hands. Hopefully, Noel will be all right and will find a way to exploit this moment for his own financial gain--and the "rogue fan" can be sent to the parking lot to be judged by a jury of his peers. Or we could all hold hands and sing "Kumbaya" together instead!

Oasis never struck me as a band whose shows would inspire fighting. To read that thousands of fans have ripped the cushions out at a Slayer concert doesn't seem all that unexpected, and who can forget "Woodstock '99" where they charged people a thousand dollars for a bottle of water? You don't think the kids are going to riot over that?

And then there's the atrocity of what happened to Dimebag Darrell of Pantera and Damageplan, when he was killed onstage along with three others by some lunatic with a gun.

In current times, we've had a few thankfully non-lethal attacks, just weird ones...

Amy Winehouse At The Glastonbury Festival
Winehouse should just be given her own TV network at this point. Her propensity for controversy is right up there with her ability to indulge in her many other hobbies. Or maybe she's just really tired most of the time. In any case, a little advice to Amy: Work on those right hand leads. Worked for Ali!

Jared Leto Of 30 Seconds To Mars At The Pinkpop Festival In The Netherlands
I'd never heard of the Pinkpop Festival before but it doesn't sound like the kind of gathering that would lead to band-vs.-audience violence. And the Netherlands? Isn't that where people just get high all the time? It's supposed to be a mellow place. I guess some "outside agitators" got in. But then I read that Leto also attacked a fan with a microphone at a show in London. Is this true? And who's to blame here? Is the music of 30 Seconds To Mars that bad? Or does their music just keep attracting jerks?

Akon, At A June 2007 Concert In a Minor League Baseball Stadium Near Poughkeepsie, NY
I don't know the details. I don't need to know them. If I got stuck playing a concert at a minor league baseball stadium near Poughkeepsie, New York, while my songs were used as ringtones all over the world, I'd be pretty annoyed myself. But I wouldn't be allegedly throwing fans off the stage. I'd be throwing my management into an industrial fan.

Tim McGraw Calls Out A Man Who Attacks A Woman In The Audience
Ladies attending a Tim McGraw concert, Tim's got your back. As the husband to Faith Hill, Tim knows a cat-call when he hears one. And he surely knows that some men don't know how to keep their hands to themselves. So, with a little divine intervention, McGraw, who spots a man in the audience not behaving properly for a Tim McGraw show, grabs the man, and drags him onstage where McGraw's people get ahold of him and McGraw threatens to cold-cock him. Except his team of handlers take the guy offstage and the song resumes, proving that nothing can stop a Tim McGraw concert. Except maybe God, and he apparently doesn't want to.

Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz Dives Into A Crowd In New Mexico To Attack An Overzealous Security Guard
Personally, I'd have someone else do the dirty work. That's what you pay your handlers for. Besides, you might break a nail. But Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy likes to take matters into his own hands, and when he saw a security guard roughing up an enthusiastic fan, Wentz wasn't about to take it. If anything happened to this kid that would be one less friend on MySpace for sure! So Wentz let the security guard have it, and everyone with a videophone within reach went on to make their own documentary of the happening.

Jeff Tweedy Of Wilco Punches Overzealous Fan In Springfield
I don't think Jeff Tweedy needed to apologize for "overreacting." You're playing guitar onstage. That's your space. Somebody rushes the stage. You don't know them. You don't know why they're there. You just know they're not supposed to be there. You don't owe them a photo opp while you're performing. You don't need to allow them to kiss your cheek or throw an arm over your shoulder. They can leave some spare change in the hat at your feet if they like. And they can go into the men's room and read a magazine if they don't like the song you're playing. It's that simple.

FIVE CLASSIC ALTERCATIONS:

Pete Townshend Clocks Abbie Hoffman With His Guitar At Woodstock
Can you blame Pete? The man had a show to perform and some deranged nut wanted to discuss politics! This isn't Cable News! This is Woodstock! Three days of Peace and Music and all the garbage you can leave behind! Pete wrote "We're Not Gonna Take It" specifically for moments like this.

Hell's Angel Knocks Out The Jefferson Airplane's Singer Marty Balin At Altamont
Marty hadn't even recorded "Miracles" or "Hearts" and already he was making audience members angry. It probably wasn't the best idea to hire the Hell's Angels to police a rock festival. And this punch-out of the Jefferson Airplane's lead singer is one of the reasons why. Notice they didn't dare try to punch out Grace Slick, the band's other lead singer, because she might have decked them first.

Axl Rose Starts A Riot In St. Louis In 1991 By Jumping Into The Audience
One of my favorite GNR moments, if only because you don't see it coming. One minute Axl is singing and hamming it up in that weird fur vest of his, and the next second he's lunging into the crowd because...someone called his mom a funny name? Someone gave him a funny look? While Axl may take decades to decide when Chinese Democracy will finally be officially ready for release, he at that moment in St. Louis knew he had to take action. And he did. And then everyone else took action as well and a riot ensued.

Soy Bomb Bumrushes Bob Dylan At The Grammys
Does Dylan even really react? Does Dylan care? Does Bob Dylan exist in our own time and space? A man now world known as "Soy Bomb" comes up onstage unannounced and uninvited to dance and maybe jam with the mystical bard, and he doesn't even get a nod? Maybe Bob rewarded him with a signed picture disc of Saved. I'm sure Bob has a lot of those still kicking around.

GG Allin...Nearly Every Time Performs Onstage
With the great, late GG Allin, it was probably more newsworthy when one of his concerts didn't include some form of assault and battery. That was part of his unusual "charm." This shock-rocker has since overdosed and died on us, failing to live up to his promise that he would kill himself onstage. Our loss.