Richard Pollina
Riff & rumble.
Members of the rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre brawled in front of a packed house in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday night, prompting the group to cancel the remainder of their Australian tour.
The onstage chaos seemingly ignited six songs into the band’s set by frontman Anton Newcombe, 56, who then abruptly kicked out guitarist Ryan Van Kriedt from the band, demanding his microphone be “cut off” and for him to “get the f–k” off stage.
“Cut off this guy’s mic, put down my guitar, party’s over, captain,” Newcombe shouted at his then-guitarist in a fan-filmed social media video.
“There’s no more music until you get the f–k… We actually don’t need you. Go. Put my guitar down on the stage and think about what’s happening. Unplug.”
Van Kriedt told him he “better think about this one, man,” adamantly adding, “because this is forever,” making sure Newcombe understood the gravity of his demand.
Fed up with the onstage antics, Van Kriedt stormed off stage and flipped the irate lead singer as he exited.
In a shocking twist, concertgoers watched as Newsome took his guitar and swung it at Van Kriedt’s head, appearing to strike him in the face.
The guitarist then chases Newcombe across the stage as he flees before tackling him to the ground.
Other members of the band, crew, and security rushed to break up the fight as Van Kriedt put the frontman in a headlock.
As the two were separated, Van Kriedt exited the stage while Newsome continued to have a fit, screaming at all those around him.
“Undefeated, god bless this country,” Newcombe shouted into the mic while fans booed and threw bottles on stage as the curtains slowly fell on the canceled concert.
According to claims made by Newcombe in the Sydney Morning Herald, he opened the show telling the crowd he had been held up at knifepoint earlier that day, and sharing the ordeal left him “tired and emotional.”
“I expended most of the voice that I wanted to give to you,” he allegedly told fans. “Unfortunately, on this day, all I can give you is everything I have.”
However, fans are not telling a different story.
“Anton sang terribly for about 20 minutes and spent most of the rest of two hours yelling at us,” one fan told News.com.AU following the failed performance.
“He called us cancerous reptiles, c–ts, all manner of expletives. He said we were cancer, he didn’t want to be here, talked down to his band all night, repeatedly told us how lucky we were that he was here.”
In the fallout from Tuesday’s brawl, The Brian Jonestown Massacre has canceled the remainder of their shows in Australia, according to the band’s website.
“The Brian Jonestown Massacre regretfully informs ticket holders that the concert scheduled for Thursday 23rd November at the Northcote Theatre has been canceled on medical grounds,” the statement on their ticketing page reads.
The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an indie psychedelic rock formed in 1990 out of San Francisco and has gained a worldwide fan base despite never finding mainstream success.
The band has yet to publically address Tuesday night’s incident.
This post was originally posted by NYPost
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