ASAP Rocky last week @ Creators Project (more by Ryan Barkan)

Someone who attended Fader Fort on Friday told me about this on the street Saturday night. Not much reported about it, but Ozone Mag has a description that matches almost exactly what I heard:

"Eye witnesses tell Ozone Magazine exclusively that rapper ASAP Rocky threw quite a fit after being dissatisfied with what stage he was performing at during the Fader Fort in NYC. The artist and his crew were upset that they were performing at a smaller stage which lead to them flipping over drums. When a stage hand for Fader Fort entered the stage to try and remove the drums he was jumped by members of ASAP Rocky's crew. The entire stage was trashed and the stage hand had to leave in an ambulance. For obvious reasons, ASAP Rocky ended the show early. A statement from his camp has not been released."

UPDATE: It seems that ASAP has ended other shows in a similar manner, so maybe it was a planned dramatic ending that this time went too far?

A video of ASAP performing at FADER before the fight broke out, below...

Continue reading "ASAP Rocky & crew reportedly trash Fader Fort, send crew member to hospital..."

Back on 9/9 we posted about an incident at NYC jazz venue University of the Streets where Kevin Shea of Talibam! ended up with a pretty nasty injury to his face after an altercation with the venue's staff. About a week later the venue did in fact respond.... all in caps and with some fun lines like this: "THE ATTENDANT RAISED HIS HAND TO PROTECT THE DIRECTOR AND IN THE MELEE THE BAND-MEMBER'S FACE CONNECTED WITH THE ATTENDEES HAND." Read the whole thing below...

Continue reading "University of the Streets issued a "statement of events" (event = musician punched)"

Kevin Shea with stitches

Bassist/composer Tom Blancarte sent out the following message:

"Breaking news to all musicians in NYC who might be playing at University of the Streets in the East Village:

I just played there with Talibam!, Tim Dahl and Moppa Elliot, and when we were finished, the owner and her son told us that we owed them 50 dollars. When we told them we didn't owe them anything, her son punched my friend Kevin in the face with keys in his hand! He came close to losing his left eye! Please boycott this place, they are bad, bad people."

photos by Amanda Hatfield and Timothy Griffin

"After last week's tsunami attacks & Thursday's brawl at Brooklyn Vegan, I'll label my SXSW a success based on stopped on the street kudos." - Brody Stevens

Dominiuque Young Unique & Brody Stevens (pre-brawl)

"...we somehow got in the cross hairs of a drunk guy (thank you open bar) assaulting the Brooklyn Vegan party hypeman, who in turn, beat the shit out of the guy we were affectionately referring to as "Aaron Neville" at the time. In any case, he was a good comedian, despite getting ejected from his own gig - check him out on twitter @AllThingsBrody" [robotanists]

A few more pictures from his pre-brawl sets, Dominique Young Unique (who performed) and Har Mar Superstar (who was just there hanging out) included, below...

Continue reading "Brody Stevens (kicked some ass) @ the Thursday BrooklynVegan day party (pics)"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

"Fans started climbing fences after the grounds reached capacity (about 25,000 people), and SXSW badgeholders with VIP connections fought the same porto-john lines as all the riled-up Austin teens in attendance." -Star Tribune

Strokes fans @ SXSW

When people talk about last year's SXSW, they think back to Bill Murray taking an impromptu turn as a bartender at a hipster bar on Austin's east side. And when they look back on this year's SXSW, they'll remember getting maced at the surprise Death From Above 1979 reunion show.

The talk in Austin is all about whether or not SXSW Music has gotten too big for its skinny jeans. The mayhem at the free Strokes show Thursday night was merely a precursor to several meltdowns and accidents in the days that followed. At a late show Friday, synth-pop act OMD had just come on stage when one of their camera rigs collapsed and injured four in the audience (SXSW said it hadn't known about the filming ahead of time).

There were some truly ugly moments, too, and I'm glad I didn't witness any of them in person. Ben Weasal, a singer from the punk band Screeching Weasal, punched a female audience member in the face (she had spit some kind of liquid at him) and fought against a female staff member before being ejected by security at their showcase at the Scoot Inn on Saturday night. (The Los Angeles Times has a thorough report on the incident, and a video can be seen [below]). Weasal apologized today, and the band canceled their next show in San Antonio. [The Atlantic]

Continue reading "too many people went to see the Strokes @ SXSW (pics & video), Ben Weasel apologizes for punching girls"

Murphy's Law @ the Khyber in Philly (via)

Three men who showed up in full Nazi regalia to a hardcore punk show at an Old City [Philadelphia] bar Friday night were attacked by as many as 50 people on the streets after leaving the venue, according to witnesses and club management.

The headlining band at the Khyber that night was Murphy's Law, led by front man Jimmy G, who formerly went by the moniker Jimmy Gestapo.

In an e-mail to the Daily News, Jimmy G confirmed that some guys had showed up to the concert in "full Nazi field dress."

"And they did get their asses kicked," he wrote. "Again."

Khyber owner Stephen Simons, who was not at the show, said he had been told that the crowd inside "largely ignored and mocked" the three men. But after they exited the club, on 2nd Street near Chestnut, they were attacked by a group of up to 50 people, he said. "I guess being on 2nd Street in SS uniforms on a Friday night is a way to incite a semi-riot," Simons said. [Philadelphia Daily News] (via)

Murphy's Law will celebrate Jimmy Gestapo's birthday once again on a Rocks Off Concert Cruse this year. Tickets for the August 12th NYC boat show are on sale.

No pictures of the actual incident, but one night after Philly, the band played at Ralph's Diner in Worcester, Mass. Jimmy discussed the incident on stage. And though some people are saying maybe the nazis didn't get beat up, Jimmy says they were bloody (and that he warned them). Video of that below...

Continue reading "nazis (may have) got their asses kicked @ a Philly Murphy's Law show"

DOWNLOAD: Harlem - Friendly Ghost (MP3)

Jay Reatard & Harlem shared a bill @ Emo's on Wed (photo by David Weaver)

"While [Jay Reatard's] set [at Emo's in Austin on Wednesday night] had all the makings of a fun night of pop-punk, it was sadly abridged at only 40 minutes -- less than the opening performance by Austin's own Harlem -- after two rowdy fans attacked Reatard on-stage shortly after he announced he was playing the night's final song. He retaliated by swinging his microphone stand and departed mid-song, giving the at-times rambunctious audience the finger as he exited the stage. There was to be no encore -- the lights went up and the PA music kicked in as the two intruding fans were arrested by police outside the club's Sixth Street entrance.

It was a good show -- while it lasted. And Reatard can't be held responsible for violent fans. But at less than 45 minutes and with a buzzkill of an ending, it's hard to regard the night as anything more than an initially promising disappointment. That's the sad thing about punk rock -- sometimes the anger overtakes the fun and an audience walks away let down. With a too-short set and a combative ending, Reatard's Wednesday night show ultimately felt less like a satisfactory set from a skilled player and more like a sad tease of the fun evening that might have been.

Update: The Austin Police Department's public information office has confirmed that Michael Buehrer, 20, and Peter Aravello, 23, were the two men arrested. Both have been charged with public intoxication.

Pitchfork has this statement from Reatard's publicist: "Jay was attacked, totally unprovoked, by two different people, both of whom were later arrested. One guy bolted onstage and came swinging at Jay, but security took him away pretty quickly. Soon after (the band hadn't stopped playing, by the way), another guy sprinted onstage and hit Jay. Unlike the first guy, Jay didn't even see this guy coming. So Jay defended himself with the mic stand until security took that guy away, too. Jay is safe and unhurt, and the cops were there for about an hour afterwards." [Austin 360]

Jay's next and only upcoming show is opening for Spoon (like he did in Brooklyn once) at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on New Years Eve.

Harlem will announce more 2010 dates soon in support of their 2nd album, 'Hippies' which "hits North American record shops, farmers markets and digital storefronts on April 6 on the always popular LP, CD and MP3/FLAC configurations." MP3 from that album above. Cover art below...

Continue reading "Jay Reatard attacked in Austin (2 guys arrested), Harlem add NYC show & post new MP3 from 2010 Matador album"

Jared Swilley @ the Williamsburg Waterfront (more by Bao Nguyen)

After reading what happened Friday night at Daddy's from the point of view of one in attendance, and then hearing what Nathan Williams aka WAVVES had to say about it, Buddyhead called up Jared from Black Lips to hear how he remembers it....

"First of all, I just wanna say that Wavves was NOT involved in that fight. That faggot didn't even touch me.

I've never "come after" that kid, it wasn't four a.m., that wasn't my girlfriend, no one was spitting, and I didn't attack him. I don't give a shit about that kid and his music.

What happened was, after we finished our set I went to Daddy's with some friends and saw that faggot from Wavves talking to a photographer friend of mine. The only thing I did was walk up to him and say "You're that faggot from Wavves and I don't like you". He smiled a bit but didn't say anything.

After that, I went outside and saw their tour manager hanging around with some guys. They started getting all chuckles with me and so I told them I wasn't gonna have it. After that, Wavves tour manager hit me square in the face with a bottle. Blood started pouring out and six dudes fucking started kicking me until I blacked out.

All I remember is getting hit with the bottle and my friends dragging me to another bar. They wrapped my head up until I looked like a Confederate soldier.

So yeah, I lost the fight.

I also missed three flights. I've been in the airport all day having stewardesses cleaning my head because it kept cracking open. You can't go on board if you're bleeding.

Bottom line is that faggot from Wavves didn't even hit me. Never touched me. And he should've, cuz he had a free shot.

He's coming to Atlanta October 3rd and we're gonna get ugly on him. We're gonna destroy their van, we're gonna destroy their faces, we're gonna get crazy on em'. Nasty style.

Who's Your Daddy? (Daddy's in Williamsburg) (by bitchcakes via Free Williamsburg)

"Talking shit about me on the Internet is one thing, I can handle that all day but when some dude is just looking for a fight at 4 in the morning talking shit to my face and his girlfriend is spitting in the face of all my friends it's a whole different story. I have no problem wih black lips or anybody else that i havent met but jared has been at me every chance he had. I just want to play music and have fun. It was unfortunate that it escalated to that point but he got what was coming to him."- Nathan Williams (WAVVES)

A video of Zach Hill playing with WAVVES from a show a few nights ago, below...

Continue reading "an official statement from WAVVES re: the Black Lips fight"

WAVVES @ Market Hotel last night (9/25) (more by Leia Jospe)

"Wavves was playing with Zach Hill as his drummer [at Market Hotel] and the sound was different and pretty cool.

We were partying pretty hard, and as always seems to happen, the party moved to Daddy's after everything was settled up. Daddy's was packed and the remnants of the Beets (welcome home, boys!) show at Dead Herring (happy birthday Cathy!) and the Black Lips show [at Roseland Ballroom (they opened for Yo La Tengo)] also had migrated to the ever popular "hot spot". Star Studded scene to the maxxxx, if you like slightly "important" indie rockers.

Now, I didn't see exactly how the fight happened, but I had heard the gossip a few months back about Jared (from Black Lips) talking shit about Nathan on the Internet. Pitchfork went as far as to wonder if Nathan and Jared would have a confrontation when they both played this summer's p4k fest in Chicago. Needless to say, that didn't happen.

Well, I suppose last night was the perfect storm. I didn't see the beginning, but I did see people dragging Nathan and Jared apart, and then Jared and a popular DJ running at Nathan again, spilling beer all over everyone (including me), and punches being thrown. The lights at Daddy's were turned on, the cops showed up, but Jared and the chick were not ready to stop fighting and were even trying to fight other people outside the bar. Jared was bloody. Nathan was fine. Insane. Weirdest indie rock moment I've experienced." [PopJew]

UPDATE: Nathan says Jared "got what was coming to him"

UPDATE 2: Jared says "Wavves was NOT involved in that fight"

Jesse of GGD @ WBAR-B-Q in April (more by Zach Dilgard)

"On Saturday night at Pukkelpop as the festival was coming to a close Jesse [Lee, drummer for Gang Gang Dance,] was singled out and attacked by three security guards as he was attempting to walk to the artist backstage area to get the shuttle to the hotel. Security denied him access although he was clearly wearing an artists wristband and immediately dragged him to a darkened area that was not on the close circuit TV network and forced him face first into the ground, they then pulled his arms behind stamping on them trying to break both arms whilst repeatedly shouting at him, 'We are going to show you what real pain is.' They handcuffed him and continued the unprovoked beating. The three thugs then took Jesse to the police where they accused him of throwing a bottle at them." [GGD's publicist via Pitchfork]

Continue reading "Gang Gang Dance drummer says he was attacked by security guards at Belgium's Pukkelpop Festival"

photos by Joseph Xu

"Damn homeboy in M83 has the weakest slap I have ever seen...inviting the crowd on stage is almost as stupid as stage diving to watered down synth-pop" - Jay Reatard

Anthony Gonzalez of M83 played a free NYC show at the WFC Winter Garden on July 14th. He then traveled to the Pitchfork Fest for a set on July 19th (which is where the photos here are from). On the way, Gonzalez had a bit of trouble at his show in Columbus, OH.

Moments before M83's set came to a finish, during closer "Couleurs", Kibby invited the mainly docile crowd on stage to "bring down the house together." While 30 or so accepted the invitation (including myself), and one concert-goer even went so far as to knock over the glass shield in front of Maurin, all three members remained unfazed and continued through their dynamic jam. Unfortunately, not everyone held those exact sentiments.

Production staff at the Wexner Center started breaking it up. Fans were ushered off stage, then abruptly pushed off, to which it became a screaming jamboree. Although the fans followed orders, Gonzalez was not happy. He wasn't having it. Because 30 seconds later, he waved fans on stage again, all in the name of dance. This time, however, production staff became angry, violent, and irate. Immediately, they pushed oncoming fans off the stage and stood at the front blockading people from jumping back up. This didn't sit well with Gonzalez, who blew up, yelling "Fuck you" into the microphone at the production staff for messing up their set, all while the two accompanying musicians continued playing. You can only imagine the musical genius at hand.

While one member of their touring staff tried to quell the argument, it was too late. Gonzalez left his post and confronted the production manager for the venue head on, hitting him violently with the open palm of his left hand. The crowd, which continued dancing, appeared stunned as well. Strangers turned awestruck to their neighbors as if to say, "Did you see that?". What's more (and kind of, um, bad ass), the band actually finished its song, and Gonzalez jumped into the excited crowd, who threw him up jubilantly. Soon after, M83 exited and the fans dispersed, knowing they not only saw a great show, but saw their newfound hero (Gonzalez) kick ass in their name.[Consequence of Sound]

That apology, a video of the event and Gonzalez discussing it the next day at Pitchfork (as the Thermals play in the background), with more pictures from Pitchfork, below...

Continue reading "Anthony Gonzalez (M83) slapped security (video), apologized (letter) +++ he played the WFC in NYC & Pitchfork (pics)"

"Woah just watched crystal castles at sonar, sound was awful throughout kept cutting out so at te end alice started trashing the stage..." - Little Boots

Crystal Castles @ Coachella 2009 (more by Darren Kim)

"Toronto synth-rockers Crystal Castles were involved in a melee with security while onstage in Barcelona early Sunday morning. Their show, part of the Sonar festival, had been marred by technical issues. At some point during the set singer Alice Glass went into the crowd and punched a security guard. She then climbed back on stage, and pulled out the kick drum and appeared to be about to heave it when a sound technician grabbed her. And that's when her bandmate Ethan Kath jumped in and rushed to her aid." [National Post]

Continue reading "Crystal Castles fight w/ security @ the Sonar Festival (video) "

photos by Zach Stern

"So I'm standing up-front and to the left of Jamie Hince the whole show. During the encore, a guy a couple of people behind me was giving Jamie the Fuck You gesture (the backwards peace sign that's popular with Brits). The guy was probably early twenties, short hair, dopey expression on his face and wearing a winter jacket.

Jamie saw the rudeness, smiled and gestured to the guy to come up front. The guy made his way upfront and Jamie proceeded to swat at him with his guitar. The guy backed off a bit, but still continued to give him the finger. Jamie yelled at him to get back up front. Jamie then grabbed the dude and dragged him on stage. He then proceeded to poke him with his guitar neck playfully.

The song ended and the guy was still laying on top of the stage. Jamie went to his pedals and sequencers to gear up from Dropout Boogie. Allison saw the guy spread out on the stage and asked, "Jamie, what's going on over there? Do you find a dead body".

Jamie replied, "He's my new best friend." The guy stood up and walked over to Allison which freaked her out. She turned around to get away from him. The guitar tech grabbed the guy, only to have Jamie take a strangle hold on him. He dragged him back to my side of the stage and slammed him against the speaker, nearly knocking it over. He did this a few times before picking him up and throwing him head first onto floor, inches from [me, Mr. Music Snobbery]. All I heard was a loud CRUNCH! In instances of skull vs. hardwood floor -- hardwood floor always wins." [Music Snobbery]

Allison's new band The Dead Weather had just played Bowery Ballroom a couple of weeks earlier, and will be back to play Terminal 5 in July. Tickets for that show, and all shows on the same tour, go on presale at noon.

More pictures from the Brooklyn Kills show below...

Continue reading "Dead Weather presale starting ++ pics from the Kills show @ MHOW (though none of the GUY that GOT BEAT UP) "

by Black Bubblegum

Ex-Torche-er Juan Montoya @ Webster Hall (more by Jason Bergman)

According to Lambgoat, and seemingly validated by the band's MySpace page (peep the "band members" section), guitarist Juan Montoya is no longer with Torche. Information is limited, but according to one message board poster, the band said,

We havent made a real announcement about it yet but we will. Juan is no longer playing with us due to lots of personal reasons. We'll be a three piece for a while. Did it two nights in a row and we think it was excellent. Sorry if anyone's bummed out. We're not.

Thanks!

Juan Montoya, while he was in Torche, recently interviewed Harvey Milk's Steven Tanner for Revolver. You can read that HERE. All tour dates, and videos of Torche playing as a trio in Orlando on November 25th, below...

Continue reading "Juan Montoya 'no longer playing with' Torche (now a trio)"

Gelatin's dad, bottom left of the picture

gelatin posted this on November 9th, 2008 @ 2:12:06 pm

So, I met up with my dad at the Dirty Dog Saloon [in Austin, TX] before the [fun fun fun] fest. I didn't get a chance to eat anything, and we decided we'd have a couple of drinks and then go get some food. Well, about 8 pints later and I still hadn't eaten and it was time to go to the fest.

My dad didn't buy a ticket, so he hopped the fence and somehow didn't get busted. I almost immediately lost him in the crowd. And many hours later when I eventually found him, he was totally wasted and missing a shoe. Apparently, a "skinhead" had pushed him into the mosh pit. My dad didn't take kindly to that so he poured his beer over the dude's head and they got into a fist fight. I guess the cops pulled my dad off the dude and that's when he lost his shoe.

Somehow the cops decided my dad was an innocent victim in all of it and they let him back into the fest, even though he didn't have a wristband. After the fest we couldn't remember where he parked so we walked to my friend's car which was really really far away, and I guess the walk really fucked up my dad's foot.

We finally found his car, but for some reason he had brought a gas-powered generator with him, and it had tipped over in the car (which was a rental). So the car just overwhelmingly reeks of gasoline. However, he insisted he'd be fine and was just gonna sleep in the car for a while. And I left with my friends.

He called me this morning and somehow made it home. Still with only one shoe.

While searching for my dad I ran into Teebro, and The Dead Milkmen were every bit as terrific as I hoped they'd be. I think I've had enough my dad for a while. [gelatin]

I noticed the fight when, all a sudden, all of the scariest members of the pit acknowledged knowing each other by packing together with their eyes locked on this guy (gelatin's dad), and with their faces clearly reading "kill". I was really scared for their target. Now I understand why they were so pissed off.

On a related note, when I saw gelatin's dad (I realize stereotyping is not good), my first thought was, "this guy paid to come to this festival?". I now know the answer to that question. And speaking of sterotyping, it is unconfirmed whether these guys actually consider themselves "skinheads" (You'll notice gelatin also put "skinheads" in quotes), but it worked for the title, and I'm sure they're very nice guys normally..... More pictures of the attack below...

Continue reading "when 'skinheads' attack (during Integrity @ Fun Fun Fun Fest)"

Bloc Party singer Kele Okereke claims he was left with severe facial bruising and a split lip following what he alleges was a racist attack by Sex Pistols singer John Lydon [aka Johnny Rotten]. The incident occurred on Saturday evening at the Summercase festival in Barcelona while the bands were socialising backstage.

In an official statement released by Okereke, who is of Nigerian descent, the singer says he approached Lydon and asked him about the possibility of a reunion for Public Image Ltd, the band Lydon formed following the Sex Pistols demise in 1978. In Okereke's words, Lydon became "intimidating and aggressive while his entourage responded with a racist tirade, including the statement, 'your problem is your black attitude'." An assault allegedly ensued in which three people attacked Okereke.

Several other bands witnessed the incident, with members of the band Foals and Kaiser Chiefs singer Ricky Wilson intervening on the Bloc Party singer's behalf. Both have confirmed to the Guardian that the incident occurred but could not confirm or deny reports that the assault was racially motivated. Following his involvement, Foals singer Yannis Philippakis was arrested. He is expected to make a statement shortly.... [The Guardian] (thx J M)