Live Performances Gone Awry

John Cougar then Jethro Tull then The Who in 1982 Boulder CO, the Who's farewell tour.
Cougar had probably 1 or 2 albums at that time I guess. He started first in the early afternoon maybe 1 or 2 pm. It's Boulder in the summertime, people playing frisbee and hacky sac, politly applauding after each song for the guy many might not have even heard of. After 2 or 3 songs he yelled "This ain't no Rick f***ing Springfield concert!!!" He played one or 2 more songs, same response from the crowd, so he simply walked off the stage. I remember his backup singers standing there for a few sesconds all confused, looking to their right to see if he was coming back. Then they hastily walked off stage. That was it. Then an extra long wait for Tull.

This isn't MY experience, but ..... I saw a very modified vintage Les Paul guitar for sale on Ebay, with full signed documentation. Hank Williams Jr was playing a large venue. At the end of his last song he threw his harmonica out into the crowd. It hit a women in the forehead requiring several stitches. He gave her the guitar he was playing at the time as consolation. The women had it up for sale. Nice scar story, I suppose.

Sebof. I saw that Who tour in Buffalo NY but instead of the Jethro Tull it was The Clash. I was about 14 maybe 15 at that show. I remember we blew off John Cougar. Knowing whaat I know now, he might have been awesome at a smaller venue. I saw Tull once but can't remember with who. I have my ticket stub but I'm too lazy to find out right now.

Isochronism - I saw Motorhead in 1983 ( I listen to a huge variety of music). The lead singer 'Lemmy' was playing their popular 'Ace of Spades' song at ear bleeding levels. We were third row side stage and I watched Lemmy flick his burning cigarette butt into the crowd. I couldn't believe it. At the same show, someone jumped off the balcony into the crowd below and they lived without a scratch. I think Merciful Fate was playing when that happened.

I'm glad I lived though the heavy metal days. Not that I did anything out of control, but the fans could get scary.

Went to a Dixie Dregs concert around 1990 at a downtown NYC venue that is long since closed down. We waited more than an hour past the posted start time for the warm-up band to start, which was a quasi-Kansas progressive fiddle-rock band as I recall. They weren't terrible but they were not the Dregs and the crowd rapidly grew hostile. After being steadily pummeled with beer and assorted projectiles the front man stepped up to the mic and said, "You know, you guys stink like smelly feet", at which point a barrage of footwear of every possible description was thrown onstage. The warm up band beat a hasty retreat and the Dregs came on and played a killer show.