An altercation broke out between two members of Brian Jonestown Massacre on stage during a Tuesday show at the Forum in Melbourne, Australia. During the beginning of their set, the band constantly left the stage to argue with each other, according to ABC.
On social media, video was posted of the altercation in which frontman Anton Newcombe yelled out to guitarist Ryan Van Kriedt to leave the stage as tensions were running high. After Newcombe said this, he addressed the audience and his bandmates by saying that Van Kriedt had only been prepared “to play resentments, not guitars.”
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“Cut off this guy’s mic, put down my guitar, party’s over captain,” Newcombe can be heard telling Van Kriedt. “We actually don’t need you. Go. Put my guitar down on the stage and think about what’s happening,” Newcombe added.
“You better think about this one, man. Because this is forever!” Van Kriedt replied. He put down his guitar and began walking away from the stage, where he crossed paths with Newcombe and exchanged middle fingers. As the fight intensified, they began shoving, and Newcombe appeared to hit Van Kriedt over the head with his guitar.
As they scuffled, the two threw punches at each other, ran to the front of the stage, and knocked someone over in the course of their fight. Eventually, security separated the two, and Newcombe stepped back onto the mic. He then got cut off mid-sentence when the safety curtain of the venue dropped. The band’s show ended abruptly, as did the tour.
As fans were ushered out of the venue, one audience member told the Herald Sun they were “left speechless and shocked.” “Anton is known for his wild antics, but this time, it was just ridiculous,” he said. “In the lead up to the fight, he was calling the audience c—, mocking autistic children and saying f— you a lot.
He added, “The audience was booing the band like crazy.” According to the fan, the band only played six to seven songs before they were cut short. “In between songs, they would drink bottles of wine on stage and vape for 10 minutes at a time,” he said. “It makes me want a refund, to be honest.”
It was the ninth of twelve shows they had planned for their Australia concert tour, which has since been canceled in the wake of the brawl. So far, no explanation has been provided for the fight. The venue for the Brian Jonestown Massacre concert on Nov. 22, the Theatre Royal in Castlemaine, has announced on its website that the concert has been canceled “on medical grounds.” The theatre will instead show Talking Heads’ 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense. No comment has been made since the fight by either the band or the Forum Theatre.
