Top 20 Concerts Ruined by MORONS
#20: The Who
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Ohio, US, 1979 Thousands of fans stood for hours outside the Riverfront Coliseum in Ohio, waiting to attend a concert by the legendary British rock group, the Who. When the doors opened, there was a stampede, which became a crushing melee as some people tried to escape, while others pushed back, or even climbed over those on the floor. By the time order was restored, many people were injured, and eleven killed; in most cases they had been trampled and unable to breathe. Why did this concert become lethal? It sounds crazy, but the problem seems to have been a lack of reserved seating. People were so desperate to get a good seat that they rushed in, unaware of the danger, until it was too late.
#19: Mother of Invention
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Geneva, Switzerland, 1971 This might be the only entry on our list where, although a concert was certainly ruined, something good came of it. In 1971, Frank Zappa’s band Mother of Invention was performing at the magnificent Montreux Casino in Switzerland. Midway through their set, a fire broke out in the hall; it’s a little unclear how it started, but everyone seems to agree that a young moron in the audience was responsible. Fortunately, Zappa quickly saw the danger and got everyone to evacuate; so although the historic venue was destroyed, no one got hurt. Another band, Deep Purple, happened to be nearby; and witnessing the fire inspired them to write their iconic rock ballad, “Smoke on the Water.”
#18: Curtis Mayfield
New York, US, 1990 Curtis Mayfield was a singer and songwriter whose music ranged from soulful love ballads, to movie scores, to calls for social change. But his live performance career ended tragically at a concert in Brooklyn, when he was only forty-eight. The weather was ominous, with strong winds and approaching thunderstorms; however, the sponsor of the show was reluctant to cancel, since there were already thousands of people in the audience. The opening act was short and Mayfield was brought on, hoping to beat the weather. Just as he stepped onstage, a gust of wind brought down a heavy metal rig overhead, and a stage light struck Mayfield. He survived, but would be paralyzed for the rest of his life.
#17: Kanye West
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Sydney, Australia, 2014 Chances are, you’ve already heard of some controversial incident involving the rapper Kanye West, now known as Ye; he’s made a number of statements that others found offensive. However, it’s unusual for him to make them during concerts. Back in 2014, at an event in Sydney, Australia, Ye demanded that everyone in the audience get up and dance. Two people didn’t. A long, awkward pause ensued, as Ye complained and audience members booed, but the holdouts still didn’t stand. That was because they couldn’t. Both were physically disabled. Once Ye realized this, he continued the concert; however, it seems reasonable to wonder why the rapper didn’t do that to begin with, rather than embarrassing two fans who just wanted to watch the show.
#16: Kid Rock
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North Dakota, US, 2022 Actually, it’s a bit of a misnomer to call this a Kid Rock concert–but that’s what it was supposed to be. The country rock singer was scheduled to perform at the North Dakota State Fair, with nearly twenty thousand people in attendance. Unfortunately, dangerous weather conditions were brewing nearby; for safety reasons, officials decided to cancel the show. But they took a long time to decide. So for over two hours, the opening act, a rock group called Night Ranger, strove heroically to keep fans engaged, while everyone waited for Kid Rock to appear. When officials finally announced that he wasn’t coming, the outraged audience responded by yelling, throwing objects, and even climbing onstage, which led to some fans being removed by police.
#15: Philadelphia Orchestra
Pennsylvania, US, 2023 Classical music concerts get ruined by morons, too; and one of the interruptions musicians hate most is a cell phone ringing during the piece. Despite announcements made before every concert reminding people to silence their phones, somehow, it still happens; and for Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin of the Philadelphia Orchestra, two times in one performance was too many. Ordinarily, the Canadian conductor will stop the orchestra and wait for quiet, then continue, trying to maintain the continuity of the work. But in early May of 2023, after Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony was interrupted twice by cell phones in the span of just a few minutes, the exasperated maestro turned around and demanded, “Can we live without the phone for just one damn hour??”
#14: Kings of Leon
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Missouri, US, 2010 When rock band Kings of Leon came for a July concert at the Verizon Amphitheatre in Missouri, venue managers confessed they had been having some problems with a pigeon infestation. Even with this warning, however, no one was prepared for the horrors in store. Two other bands performed first, and the members of Kings of Leon were alarmed to see their fellow musicians return from the stage looking haggard and streaked with pigeon droppings. But they didn’t want to back out at the last minute, so they gamely came on and attempted to play their set. They made it through three songs, before the bass player got hit in the face with bird dung, and they decided to call it quits.
#13: Aerosmith
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Pennsylvania, US, 1977-1978 Why are there two dates for this entry? you might be wondering. Well, the events are connected: both involved Aerosmith, both took place in Philadelphia, PA, and both involved morons. In October of 1977, Aerosmith were coming onstage for an encore at the Spectrum Arena when someone in the audience threw a cherry bomb–a small, but powerful firecracker–at them. Two band members were seriously injured, and the group was understandably upset. However, a year later, they decided to give Philadelphia another chance. It didn’t go well. About twenty minutes into the concert, somebody threw a beer bottle, which shattered and sent pieces of glass flying into the guitarist’s face. The band quickly departed, and would not return to the city for another four years.
#12: Smash Mouth
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Colorado, US, 2015 You may be wondering, “Why was bread involved in a concert?” Well, the concert was being held at a food festival in Colorado, and unfortunately, a vendor had decided to give out free loaves of bread. That’s right–loaves. Drunk audience members started throwing slices of bread everywhere, and some landed on the stage. Smash Mouth’s lead singer, Steve Harwell, went berserk right as the band was playing the introduction to “All Star.” While the band kept repeating itself, hoping for the song to start, Harwell shouted curses and threats at the bread-throwers. Finally, fed up, he headed down into the crowd–presumably to administer a beating to several audience members. Thankfully, however, he was stopped by event security.
#11: Callejeros
Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2004 One terrible night in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Republica de Cromagnon club was packed with fans who came to see the rock band Callejeros–around four thousand fans, which was more than double the legal limit. Someone in the crowd lit a flare, and the ceiling caught fire. As everyone tried to flee, they found that most of the exit doors were locked. By the end of the night, over a hundred people were dead, and hundreds more critically injured. The club owner later claimed he had locked the doors to prevent people from coming in without paying–which seems like a weak excuse, considering how overcrowded the club already was. He and several officials involved were later sentenced to imprisonment.
#10: The Rolling Stones
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California, US, 1969 The Rolling Stones wanted to finish their 1969 tour with a free concert in California, and they had the Grateful Dead handle the details. The venue was the Altamont Speedway; the music would include the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and of course the Stones; and security would be provided by the Hells Angels, paid in beer. As you can probably guess, that last part was the problem. First, the Angels got in a fight with members of Jefferson Airplane, causing the Grateful Dead to leave altogether. But the worst was yet to come. During the Rolling Stones performance, a young man in the crowd was fatally stabbed by a Hells Angel, making a dark end of this disastrous affair.
#9: Britney Spears
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Vancouver, CA, 2009 At a concert in Vancouver, about fifteen minutes into her set, Britney Spears suddenly walked offstage. The audience was left waiting in the dark, confused. Someone made an announcement that the show would begin again when the stage was cleared of smoke, and everyone was reminded that it was a non-smoking building. About half an hour passed, during which hockey intermission music played over the speakers–presumably intended to be soothing, but apparently somewhat annoying. Spears returned and began to sing, but then, toward the end of a song, she abruptly left the stage again. When she came back for the last time, her parting advice to the frustrated audience was, “Don’t smoke weed.”
#8: Nickelback
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Ilha do Ermal, Portugal, 2002 In 2002, while playing a set in Portugal, the band Nickelback was pelted with rocks and bottles from the crowd. No one really knows why, but given their behavior, it seems like most of the audience came to see a concert by a band they hated. After weathering two songs under this barrage of hard objects, lead singer Chad Kroeger asked the crowd a pointed question: “Do you want to see some rock ‘n roll, or do you want to go home?” When he was answered with a bottle to the back of the head, Kroeger and the rest of the band simply left the stage–though not without directing a couple of middle fingers toward the audience.
#7: Justin Bieber
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Manchester, UK, 2016 Normally, screams from the audience at a concert are a good thing–but maybe not so much when you’re trying to deliver an impassioned speech about everyone’s purpose in life. A little trite, perhaps, but hardly worth screaming at. However, Justin Bieber had to plead with audience members to stop yelling and making noise during his talk at a concert in Manchester, England. When the screaming still didn’t stop, Bieber angrily stormed offstage. Apparently, this is not a new issue, as Bieber has told British fans in the past to “shut up” and “be quiet and listen.” Bieber did eventually return to perform, but claimed the Manchester audience couldn’t “handle” him.
#6: Limp Bizkit
New York, US, 1999 Let’s start off by saying, there were a lot of poor choices made by people involved in Woodstock 1999. No one band is to blame for the assaults, damage, and chaos that occurred. However, Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit definitely made one of the worst decisions of the event when he told an already revved-up crowd to start breaking things. Many people took him at his word, tearing apart sound towers and crowd-surfing on the metal pieces. Medical tents were swamped with people who got injured in the mosh pit. By the time the band actually started playing “Break Stuff,” the crowd was way ahead of them; the festival later ended with riots and a huge fire.
#5: Nirvana
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Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1992 For a 1992 concert in Buenos Aires, Nirvana hired an all-female band called Calamity Jane to be their opening act. The audience treated them horribly, shouting obscenities and throwing mud and rocks, until they left the stage in despair. At first, lead singer Kurt Cobain wanted to cancel the show; but instead, Nirvana decided to give the audience a taste of their own medicine. They played unfamiliar, experimental songs that hadn’t been released yet–and to top it off, before every number, Kurt Cobain would play the introduction of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” but then segue into a different song. Whether the crowd knew it or not, their rudeness led to one of the most unusual concerts Nirvana has ever given.
#4: Metallica & Guns N' Roses
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Montreal, CA, 1992 This disastrous concert began with Metallica’s James Hetfield getting horribly burned–by his own pyrotechnics–and having to be rushed to the hospital. Then, the audience had to wait over two hours for the famously unpunctual Guns N' Roses to show up. Unfortunately, frontman Axl Rose had been having vocal problems throughout the tour; and whether it was due to this, or problems with feedback in the building, Guns N' Roses also left the stage after only a few songs. The audience went mad with rage, rioting and looting until they were finally subdued by Montreal police. Several people were injured, and Guns N' Roses ended up being banned from Montreal’s Olympic Stadium for life.
#3: Travis Scott
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Texas, US, 2021 One of the worst things about this recent, tragic event is that in hindsight, it seems easily preventable. At nine o’clock in the morning, a security breach let thousands of unregistered fans into the stadium. By the afternoon, there were hundreds of reported injuries, and the Houston police described “dangerous crowd conditions.” Then, when Travis Scott came on stage at 9PM, audience members made a mad rush toward the front, trampling everyone in their path. Because of all the lights and noise, Scott himself claims he was unaware of what was going on; by the time it was over, eight people were dead. Exactly who was responsible for the tragedy is hard to say, but clearly, the event should have been stopped before that point.
#2: Fyre Festival
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The Bahamas, 2017 This was a highly promoted concert series that just… didn’t happen. Fyre Festival was billed as a glamorous vacation on a remote island in the Bahamas, with lots of music, food, and fun. This was not exactly what the guests found when they arrived. First, their luggage was dumped out of a shipping crate in the dark. Next, they got a meal consisting of bread, cheese, and a small salad. There was a tent city for sleeping accommodations. No concerts ever occurred. The organizer, Billy McFarland, had scammed everyone who bought tickets–not to mention hundreds of island workers who had devoted their time and money into preparing for the event. More like a dumpster fire than a festival!
#1: Great White
Rhode Island, US, 2003 This is another tragic event where one can’t help feeling amazed at the poor planning involved. In 2003, the band Great White was playing at the Station nightclub in Rhode Island. Just seconds into their first number, the road manager set off a pyrotechnic fire near the stage, which ignited soundproofing foam in the walls and ceiling. In a matter of minutes, it grew into a deadly blaze that claimed the lives of a hundred people and injured far more. Letting off fireworks in a small, indoor space may seem unwise enough; however, it was revealed later that the club was also crowded beyond capacity, and had no sprinkler system.
