This past weekend was a big one for metal in New York City.  It all started on Friday night, when Dethklok came to town with Machine Head, All That Remains and the Black Dahlia Murder on the last date of their tour together.  And while Machine Head had switched set order to let All That Remains go on later a couple of dates back, the band’s questionable luck on this tour continued as Robb Flynn was hit by a taxi cab earlier that afternoon.  It was the latest hurdle for the band to overcome in a tour that’s seen hurricane-induced rescheduling, missed dates due to Flynn’s hernia surgery, and Disney banning the band from playing in Orlando.  Machine Head still played without running too far behind, but as a lot of fans were wondering, couldn’t All That Remains have just played later to give Flynn more time to seek medical attention?

The answer to that question was apparently “nope.”  Watch footage of Flynn claiming All That Remains refused to switch time slots with Machine Head (despite Flynn having to go to the hospital that day) above. However, before we go further into Robb Flynn’s on-stage tirade about what happened, it’s crucial to point out that a miscommunication may have been the culprit.  A level-headed Phil Labonte responded during All That Remains’ set by apologizing and saying that the band would have happily switched with Machine Head given the opportunity, quieting boos from Machine Head fans and mostly diffusing the situation.  But the back-and-forth with the audience, an upset Flynn and a bewildered Labonte certainly added provocative drama to a show that otherwise went off without a hitch.

UPDATE: Shortly after posting our initial story, Robb Flynn sent the following tweet admitting that there was miscommunication between the groups:

“Regarding the NYC show and @ATRhq There was a mix up, ATR was willing to switch spots, the club manager stopped it, sorry for the confusion”

So there you have it, there was simply a mix up and there appears to be no bad blood between the two groups. Here’s what Flynn originally said onstage regarding All That Remains:

“About two days ago we played, and the All That Remains guys asked us to flip-flop with them because their singer got stuck in traffic. And you know, we’ve been flip-flopping this whole tour, so we were like, “Yeah, man, you know what, it’s no big deal, we’ll flip flop.” Because that’s what you do, you look out for your brothers, right? And today, I got hit by a cab, right where I had surgery four weeks ago in my nuts. I got clipped in a hit-and-run. I spent the last four hours in the fucking hospital. And unfortunately I had to fuckin’ rush back here — and actually, it is fortunate, because I’m very happy to be standing on this stage — but I had to fucking rush back here because nobody could fucking switch, man, nobody could flip-flop. Because that’s just how it is, I guess that’s how it is when you look out for your brothers some of the time. This tour, I’ll tell you what, this tour has been so insane.”

It’s clear that the road has not been kind to Machine Head this fall, with this incident being the last in a long string of hurdles for the band to overcome.  But now Flynn’s tweet is further proof that All That Remains isn’t to blame.

[quote by way of Metal Sucks]