Archive | Drama
It’s been a pretty insane year for the Cro-Mags. The band had been set to headline the CBGB Festival on July 6, but that show was canceled after a scuffle with former bassist Harley Flanagan. Flanagan was arrested after stabbing current Cro-Mags member Mike “The Gook” Couls and William Berario. The entire time, Flanagan said that he’d been acting in self-defense. He’d been back in court on three occasions for four second degree felony assault charges and weapons possession charges, all of which were dismissed. And now the entire case has been dismissed.
In an interview with New York Natives, Flanagan says he’s happy that everything has been put behind him. He said that he didn’t even know that charges were filed against him until he heard about it in the hospital. “I didn’t see how it could make any sense that one person would attack a room of people,” he said.
Flanagan also told New York Natives that Cro Mags vocalist John Joseph’s testimony actually helped him. “My old singer was one of the best people in my defense, because even though he was talking nothing but shit about me, his statements kept contradicting themselves more and more and more each time he did one.” Regardless of who’s at fault, we’re pretty sure that Flanagan won’t be showing up at the Highline Ballroom on December 30th, when the Cro-Mags headline.
The website has a video interview with Flanagan, which you can view after the jump. Read more »
This past weekend, Falling In Reverse frontman Ronnie Radke announced that he was kicking I See Stars off The Thug In Me Is You Tour for allegedly using drugs and unprofessional behavior. And it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I See Stars didn’t take too kindly to the accusations, with both the band and their label Sumerian Records issuing statements pointing the blame at Radke.
First, here’s what Radke claimed in his statement regarding his reason behind kicking I See Stars to the curb:
“I wanted to let everyone know I See Stars is no longer on the tour. We had offered them the tour several months back and then not long after we sent the offer, the entire band was arrested for drug possession. If you have been following my story, you know I am very serious about my sobriety and have been sober for 4+ years now. I decided to remove them from the tour at that time as I did not want drug users in my environment.
After we informed them they would no longer be on the tour for that reason, their label approached us and asked us to give them a 2nd chance, they assured us the band would not use drugs and they would be professional on my tour. We came to an agreement and I gave them their 2nd chance.
Throughout this entire tour, they have been unprofessional. They have rarely showed up on time and have caused undue difficulty on my crew plus employees of the various venues. It’s been next to impossible to keep the show running on time. I feel at this point we have no choice but to continue on without them.
We’re simply trying to deliver the best possible show to all you guys and we don’t feel like we can do that with I See Stars. We’re stoked to continue on with Enter Shikari, Letlive and Matt Toka (on select dates). I’ll see you at the shows. Love and respect, Ronnie.”
While I See Stars (who as Radke mentions had a little run-in with the law this past August) were quick to respond via individual members’ Twitter accounts and a short statement, the group released the following official statement going into more detail about their side of things:
“‘All it takes is a spark to ignite my bad intentions.’ – Ronnie Radke/Falling In Reverse
Here is the truth: Months ago before The Thug In Me Is You tour started, a cop found marijuana in our van. We were arrested. As a result, Ronnie said we were kicked off the upcoming tour.
All the shows on the tour were already on sale with our name being advertised, so we didn’t think it was fair to the fans or to ourselves to not be able to go play where people were expecting us. We offered Ronnie to play the shows for free so he could keep our pay every night of the entire tour as long as we could still keep our commitment to the fans, i.e. the people who are the reason any of this is even possible. Ronnie said OK and allowed us back on the tour but said that we would have to sign paperwork saying we would not tell anyone that we weren’t getting paid to be on the tour.
The venues and the fans were both not allowed to know the truth, because Ronnie knew it would make him look really bad to the world. The fact that money changed Ronnie‘s mind about kicking us off the tour just goes to show his lack of integrity. If he was really that concerned or fundamentally against that we got caught with a little weed, then the extra cash in his pocket wouldn’t have changed his decision.
Because Sumerian Records was willing to give us a serious amount of financial tour support, we were still able to hit the road without getting paid. However we would quickly find out that us agreeing to Ronnie‘s ridiculous terms of silence and playing for free were simply not good enough for him. He resulted to threatening violence against Zach in Grand Rapids because ‘he didn’t like his stupid f’n face’ and then the next night in our hometown of Detroit kicked us off the tour.
His 47-year old tour manager then physically assaulted our tour manager and the FIR camp once again resorted to violent behavior. Ronnie would later that night throw fans out who paid to get in to the show because they are chanting another band’s name and make fun of their physical attributes in front of everyone. That is the act of a true coward.
We have been lucky enough to to tour with a lot of great bands like Parkway Drive, Suicide Silence, Asking Alexandria, Trivium, Motionless In White, A Day To Remember, Stick To Your Guns, Memphis May Fire, The Word Alive and others.. and never had a problem. We want to thank Enter Shikari, LetLive, Matt Toka and all the other members of Falling In Reverse besides Ronnie for being great people and a true pleasure to tour with. We are sorry to all the fans out there who were expecting to see us. We’ll be back as soon as we can.”
In case I See Stars’ word wasn’t enough, Sumerian Records defended the group via their own statement, saying:
“There is nothing cool, rock & roll, punk rock, or admirable about treating your peers or fans like they are pieces of garbage. Ronnie Radke is not a good human being. It’s one thing to love someone’s music, but do not love someone as an individual for who they are not. We do not think it is a coincidence this is the same guy who was arrested for the horrible, violent things you can read about in the links below. He cares about no one but himself and he has reminded us all of this. His latest tweet ‘people at our shows come to see us everything else is irrelevant. Nuff said.’ is his way of telling all the other bands he tours with that they don’t matter. Why any artist would throw that type of negativity and disrespect out is something we will never understand. This scene is supposed to be about compassion and understanding. Ronnie is rotten.
Out of respect for the industry professionals involved in this debacle, we will not be publicly disclosing any legal documents on the internet. We can confirm that Ronnie kicked the band off the tour but allowed them back on after they forfeited their pay. We can confirm that they were being forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement regarding this in order to stay on the tour. We can confirm that I See Stars were not kicked off yesterday in Detroit because of anything to do with drugs. It was because a grown man was throwing a temper tantrum who claims to be ‘rock & roll’ but is actually worse than a neurotic pop-star diva with a God complex. Just because you no longer do drugs doesn’t mean you are no longer a horrible human being. Ronnie now abuses people instead of substances.”
Sumerian Records’ included numerous links and news posts about Radke’s troubled past, including one about his most recent arrest at Six Flags. It didn’t take Radke long to respond, saying in a since-pulled post via Instagram “why do we immediately assume that what we read on the internet is the whole truth?” While it’s not our place to take sides in this matter, we don’t have to read the internet to believe what happened at Six Flags (multiple videos make it pretty evident it happened).
Sure, so Axl Rose’s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! wasn’t exactly hard hitting. But for someone that’s so reclusive and temperamental, at least the guy seemed to be having a good time. And while Kimmel might have asked a few hard hitting questions, it’s not like anyone should have been watching a late night talk show appearance with any expectations. Unless, of course, your husband used to be in the band.
Perla Hudson, who married Slash five years after he’d left Guns N’Roses, opened up to Us Weekly about Rose’s appearance. “I was waiting for something enlightening and all I got was promotion for a show and his evident affinity for a chili burger,” Hudson told the rag. “Where is the love Axl? And I stayed up for this? Sex, drugs and chili dogs. Long live Axl Rose. And a Halloween tree.”
Sick burn, Mrs. Slash! Oh wait, not really. Who are you again? At least if it was Slash’s first wife, Renee Suran, she might have been able to share an anecdote or two about Rose. While her opinion counts as something, she shouldn’t have to take potshots at her husband’s former singer for appearing on a show that she watched – especially in an “exclusive” interview with a tabloid. Now if she was talking smack about the Bridge School Benefit, that’d make a little more sense.
While the Insane Clown Posse are still seen as humorous to most (especially Saturday Night Live), it’s important to remember that they’re currently classified as a gang by the FBI. Although that’s also been laughed off by most, ICP are pretty serious about being labeled as such, and recently announced plans to sue the FBI. While it does seem like a stretch to classify a band’s fan base as a gang, a dispute between an ICP-inspired group that was embraced by Juggalos has ended in the death of one of it’s former members.
Hailing from Kansas City, Wicked Wayz looked up to Insane Clown Posse, and had even opened for them. Consisting of “Creepyface” (aka, Chad Ford) and “Devil Boy” (aka Daniel Bartlett). the group formed when Ford invited his brother-in-law to rap for him. Modest success followed, and Ford quit his job to devote himself to music. One of the band’s gimmicks was that the facepaint they used was invisible under normal light, but glowed under black light. While Ford worked on the music, Bartlett handled merchandising, promotion and business. It was a dispute over money that led Ford to leave the group, ultimately. He continued solo as Creepyface, as Bartlett took the Wicked Wayz name.
The two battled back and forth, with Creepyface writing songs like “I See a Hater” and “Laughing At You.” Bartlett responded via online insults. It all came to a head last month when Ford and his wife Theresa ran into a friend of Bartlett’s at the Kansas City municipal court while sorting out a traffic ticket for their teenage daughter. The two had words, and both men called for backup. Apparently, both factions brought guns, and a gun battle played out. Ford was the only one hit, and he died, allegedly at the hands of Barlett’s cousin, Michael “Mikey Myerz” McKeehan. Now Ford’s wife is raising three children and her husband is dead at the hands of her brother and cousin.
Gang battle? Maybe. Family dispute? That’s a little better of an explanation. Whatever it is, it’s unfortunate that it happened, but it’s not going to convince someone that already thinks that Juggalos are a gang that they aren’t. The two are being held, with Bartlett’s bond at $1 million. While Juggalos nationwide are discussing the beef turned deadly, there’s been no statement from Insane Clown Posse of Pyschopathic Records.
[The Kansas City Star, via The Daily Swarm]
Dance Gavin Dance singer Jonny Craig’s legal woes and drug addiction have been well noted. That’s why it’s somewhat scandalous to hear that the singer will not remain on The All Stars Tour, even though his band will.
Early Saturday evening, the touring festival announced via Facebook that “Dance Gavin Dance will remain on the tour but without Jonny Craig.” The announcement comes a few hours after Sumerian Records head/ tour organizer Ash Avildsen posted the following tweet:
“@jonnycraig4L Yo you drug addict low class thief. You have 5 minutes to apologize to everyone you have wronged on@TheAllStarsTour or urgone”
Shortly after, Craig confirmed that Dance Gavin Dance was continuing the tour without him in a series of tweets. One specific tweet read as follows:
“It’s not Important why I’m not on Allstars what is important is that it had nothin to do with drugs or booze.”
It’s still unclear as to what exactly happened. However, another post from Avildsen implies that the two have made amends via Twitter. Furthermore, it would appear that Suicide Silence bassist Dan Kenny was also involved in the incident in some way, tweeting the following apology to Avildsen that same day:
“@ashavildsen sorry for all this crap! My knee is shot but I know Mr. Craig did not do it on purpose… He is just a butthole by default”
At this moment, Dance Gavin Dance have yet to officially comment on the matter. And whatever the reasoning may be behind Craig’s departure from the tour, it’s still a sad turn of events for the band that’s had one rollercoaster of a year.
[via The PRP]
Stabbings, death threats, and more stabbings, and the hits just keep coming. Last night, Sacramento based hardcore act Trash Talk played a free show in Los Angeles, CA sponsored by Nike, and a crowd decided to just do it – and by it, we mean “riot.”
Apparently, the fans were so eager to make their way into the show that at one point a “mini-riot” started happening. A police official “riot squad” was called to the scene and apparently, both tasers and pepper spray had to be used in order to keep the rioting fans in check. While the video of the incident has since been removed from YouTube, there is still an image floating around.
Last night, the band stated on its Facebook page that there had been a misunderstanding to begin with: apparently the venue was in use for a Nike skate session with Omar Salazar up until an hour before the show was supposed to start. The band that recently signed with Odd Future’s label had previously announced that the doors for the free show would be opening at 7PM. There has been no updated statement since their post from last night.
[via Metal Sucks]
While the stabbing that took place during the CBGB Festival last week has understandably been focused towards eyewitness accounts and media reports in the wake of former bassist Harley Flanagan’s arrest, New York Natives has interviewed Flanagan to get his side of the story. He’d claimed earlier that he stabbed current bassist Mike “The Gook” Couls and William Bererio in self defense, and expands on that in this interview. Harley says that instead of looking to attack his former band, he went there with “the best of intentions,” and instead was attacked by the band as soon as he got in the door of the VIP section.
When I saw that door get pulled shut I was literally fighting for my life,” he says. “I was afraid these guys were going to kick me half to death, roll me down the back steps and that no one would see it… and there would be no witnesses and that would be that….and all I could think about was getting home safe to my kids…I wanted to save my life, to protect myself and these guys were trying to do me in.
And at that point everybody started screaming and I saw the door of the dressing room open and I started screaming security, security and I saw somebody pull the door shut to keep security out. And in my mind I thought to myself, “fuck, these dudes, their intention is to fuck me up, they don’t want no one to see it they’re trying to beat the shit out of me…SO what I did was defend my life…”
He claims that the leg that was reported as broken in the melee was a stab wound, so for the first time, we’re hearing that Flanagan was also stabbed. While it would be premature to play amateur detective and dismiss his account as bullshit, the blog obviously has a bias towards Flanagan, much the same way the media has taken a decidedly anti-Harley stance. But how did the hunting knife get involved? I’m pretty sure that a 5″ hunting knife wasn’t in the VIP section at a Cro-Mags show to cut brie. And why doesn’t his account say anything about him actually stabbing current band members outside of the generic “defending myself’ stance he takes? That’s something I’d probably somehow mention. You can read the rest of his account here.
Photo: Cambria Harkey
One of the more left-field bands to play the Orion Music + More festival this past weekend was Modest Mouse. They weren’t touring behind a new album, they’re decidedly an indie rock band, and the only point of reference for most of the crowd was likely their eight-year old crossover hit “Float On.” Yet the band gamely played the festival on Saturday night in front of a polite but nonplussed crowd, and everyone was happy, right? Wrong. The band performed the following night at New York’s Randall’s Island for the Governer’s Ball festival alongside Beck, Fiona Apple and Built To Spill. According to the Village Voice, frontman Isaac Brock said the following.
“We played with Metallica last night [at Orion Fest], and I gotta tell you, you guys are so much more attractive—and you probably don’t still live at home”
Pure class, Isaac. First off, way to bite the hand that feeds to prove how “indie” you are. Most Metallica fans probably own their own homes at this point. The band have been around for 30 years, and a large number of their fans are at least in their ’30s. Relying on the ‘metal people are ugly and still live at home’ trope is old and tired, especially at Orion, where the opposite seemed true. Yes, there were plenty of metal fans there, but there were a decent amount of indie rockers that turned out to see bands like Modest Mouse and the Gaslight Anthem. And as stated earlier, the crowd seemed open to checking out music outside of their comfort zone. Guess Isaac Brock didn’t have as open a mind.
Well this is not surprising. After playing two very well-received shows over the weekend as Rising West, all the members of Queensryche who are not named Geoff Tate have opted to not open for the Scorpions tonight in Salt Lake City. The Geoff Tate solo band will be performing instead. It looks like we’re finally seeing this band split into two factions. Personally, I’m more interested in Rising West, if for no other reason than “Child of Fire” is in their set.
Rising West, which features Crimson Glory vocalist Todd La Torre alongside Queensryche members Michael Wilton, Eddie Jackson, Scott Rockenfield and Parker Lundgren, played a 14-song set list consisting of Queensryche music from 1988′s Operation: Mindcrime back to the first EP, also throwing in a cover of Iron Maiden’s “Wrathchild” for good measure. The band apparently plan on recording new music. Rising West’s Seattle set list can be seen after the jump, while Geoff Tate’s cabaret show and thousands of confused Scorpions fans can be seen in Salt Lake City tonight. Read more »
While I’ve never been to Croatia before, it appears they really like W.A.S.P. there. According to NME, during a festival called Metalfest third day headliner Megadeth were forced to flee the stage after the crowd became unruly and started throwing rocks at frontman Dave Mustaine, one of which hit him in the head. Can we chalk this up to Croation metal fans being known for throwing rocks, much like U.K. fans throw bottles of piss at bands they like? Good theory, but no. Apparently, it’s W.A.S.P.’s fault.
Apparently, W.A.S.P. were scheduled to play the festival as well, but dropped off. It’s an unconfirmed rumor, but apparently, Blackie Lawless refused to perform following an argument with Mustaine. While the clip starts out with plenty of Megadeth fans, at around the nine-minute mark of the video (and 40 minute mark of their set), you can hear much of the crowd chanting “we wan’t W.A.S.P.” At about 9:20, Mustaine gets pelted, and shortly after walks offstage. A spokesperson comes out and tries to calm the crowd, saying “Dave’s been hit in the head with a rock.” The crowd never gets too unruly, mainly because from where it was shot from, it looks like about 100 people are there.
It’s been a pretty insane year for the Cro-Mags. The band had been set to headline the CBGB Festival on July 6, but that show was canceled after a scuffle with former bassist Harley Flanagan. Flanagan was arrested after stabbing current Cro-Mags member Mike “The Gook” Couls and William Berario. The entire time, Flanagan said that he’d been acting in self-defense. He’d been back in court on three occasions for four second degree felony assault charges and weapons possession charges, all of which were dismissed. And now the entire case has been dismissed.
Posted by Bram Teitelman on Fri, Dec 14, 2012 at 2:04 pm
Drama, Legal Woes