1. Ozzy Osbourne and a Bat

This is less a freak-out and more the stuff of legend. In Des Moines in 1982, a fan threw a bat onstage at Ozzy. This really says something about security in Des Moines in 1982. I don’t even think I was allowed to bring  flyers for my bands in when I started going to concerts in Philly, let alone a flask. How did someone get a dead bat in? Also, who the fuck would bring a dead bat to a concert? The second question was answered a few years ago, by the Des Moines Register. 17 year old Mark Neal’s brother had brought a bat home from school, but it died. Hearing about Ozzy allegedly biting the head off a live dove while drunk at his contract signing, Neal’s friends suggested he bring the rotting bat to the show. Neal threw the bat up onstage (meaning, he physically threw it to the stage, not vomited it). Ozzy, thinking it was fake, bit its head off. He got rabies shots after the performance, and the Veterans Memorial Auditorium finally enacted a law prohibiting concert performers from usinc of presenting or making live animals a part of their performance without first asking the management.