The Beatles, Hamburg, 1961
Long before they decided All You Need Is Love, even the Fab Four were subject to an onstage bust-up. During their pivotal spell in Hamburg, something Paul McCartney said to bandmate Stuart Sutcliffe about his new engagement to local, Astrid Kirchherr, led Sutcliffe to punch his now very famous bandmate. Years later, Macca explained: “I thought I’d beat him hands down because he was littler than me. But he was strong and we got locked in a sort of death-grip on stage during the set. It was terrible. Then we were locked and neither of us wanted to go any further and all the others were shouting, ‘Stop it, you two!’ – ‘I’ll stop it if he will.’” Sutcliffe left the band to pursue an art career soon afterwards and cruelly died in 1962 of a brain haemorrhage before the couple had got married. Their story inspired the hit 1994 film, Backbeat.
The Kinks, Cardiff, 1965
The lifelong rivalry between brothers Ray and Dave has led to numerous incidents of flying words, cymbals and guitars over many decades. It even kicked off at Dave’s 50th birthday party when Ray stamped on his brother’s cake. However, the most notorious onstage Kinks incident was actually between Dave and drummer Mick Avory. At Cardiff’s Capitol theatre, Davies kicked Avory’s drum kit, upon which Avory picked up the hi-hat stand and used it to knock his bandmate out. Thinking he’d killed him, a terrified Avory fled the scene while Dave was rushed to hospital, and the Kinks were subsequently banned from the US for being too violent.
The Who, Newbury, Berkshire, 1966
The Who singer Roger Daltrey once told the Guardian how his famously fiery creative partnership with guitarist Pete Townshend erupted on the set of the iconic 1979 mod film Quadrophenia. “He whacked me round the bloody head with a guitar. I was being held back by two roadies, because they knew what I was like. I stood there and watched him do it. ‘Yeah, what else you got?’ So he said, ‘Let him go or I’ll kill him.’” In terms of punch-ups onstage, though, their most notorious incident involved bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon, who turned up late to a gig at Newbury Corn Exchange to find they had been hurriedly replaced by a rhythm section culled from the support band. Needless to say, it all kicked off, but following a full-scale melee the classic lineup were back onstage the next night in Southport.
Eagles, Long Beach, 1980
Although the sweet-voiced, mega-selling Californians have long urged us to Take It Easy, Eagles’ mix of glorious harmonies and copious drug intakes didn’t exactly produce harmony within the band. They initially broke up after a show in 1980 during which frontman Glenn Frey and guitarist Don Felder goaded each other so much that the latter eventually snapped: “Only three more songs till I kick your ass.” Three more songs were played – including, ironically, The Best of My Love – before tensions erupted and a guitar was smashed against a wall. Afterwards, Eagles said they would play together again “when hell freezes over”, which presumably it did in 1994 when they reformed, without Felder.
Oasis, Los Angeles, 1994
Brothers in bands seem particularly prone to tensions and the Gallaghers’ legendary sibling rivalry goes back at least as far as them sharing a bedroom in their youth. Early in Oasis’s career someone even made a bootleg 7”, 1994’s Wibbling Rivalry, containing an argument between Noel and Liam over, bizarrely and hilariously, which brother is the “more rock’n’roll”. Subsequent dust-ups have included Noel smashing Liam over the head with a cricket bat in the studio in Wales in 1995 and Noel quitting the band for 15 years in Paris after he said Liam wielded a guitar “like an axe. He nearly took my face off with it.” Onstage it’s generally been quieter although in 1994 Liam did hit Noel over the head with a tambourine during Whatever, which led his older brother to quit Oasis for a day. Now that the reunited bandmates are mature men of 57 (Noel) and 51 (Liam) there are unlikely to be any such violent high jinks at next year’s reunion shows. Definitely. Er … Maybe?
The Jesus and Mary Chain, Los Angeles, 1998
Earlier this year brothers William and Jim Reid told the Guardian how their own sibling rivalry was so fierce by the mid-90s that they would often end gigs rolling around on the floor, fighting. The most infamous of such incidents was at LA’s House of Blues, where the gig ended violently after just 15 minutes. William explained: “Jim got so drunk he couldn’t remember the songs. I kicked him off stage, tried to be the singer, but didn’t know the words. It finished the band for nine years.” Happily, though, the incident inspired the excellent song Jamcod on this year’s Glasgow Eyes album and the pair are now much more amiable. Not least because, says Jim, “We both know what not to say”.
The View, Manchester, 2023
The Dundee rockers notched up a platinum-selling debut and Mercury prize nomination with 2007’s Hats Off to the Buskers, but anyone witnessing their post-reunion gig at the 250-capacity Deaf Institute in Manchester last year may remember them for different reasons. Simmering tensions during the gig erupted when bassist Kieren Webster aimed a kick at singer Kyle Falconer’s microphone stand, which led the infuriated singer to yell “I’ll fucking kill you!” and start laying into him. Chaos ensued, security intervened and the show ended prematurely, but somehow the pair managed to contain their differences to continue the tour – it was shrugged off as “a brotherly bust-up that went too far”.
The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Melbourne, 2023
Stars of the cult 2004 documentary Dig!, west coast psych band the Brian Jonestown Massacre’s long and chequered history of fist fights, heroin, arrests, smashed instruments and general mayhem and self-destruction has led them to be called “world’s most volatile band”. An incident from as recently as last year suggests they are not about to let this reputation go. Bickering during the Melbourne show exploded after just six songs when singer Anton Newcombe grabbed guitarist Ryan Van Kriedt’s instruments and whacked him over the head with it. The resulting brawl needed security to separate them and made international headlines around the world (“Horrified fans scream and boo”). The gig was halted; the band haven’t performed since. Footage of the surreal incident is still up on YouTube, where someone has posted the wonderfully droll comment: “Finally, some hits!”
