VIDEO FAN THROWS BEER ON MACHINE HEAD’S SOUNDBOARD
MACHINE HEAD was forced to perform with a “compromised” sound for part of its concert last night (Saturday, November 2) at the at O2 Academy Brixton in London, England after an “asshole” threw “a full 32-ounce beer” on the band’s soundboard, completely taking it out of commission during the “Burn My Eyes” portion of the show.
As with the rest of the ongoing European leg of MACHINE HEAD‘s 25th-anniversary tour for the band’s classic debut, “Burn My Eyes”, the three-hour performance consisted of two parts: part one saw MACHINE HEAD‘s modern classics, such as “Imperium”, “Halo” and “Locust”, played by a lineup featuring guitarist/vocalist Robb Flynn and bassist Jared MacEachern alongside new recruits, Polish guitarist Wacław “Vogg” Kiełtyka (DECAPITATED) and British drummer Matt Alston (DEVILMENT, EASTERN FRONT); part two featured “Burn My Eyes” played in its entirety for the first time ever, with original drummer Chris Kontos and guitarist Logan Mader joining in.
Early this morning, MACHINE HEAD took to its Instagram to write: “LONDON!! Last night was tough. First off: We want to thank every single person who attended last nights incredible show. Selling out Brixton Academy in 8 hours, was quite frankly mind-blowing! It was unfortunate that some asshole had to throw a full 32 ounce beer on our soundboard, and completely take it out of commission during the Burn My Eyes set. Your patience and respect to us, and each other, during the whole 20 minute debacle was admirable, and we can’t thank you enough. It did however compromise the rest of the show, and for that we are incredibly sorry. You deserved better than that, and due to consequences beyond our control, we could not deliver that.⠀
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“Our awesome crew, and specifically our bad ass soundman Steve Lagudi, scrambled to reroute everything over to our monitor board, and as you all know, after a 20 minute break, we were miraculously able to finish the show. Had he not been so quick on his feet about what to do, the show likely could never have finished.⠀
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“We are also incredibly thankful to Andy Coppings crew at the O2 Academy for stepping up big time. Josh Rosen the general manager of the Brixton was fucking incredible, he let us play a half an hour over the EXTREMELY strict curfew, and all of the venue security volunteered their time to allow us to finish the show, out of respect for the band, and our long 25 year history with the Brixton.⠀
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“It was beyond humbling.⠀
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“Please give Josh and his crew a MASSIVE thank you in the comments below for helping save the fucking show last night!⠀
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“We do understand the venue sound was completely compromised for the remainder of the set, and again that is very, very disappointing to us⠀
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“And while we were able to pull it all together at the end, we really feel like we need to do something special to make it up to the people who attended. ⠀
“London deserves better than that. ⠀
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“We are so grateful for everyone who came out last night to celebrate this amazing moment in MACHINE HEAD history. It was a stark and vivid reminder of why you are some of the greatest Head Cases on the entire planet!”
The North American leg of MACHINE HEAD‘s “Burn My Eyes” 25th-anniversary tour will kick off in Phoenix on January 16, and continue across Texas, Florida, New York, Toronto, Chicago and Denver, wrapping up at the legendary Fox Theater in Oakland, California on February 21 and House Of Blues in Anaheim, California on February 22.
Kontos left MACHINE HEAD before the release of the band’s second album, 1997’s “The More Things Change”, and was replaced by Dave McClain.
Mader contributed to two MACHINE HEAD albums, the aforementioned “Burn My Eyes” and “The More Things Change”, before exiting the group and being replaced by Ahrue Luster and, later on, Phil Demmel.
Demmel and McClain exited MACHINE HEAD last fall.
