Video: Crowbar’s Kirk Windstein Gets Tackled on Stage
Maryland Deathfest took place over the long weekend, and judging by all the posts in my Facebook feed it was an incredible time filled with plenty of metal, beer, headbanging and shenanigans, as always.
One person who didn’t have such a good time: Crowbar’s Kirk Windstein, who was nearly knocked over mid-set when a reveler jumped onto the stage.
Check out the below video of the incident:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HPPrHmSzyP0#t=140
Here’s what Windstein said after he stopped the song, transcribed by Lambgoat:
Stop this fucking song! I’m so sick of this shit. You’ve got motherfuckers like Randy Blythe — nicest motherfucking guy in the world. Some asshole goes into his office, fucks his fucking world up, and the guy almost goes to prison in a foreign fucking country. [Pointing at audience] Who does what for a living? Do I go into your office and fuck your computer up? No. You know why? I respect you and I love you. Thank you. A lot of people think I’m a dick, go suck one, motherfucker. This is about respect. My eyes are closed, I’m playing my goddamn heart out. You could have broken every fucking tooth in my mouth. Thank you, security.
If you look at what happened it was actually the security guard’s lateral tackle that knocked into Windstein, not anything the would-be stage-diver did on his own volition. If left alone the reveler probably would’ve harmlessly dove onto the crowd’s hands. Of course Kirk didn’t know this in the moment, and the security guard did a great job of immediately jumping in right after the man climbed onto the stage.
Still, Kirk is absolutely right to be miffed, not just because being knocked into when you’re in the moment with your eyes closed is incredibly jarring, but because we live in the age of Dimebag and Randy Blythe. It sucks that stage-diving has been taken away from the concert experience (at least from larger concerts), but it’s the age we live in. Who knows what crazy psycho has nefarious plots in mind, or whether a stage-dive gone wrong could result in a lawsuit? I can’t find any fault with Windstein being as upset as he is.
Windstein later issued the following statement via Crowbar’s Facebook after looking at the instant replay:
In regards to the fan jumping onstage during our set at Maryland Death Fest. The MDF organizers/venue do not allow fans to run on stage uninvited. That’s their policy. They had barriers and security in plain sight to prevent that. If someone chooses to go against their policy, I have no control over that and at a show like this I’m not expecting anyone to run onto the stage, especially during Planets Collide. So I’m rocking out, my eyes are closed and then I guess security tackled the fan into me. I was already on edge having driven 15 hours straight through the night without sleep to play the gig. We had no back up guitars or techs with us so If we broke a guitar or even a string, the set would have been seriously delayed or ended. At shows WITHOUT security or barricades if you decide to run on stage or dive off it, at least be respectful, get up and dive off and try not to hit into the band or break their gear and try not to break your neck or the neck of someone else. Thanks for understanding!
The silver lining: Crowbar inadvertently got a ton of press leading into today’s release of their new album Symmetry in Black. All’s well that ends well, I suppose!
