Last night in Australia at Sydney’s The Metro venue, Brian Jonestown Massacre singer Anton Newcombe was in the midst of one of his trademark on-stage rants. His focus turned to the name of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, a group that is often compared to Newcombe’s own band. While discussing the band’s previous name The Elements, he said “that’s a stupid fucking name. In fact there’s another band called The Elements with a flyer outside the show.”
At this point in the video, the audience is a mix of boos, jeers and cheers. Apparently someone made a comment that is not audible in the video, but heard by Newcombe. The famously vitriolic vocalist responded with an extremely harsh slam: “Whatever, you’re a dickhead. Your mom probably screamed like that when she was being raped and that’s how you were born.” See the video for yourself below:
In almost any time in the last few decades, that kind of joke would not be well received. With an increased awareness of widespread sexual abuse, assault and harassment in the wake of the #MeToo movement, that joke simply did not fly. Fans reacted in anger to the comment, venting online:
And Elena Weaver, the woman who shot the footage, responded to her initial tweet:
There is even a Change.org petition to get the band’s shows in Australia cancelled. The petition states that “gigs should be safe spaces.”
Others disagree about the safe spaces at shows sentiment. One Twitter user voiced the opinion that rock ‘n roll should be “dangerous”:
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