Peter Murphy tossed from own show after throwing glasses and bottles at crowd

[News]

Peter Murphy and David J recently reunited for a tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of gothic rock pioneers Bauhaus. Just as they were nearing the end of their European leg on Tuesday night, however, things took an aggressive turn that ended with Murphy being kicked out of his own show.

“The Ruby Celebration Tour” stop at Stockholm, Sweden’s Nalen seemed doomed from the onset. According to reports, the gig began considerably late and Murphy appeared off from the get-go (via Gaffa). He was complaining about the sound and a lack of audience attention, and by the time he hit “Stigmata Martyr” (around the eighth song, if setlists are accurate), he began taking it out on the audience. Murphy tossed bottles of water and glasses into the crowd, apparently injuring some concertgoers, with Aftonbladet reporting at least one person went to the hospital. Video shows Murphy kicking a stage light, shattering it, and throwing water bottles.

One of the tossed bottles splashed onto a mixer, damaging it. According to Nalen press officer Jennie Monie, it was Murphy’s own technician who chose to end the concert at that point. Monie told Aftonbladet that they initially did not kick Murphy out after cutting the show off, but when he returned to the stage, he began acting aggressively towards staff, and that’s when security escorted him from the premesis.

(Read: Top 10 4AD Albums)

Things got worse from there. In video posted on Aftonbladet, you can see Murphy yelling at someone (it’s unclear if it’s a fan or Nalen security). Someone tells him to “calm it down, mate,” and Murphy says something that sounds like, “You think you got a big cock? Fuck you, you fucking Swedish whale.” At this point, someone puts his hand on Murphy’s shoulder and Murphy responds with a punch. That’s when security chose to take him down with a chokehold.

The concert promoter released the following statement (via Brooklyn Vegan):

“With one more song planned, the artists tour manager and technician decided to end yesterday’s concert with Peter Murphy since technical equipment had been destroyed due to incidents we at Nalen take very seriously. The artist acted in an unacceptable way towards the audience and our staff. We are currently trying to sort the situation out. If anyone in the audience got injured in any way, we would like you to contact us and report to the police. We also want to say thanks to the guests who helped us at Nalen and others in the audience.”

The “one more song planned” bit contradicts the setlist Murphy has largely stuck to during this tour, but Setlist.fm currently doesn’t have any information regarding the Nalen show. It also appears the venue did not contact police.

Video from the incident can be seen at the event’s Facebook page — and we highly recommend watching the takedown clip over at Aftonbladet.

Bauhaus recently released a remastered edition of their 1979 cornerstone The Bela Sessions.

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