Butthole Surfers were not like other bands. And for that, perhaps, we should be grateful, because there's only so much drug-fuelled insanity that the human brain can process at any given time.
For an examination of what made the Texan noise rock/art rock/pysch rock troupe unique, lets rewind to October 12, 1985, a not untypical day in the life of Gibby Haynes and co. But one that would live long in the memories of those who had the 'pleasure' of witnessing their first ever show on Dutch soil.
The setting was day two of the Pandora's Box music festival in Rotterdam, Holland, a gathering of the great and good of the indie/alternative music scene of the day, with Sonic Youth, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, The Cult, Echo and The Bunnymen and Alex Chilton among the featured artists appearing alongside the Surfers. The first hint that things might not go entirely to plan for the San Antonia band came when Gibby Haynes' bandmates learned that their vocalist had consumed a bottle of Jim Beam whiskey and a fistful of acid tabs before soundcheck, never the best idea.
An equally bad idea, as it transpired, was Haynes' subsequent decision to strip naked, and repeatedly launch himself at Nick Cave during the Bad Seeds set, until guitarist Blixa Bargeld tired of the out-of-control nude berserker and dispatched him into the audience with a well-aimed kick in the balls. Having gone in search of the singer, Buttholes Surfer bassist Kramer found Haynes seemingly unconscious on the venue floor.
The story of what happened next is recounted in Michael Azerrad's superb book, Our Band Could Be Your Life.
"I bend over to see if he is still alive," recalls Kramer, "but he seems not to be breathing. I poke him in the shoulder. Suddenly, like a volcano, he bursts to life, and swirls his fists in every direction."
Once more, a bad idea...
In his frenzy, Haynes accidentally hit some girls in the crowd, enraging their boyfriends, and indeed festival security, who descended upon the singer and proceeded to batter the feral Yank into submission. Haynes then feigned unconsciousness, and once his assailants backed off, he ran screaming from the room, uttering some deeply unpleasant homophobic and xenophobic insults towards the entire Dutch nation.
Again, a bad... you get the idea.
"The ensuing chase and capture was the stuff dreams are made of," Kramer told Michael Azerrad. ""Stark naked like the day he was born, beaten, bruised, bloody and tripping, this icon of modern music ran like Jesse Owens through the complex... grabbing beer bottles from people's hands as he went, and throwing them down on the concert goers below."
When Haynes was inevitably caught again, he pleaded for mercy and was spared further violence. He then proceeded to drink a bottle of red wine before his band's show, which by all accounts, backed by the video evidence below, was a total car crash.
"Of course, the Dutch loved it," laughed drummer King Coffey. "The mayhem it is beautiful, it is wonderful, every song erupted into chaos! Every time when we came back after that and just played music, people would be horribly disappointed. 'How come you do not beat up people?'"
