Crowbar mainman Kirk Windstein says he lashed out at a fan on stage earlier this year as he thought he was about to be attacked.
The incident occurred during the band’s set at the Maryland Deathfest in May. A member of the crowd climbed on to the stage and was quickly tackled by security, causing them both to knock into Windstein. The frontman, who didn’t see events unfold, then aimed a kick at the fan – a reaction which angered some people. But he says he reacted angrily because he was taken by surprise and thought he was about to be assaulted.
He tells Echo Asylum: “That show was a no-stage-diving, no-crowd-surfing event, so you don’t expect people to be on stage. When I had my eyes closed and I was singing, I got hit. I didn’t get hit hard and it didn’t hurt bad but it shocked me. But when I looked down and saw the security guy had tackled the kid, all I thought was this kid was trying to fucking attack me.
“It was kind of, like, ‘You stupid fucking asshole.’ But after seeing it, I understand why people got aggravated, because they’ve got a kid jumping up and down and the security guy came out and tackled him and flew 10 yards into me.”
He continues: “But keep in mind that the next night we’re playing Alrosa Villa – the place where Dimebag Darrell was murdered. It’s weird at Alrosa – we’ve played it twice – but it has a weird, creepy kind of feeling to us. I’m not using that for an excuse but the point is it wasn’t a stage-diving type of show.”
And Windstein says looking back at the event, he now reckons the young fan probably realised he had made a mistake as soon as he got on the stage.
He adds: “It was a high stage with a barricade about six feet away, with security guards everywhere. To be honest, he probably got up there and jumped up and down a little bit and said, ‘Oh, fuck. What do I do now?’ If he would have dove, he would have hurt himself or somebody else really bad.”
Windstein left Down to focus on Crowbar’s 25th anniversary this year and they released 10th album Symmetry In Black in May via Century Media Records which Metal Hammer called “a stone cold classic.”
