Ongoing History Daily: Onstage bust-ups, part 1

Back on September 13, Jane’s Addiction disintegrated forever when singer Perry Farrell punched guitarist Dave Navarro during a show in Boston. This, however, is not the first time band members have fought onstage.

In the early days of The Beatles—this would be 1961—things could get weird. When they were just a bar band playing in Hamburg, then-drummer Stu Sutcliffe slugged Paul McCartney over a crack Macca made about Sutcliffe’s new fiancé.

A few years later, Dave Davies of The Kinks kicked over drummer Mick Avory’s kit. Mick then proceeded to knock out Dave with his hi-hat stand. Thinking that he’d killed him, Avory took off while Dave was taken to the hospital. He survived and the band continued.

And The Who is no stranger to onstage brawls. In 1966, Keith Moon and John Entwistle showed up late for a gig only to find that a new rhythm section had been drafted to play in their absence. There were fists.

More next time.