Fact #162842
When:
Short story:
The Beastie Boys and RUN DMC play at the Royal Court, Liverpool, England, UK, Europe. During the show, Beastie Adam Horowitz is arrested for allegedly hitting a female fan during a riot.
Full article:
Marc Jones (journalist) : I was working for Radio Merseyside at the time and went to check the show out. There were more scallies roaming about than I'd ever seen before. It was a footy crowd, fuelled on alcohol, people who never went to a gig, a show of strength to 'sort out the Beastie Boys.'
Paul Fitzgerald (audience) : It was packed in the Royal Court that night, a full house. I was down the front with several others ... It was warm in there and a couple of beers had been sunk. There was a definite feeling in the air, unlike other packed nights we’d all shared in that venue. Something different. Moody, if you like.
Although there’s been some debate over the years about exactly who started or caused what happened next, with people blaming the band, the crowd, and even the venue staff, here’s the thing… I went to the toilets downstairs just before the band went onstage.
The merchandise stall had been completely cleared away. Before the gig? Something I’d never seen before – or since, for that matter. So, maybe someone from the band’s crew had an inkling that something was going to happen, eh? Maybe. Maybe they knew.
From the moment the band launched into what would be an 11 minute set, sections of the crowd goaded them, and they retaliated. It all got a bit ugly and very angry, when Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz (AdRock) started throwing cans of Bud into the crowd.
(Source : http://www.getintothis.co.uk/2015/09/the-beastie-boys-in-liverpool-and-a-riot-at-the-royal-court/)
Mike D (Beastie Boys) : Liverpool was unbelieveable. The bottles started flying 'cos most of the people there just wanted to get drunk and start a fight. We were in a no-win situation. If we didn't go on, there'd be a riot for sure, and if we went out and asked the crowd to stop throwing shit then we'd really get bombarded. We decided to give it a shot and see if we could get through it.
Marc Jones : Cans started flying the minute the band came on, so Mike D produced a baseball bat to start batting bottles and cans away. It was pure rock'n'roll and I must admit I was excited rather than frightened.
Paul Fitzgerald : As the band disappeared in a shower of bottles, cans, and V signs, the crowd pushed forward and then immediately began to disperse in any and every direction, trying to escape. Tear gas. Who knows where from, or who set it off, but the pain in the eyes, and throat, was unbearable. Teenagers were draped over the front of stage barriers coughing and fighting for breath; others sat on the floor, trying to get under the gas, so they could crawl away.
The majority just ran, in whatever direction, and as fast as they could. It’s no exaggeration to say that there could have been more people seriously injured, but someone had very kindly, and coincidentally, opened all the exit doors just in time, allowing most of the crowd to get outside to the safety of the street, and fresh air.
(Source : http://www.getintothis.co.uk/2015/09/the-beastie-boys-in-liverpool-and-a-riot-at-the-royal-court/)
Mike D : Miraculously, I don't think I got hit - and we were like sitting ducks in a shooting gallery. After about three songs it was obvious that it wasn't going to let up, so we just had to down tools and get out of there. Once we were on the bus, we thought, 'Thank God it's over. All English people are assholes.'
(Source : not known)
Paul Fitzgerald : As Andrew Erskine (manager) made his way to the exit doors at the front of the venue, gasping for breath, he tripped over a bin bag outside the doors, landing face first on the Roe Street pavement.
A large and anticipatory police presence outside the venue that evening meant that he fell right in front of one of Maggie’s boys in blue, who immediately arrested him on a trumped up drunk and disorderly charge. He was later cleared of this charge, possibly due to the evidence of his expert witness, but kept all the court statements, as well as his original ticket, number 000001.
Horovitz, however, wasn’t so lucky. He was arrested in London the next day, interviewed for 10 hours, and brought back to Liverpool where he faced assault and GBH charges.
One of the cans of Bud he’d thrown during the incident had hit a young woman in the face. MPs predictably called for the Beastie Boys to be deported in the wake of the riot.
(Source : http://www.getintothis.co.uk/2015/09/the-beastie-boys-in-liverpool-and-a-riot-at-the-royal-court/)
Tweet this Fact
Paul Fitzgerald (audience) : It was packed in the Royal Court that night, a full house. I was down the front with several others ... It was warm in there and a couple of beers had been sunk. There was a definite feeling in the air, unlike other packed nights we’d all shared in that venue. Something different. Moody, if you like.
Although there’s been some debate over the years about exactly who started or caused what happened next, with people blaming the band, the crowd, and even the venue staff, here’s the thing… I went to the toilets downstairs just before the band went onstage.
The merchandise stall had been completely cleared away. Before the gig? Something I’d never seen before – or since, for that matter. So, maybe someone from the band’s crew had an inkling that something was going to happen, eh? Maybe. Maybe they knew.
From the moment the band launched into what would be an 11 minute set, sections of the crowd goaded them, and they retaliated. It all got a bit ugly and very angry, when Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz (AdRock) started throwing cans of Bud into the crowd.
(Source : http://www.getintothis.co.uk/2015/09/the-beastie-boys-in-liverpool-and-a-riot-at-the-royal-court/)
Mike D (Beastie Boys) : Liverpool was unbelieveable. The bottles started flying 'cos most of the people there just wanted to get drunk and start a fight. We were in a no-win situation. If we didn't go on, there'd be a riot for sure, and if we went out and asked the crowd to stop throwing shit then we'd really get bombarded. We decided to give it a shot and see if we could get through it.
Marc Jones : Cans started flying the minute the band came on, so Mike D produced a baseball bat to start batting bottles and cans away. It was pure rock'n'roll and I must admit I was excited rather than frightened.
Paul Fitzgerald : As the band disappeared in a shower of bottles, cans, and V signs, the crowd pushed forward and then immediately began to disperse in any and every direction, trying to escape. Tear gas. Who knows where from, or who set it off, but the pain in the eyes, and throat, was unbearable. Teenagers were draped over the front of stage barriers coughing and fighting for breath; others sat on the floor, trying to get under the gas, so they could crawl away.
The majority just ran, in whatever direction, and as fast as they could. It’s no exaggeration to say that there could have been more people seriously injured, but someone had very kindly, and coincidentally, opened all the exit doors just in time, allowing most of the crowd to get outside to the safety of the street, and fresh air.
(Source : http://www.getintothis.co.uk/2015/09/the-beastie-boys-in-liverpool-and-a-riot-at-the-royal-court/)
Mike D : Miraculously, I don't think I got hit - and we were like sitting ducks in a shooting gallery. After about three songs it was obvious that it wasn't going to let up, so we just had to down tools and get out of there. Once we were on the bus, we thought, 'Thank God it's over. All English people are assholes.'
(Source : not known)
Paul Fitzgerald : As Andrew Erskine (manager) made his way to the exit doors at the front of the venue, gasping for breath, he tripped over a bin bag outside the doors, landing face first on the Roe Street pavement.
A large and anticipatory police presence outside the venue that evening meant that he fell right in front of one of Maggie’s boys in blue, who immediately arrested him on a trumped up drunk and disorderly charge. He was later cleared of this charge, possibly due to the evidence of his expert witness, but kept all the court statements, as well as his original ticket, number 000001.
Horovitz, however, wasn’t so lucky. He was arrested in London the next day, interviewed for 10 hours, and brought back to Liverpool where he faced assault and GBH charges.
One of the cans of Bud he’d thrown during the incident had hit a young woman in the face. MPs predictably called for the Beastie Boys to be deported in the wake of the riot.
(Source : http://www.getintothis.co.uk/2015/09/the-beastie-boys-in-liverpool-and-a-riot-at-the-royal-court/)