Crowbar’s Kirk Windstein Goes Off on Crowd After Security Guard Tackles Fan Onstage

The 12th annual Maryland Deathfest took place last weekend and skulls were stomped into dust! The festival was headlined by pinnacle metal acts such as Immolation, At the Gates, Dark Angel, Gorguts + many others, but it was during Crowbar's set where conflict momentarily brought the band's set to a halt.

Crowbar were part-way through the oddly beautiful sludge anthem 'Planets Collide' when a fan jumped onstage. Security acted quickly and tackled the fan, but the security guard and fan accidentally crashed into frontman Kirk Windstein. After Windstein gave the fan a quick kick to the head and walked offstage to confront him, the Crowbar legend stopped 'Planets Collide' to address the crowd.

"Stop this f---ing song!" begins Windstein. "I’m so sick of this s--t. You’ve got motherf---ers like Randy Blythe — nicest motherf---ing guy in the world. Some a--hole goes into his office, f---s his f---ing world up, and the guy almost goes to prison in a foreign f---ing country. Who does what for a living? Do I go into your office and f--- your computer up? No. You know why? I respect you and I love you. Thank you. A lot of people think I’m a d--k, go suck one, motherf---er. This is about respect. My eyes are closed, I’m playing my goddamn heart out. You could have broken every f---ing tooth in my mouth. Thank you, security."

Windstein later went to Crowbar's Facebook page to address the situation after seeing footage of the incident:

In regards to the fan jumping onstage during our set at Maryland Death Fest. The MDF organizers/venue do not allow fans to run on stage uninvited. That's their policy. They had barriers and security in plain sight to prevent that. If someone chooses to go against their policy, I have no control over that and at a show like this I'm not expecting anyone to run onto the stage, especially during Planets Collide. So I'm rocking out, my eyes are closed and then I guess security tackled the fan into me. I was already on edge having driven 15 hours straight through the night without sleep to play the gig. We had no back up guitars or techs with us so If we broke a guitar or even a string, the set would have been seriously delayed or ended. At shows WITHOUT security or barricades if you decide to run on stage or dive off it, at least be respectful, get up and dive off and try not to hit into the band or break their gear and try not to break your neck or the neck of someone else. Thanks for understanding! - Kirk

It's been said for nearly a decade now: Everything changed after what happened to Pantera's 'Dimebag' Darrell Abbott. The Randy Blythe incident, which Windstein referred to onstage, is another prime example. While it was the security guard's tackle that caused the onstage contact with Windstein, it's just another reason not to jump up onstage during a show.

In other Crowbar news, the band's 10th studio album, 'Symmetry in Black,' came out today! It's awesomely crunchy, so to grab a copy, click here.