Who doesn’t love a little bit of weird? Sometimes, making excellent music isn’t enough to get noticed; some bands and musicians have to put on quite an attention-grabbing act. These five rock bands and musicians are particularly well-known and famous for their bizarre stage personas.
1. Jim Morrison
Remember when Elvis was filmed from the waist up on The Ed Sullivan Show to spare young American eyes from seeing his gyrating hip movements? It was controversial then, and it was also controversial when The Doors’ Jim Morrison had a similar controversy in 1969.
At the Dinner Key Auditorium in Miami, the drunk Morrison put on a chaotic show to the oversold and overpacked auditorium. He began stripping and trying to get fans onstage. He came close to exposing himself, and a warrant was later put out for his arrest for “indecent exposure”. But we do love The Doors for a reason, don’t we?
2. L7
The punk/metal rockers of L7 weren’t afraid to get a little weird and gross. They gained a lot of popularity during the era of grunge, notably after they released the 1992 hit album Bricks Are Heavy. That year, L7 performed at Reading Festival, and a lot of “fans” weren’t happy about the all-female rock outfit performing. Some audience members began throwing handfuls of mud at them.
Donita Sparks got smacked in the head and decided to promptly pull out a used tampon and sling it into the crowd. It was a legendary moment often revered by the riot grrrl acts that followed in their footsteps later that decade.
3. Amanda Palmer
Former Dresden Dolls singer and indie-rock artist Amanda Palmer’s career has thrived on controversy. While many rock bands through the years have had bizarre stage personas, Palmer managed to take bizarre to a whole new level all on her own.
At a June 2013 set at Glastonbury Festival, she had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction. The media covered it extensively but made no mention of her music. This frustrated Palmer, who decided to debut the song “Dear Daily Mail” at the Roundhouse Rock Club in July, which she performed while completely disrobing in front of her audience.
4. The KLF
This rock band’s bizarre stage persona was actually a bit terrifying for their audience. Dance-pop band The KLF actually fired a fake gun into their audience at the Brit Awards back in February of 1992. The prank freaked everyone out, and The KLF were promptly banned from performing at the Brit Awards in the future.
5. Liam Gallagher
This wouldn’t be a list of rock bands with bizarre stage personas without mentioning Liam Gallagher of Oasis. There are plenty of examples we could use here, but we’ll use his stint at the MTV Unplugged taping in 1996.
Ahead of the performance, Liam only showed up occasionally during rehearsals. On the day of the live taping, Liam appeared drunk. Noel Gallagher had to take on all of the singing duties. At some point during the show, Liam snuck into a venue box seat and began heckling Noel from the audience as he performed. He also “threatened” to come back on stage and sing. Soon after, Oasis’ US tour fell apart.
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Photo by Jeff J Mitchell
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