The Byron Bay Surf Festival concluded over the weekend, but things got off to a rough and somewhat disturbing start after the first night of the event descended into an “all on” brawl. Festival security came to blows with several patrons who were getting ready to watch a performance inside the Beach Hotel on Friday night.
“Our drummer was sound checking and a guy got up on stage, started to strip, and got his cock out, basically,” a member of Melbourne band BONJAH, who were headlining the festival launch party, told Tone Deaf.
“A bouncer came up, grabbed him, started to take him off stage to put him outside, and then two of [the guy’s] mates ran over and it just turned into this massive brawl in the streets. Then all the security guards got involved. I think one of the guy’s mates king hit one of the bouncers from behind and knocked him out or something.”
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According to bouncer Josh Paish, who spoke to The Northern Star, after the fight spilled into Jonson St, one of the reportedly drunken patron’s mates “dog shotted” one of the security guards. “He hit him from behind in the jaw and knocked him out,” said Paish.
“Everyone went in the street, half the pub went out and watched,” said the representative from BONJAH. “The whole street was closed off and the cops came and it was just basically all on.” The Beach Hotel was reportedly “half full” at the time of the incident.
“It was really shocking to see as we never ever see fights at our shows and have never seen a brawl at the Beachy in 20-plus shows there.”
“A lot of the people in the venue went out into the street, it was just shocking,” he added. “There were children there, you can’t get your cock out in front of kids.” According to Paish, the incident occurred at 8pm.
Footage of the melee in Jonson St has since surfaced online, going viral after it was shared on the Northern Star website. The video depicts a group of four bouncers continuing to punch a man after he’d been knocked down outside the Fresh cafe.
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One of the bouncers can be seen dropping from a crouched position with his knee landing on the man’s head. Two of the bouncers remain on top of the man, one kneeling on his head, as they engage verbally with a woman who objects to the bouncers’ treatment of the man.
Comments from some Northern Star readers commended the bouncers’ actions, while others condemned them, leading Mr. Paish to issue a defence of the bouncers’ actions depicted in the chaotic footage.
“It looks messy and I understand to outsiders it looks messy but these sort of incidents are not a finite thing, they’re very fluid; they’re very hard to control,” said Mr. Paish, a 17-year veteran Byron bouncer. “Especially when you have got a big strong guy who doesn’t want to be restrained after assaulting somebody.”
