Stage-diving is a time honoured tradition that traces its roots to The Doors’ original bad-boy Jim Morrison, and his notorious on-stage demeanour.
Admired by a fresh-faced Iggy Pop whom studied the Lizard King’s controversial moves, the young Stooge frontman ran with Morrison’s liberating performance and turned the stage-dive into his very own long-lasting legacy.
Akin to their aforementioned founding fathers, Los Angeles band Fishbone, and in particular lead vocalist Angelo ‘Dr Madd Vibe’ Moore, have made sporadic stage-dives a staple in their electrifying live performance. But one of Dr Madd Vibe’s more lethal leaps into the audience has resulted in a million dollar lawsuit.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Moore dove into the crowd at Philadelphia’s World Café Live in 2010, knocking a member of the audience to the ground and leaving them unconscious. As a consequence, Fishbone have been slapped with a whopping USD$1.4 million worth of damages inflicted on the unsuspecting patron.
Moore’s manic manoeuvre reportedly injured Kimberly Myers, mother of three, breaking both her skull and collarbone.
In accordance to Myers’ claims, she was unaware that Fishbone were to perform at the Philadelphia’s World Café. Myers further ascertains that the incident has caused on-going shoulder pain, memory problems and autoimmune issues that have lead to lupus. “Every couple of months an ambulance is called to the concert venue… you might hit the floor.”
Pennsylvanian Judge Jan DuBois has ordered Moore and bassist John Norwood Fisher pay USD$1.1 in compensatory damages. In hefty addition to this, Judge DuBois criticised the frontman, questioning his sobriety as Moore refused to answer questions on drug consumption.
Judge DuBois noted that despite the victim having been knocked to the ground unconscious “the band continued to perform as if nothing happened” closing that the Fishbone frontman “exhibits little remorse or impetus to change his conduct” topping-up the vocalist’s bill by a further USD$250,000 in punitive damages.
Defending his actions, Moore’s testimony reportedly stated “people want to be on the edge when they go to a Fishbone show” attesting that he does not provide warning when leaping from the stage to the crowd, believing such an alarm would remove the “theatrics” of the band’s performance.
Digging a deeper hole of scrutiny, Dr. Madd Vibe commented on the incident stating “every couple of months an ambulance is called to the concert venue” proclaiming that when he takes to the crowd there’s a risk “you might hit the floor.”
The injuries inflicted on Myers have not drastically altered the frontman’s performance, Moore not shy of throwing himself into the sea of Fishbone fans, something the ska-punk reggae band have been doing since the 1980s, alongside neighbouring LA contemporaries: Jane’s Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers, whom frequently throw their physical all into their sea of swallowing fans.
Its not the first time that unfortunate concertgoers have been injured by the boisterous leap of faith taken by artists.
Flashback to November 2013 when Warped Tour rapper George Watsky took an ambitious 12-metre plunge into his audience, breaking a girl’s arm and injuring others too in the process.
As TMZ point out (so please take with a grain of salt) Dubstep hero Sonny Moore, commonly known under the moniker of Skrillex, is also amidst legal proceedings after fan Jennifer Fraissl attending a pre-Grammy party in 2012 claimed Skillrex’s stage-diving caused her to have a stroke.
(Image: Georgia Louglin. Source: Fishbone Facebook)
