In another sour note for Australian musical festivals, ‘Party Hard’ rocker Andrew W.K.  goaded fans into bottling him during a less-than-stellar performance at Groovin The Moo over the weekend.

Playing the first date of the regional tour in Bendigo, the self-described ‘feel good party dude’ began his Australian tour with a shaky start. It seemed the Californian based performer/producer had done a little too much ‘partying hard’ before taking to the stage for his afternoon slot. The self-described ‘one-man party act’ failing to excite the crowd with his slurred vocals and hammering keys.

The mood quickly degenerated as he began to take offence at the unresponsive crowd, cursing his audience, calling them “fuckers” and teasing, “go home to your mothers.”

As the booing escalated, Andrew WK interrupted his karaoke-lite set  to to goad his fans into pelting him with bottles. Angry attendees happily obliged, pelting plastic bottles and other rubbish on-stage. WK took one or two to the face before taunting the crowd repeatedly to “bring it on!”

The fan footage that’s surfaced even shows WK leaving his stage, as his backing music blared on, to wander into The Getaway Plan’s soundcheck to pick on several punters in a ramble of swearing, against a shower of plastic bottles and pelted items.

Unfortunately for the festival, it isn’t the first time it has dealt with controversy this year. Promoters have already had to deal with the winner of a t-shirt design competition, whose work turned out to be a case of plagiarism.

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine