Milwaukee Rock Concert Scandals

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Photo by Larry Widen

Keith Richards, April 1979

Keith Richards, April 1979

Broken windows, bomb threats, and clashes with the police have been part of the rock concert experience in the last four decades. Recently a performer was escorted from the stage when management was told that a bomb had been planted in the theater. Not every incident turns violent, but disturbances at live performances are spontaneous and often begin with little or no warning.

Before they Make Me Run

In April 1979, Keith Richards and Ron Wood, guitarists from the Rolling Stones, did a show for 11,000 fans at the Arena. A local reviewer raved about the music, saying it was no-holds-barred roadhouse rock and roll. Billed as the New Barbarians, the band included Return to Forever’s bass player Stanley Clarke, Faces keyboardist Ian McLagen, drummer Ziggy Modeliste from the Meters, and Bobby Keys, saxophone player for the Stones. 

A week before the concert, word spread that a special guest was going to appear with the band. Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck were some of the names tossed about. Onstage, Richards delighted the audience with his spectral appearance enhanced by graying hair and a face carved from granite. When the two-hour show ended, and no surprise guests had shown up, angry members of the audience stamped their feet in unison and booed. Others threw chairs, smashed windows, and tore down partitions and curtains. An hour later, police cleared the auditorium and arrested 31 people for disorderly conduct.

Lawsuits holding the band, managers and promoters responsible for the damages were filed. Accusations of who was to blame for the incident flew back and forth. No other city on the tour advertised a special guest and some accountability for the rumors were attributed to a local radio station. Still, Wood generously offered to do a benefit show with money from ticket sales going to the city. “I’d like to be welcome in Milwaukee the next time we come here,” he said. Wood’s fund-raising concert was held at the Uptown theater on January 16, 1980. 

Black and Blue

Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult appeared at the Arena on Oct. 9, 1980, to perform a twin-bill show of ear-splitting rock and roll for 7,000 fans. Singer Ozzy Osbourne, who had left Black Sabbath a year earlier, was replaced by veteran vocalist Ronnie James Dio. The audience was rowdy during Blue Oyster Cult’s set, throwing frisbees, inflatable beach balls, and other objects around the auditorium. The problems began when Black Sabbath was an hour late getting onstage. Impatient audience members pushed their way to the front of the stage, angering those with reserved seats. The band opened with “War Pigs” followed by “Neon Knights” Out of the crowd came a beer bottle that hit bassist Geezer Butler squarely in the face. 

Dio grabbed the mike and screamed, “This stage is not a trash can. We don’t appreciate things being thrown at us!” He turned to see his unconscious bandmate being carried off stage with blood streaming down his face “You hit Geezer in the head! We wanted to give a lot to you, but not our blood” Dio yelled. “If you don’t want to enjoy it, then tough shit!” The house lights snapped off, and the band exited in the dark. When fans realized Black Sabbath wasn’t coming back, all hell broke loose. By 11:30 p.m., any available police officer in the area was called to the scene. Telephones were ripped off the walls, doors were broken off the hinges and windows were smashed as people exited the building. On the street hundreds of bottles were thrown, and the windows of a dozen police cars were smashed. Private automobiles suffered huge dents from being jumped on. The officers began dragging people by the hair to patrol wagons as 200 arrests were made. Asked about the damage inside the Arena, an officer said, “You’d have to see it to believe it.”

I Fought the Law and the Law Won (Kinda)

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Photo by Larry Widen

Wendy O. Williams

Wendy O. Williams

In a pre-show interview, Plasmatics vocalist Wendy O. Williams warned a reporter thar her band was like nothing Milwaukee had seen before. The controversial punk rock band from New York City was scheduled to perform at The Palms nightclub at 26th and State Streets on Jan. 18, 1981. “We hate fashion, we hate art,” Williams said. “And we despise the values our society has placed on material things.” She said the band used chainsaws and sledgehammers to destroy audio/visual equipment. “We buy that stuff by the dozens,” she said. “They’re called ‘disposables.’”

Although Williams had gained a reputation for performing half-nude, she said that wasn’t true and that she showed as much as a tiny beach bikini. “It’s not about being naked onstage. The Plasmatics generate a rough, raw sound up there,” Williams said. “It’s new hope for the wretched.”

On the night of the show, several undercover police officers watched as Williams chopped up guitars and television sets before giving the remnants to audience members. A band member smashed a guitar against his forehead, producing rivulets of blood that streamed down his face. When the show ended, the Plasmatics went to an alley where their cars were parked. Waiting for them were seven police officers who allegedly beat the group with nightsticks. Williams was grabbed by both arms and pushed into a patrol van. 

She later said in court she was planning to go peacefully until two of the officers sexually assaulted her. After kicking one in the face and the other in the stomach, she was forcibly thrown to the ground where her face was pushed into the ice and snow. “I woke up in a pool of blood at the hospital,” she said, displaying cuts and bruises on her face. The singer was charged with conduct prohibited in a club, battery, and resisting arrest. Bail was set at $2,000. 

Williams filed a $6 million lawsuit against the police officers involved in the altercation. A jury ruled that they didn't use excessive force to arrest Williams. She performed at the Eagles Club in September 1984. "I always said when Chief (Harold) Breier retired, I would return," Williams said.

The Day the Music Died

Maybe it was the unbearable heat, the gallons of alcohol, or some of the bad drugs being passed around that turned Summerfest’s Main Stage into chaos. As the British blues band Humble Pie performed at Summerfest’s Main Stage in July 1973, hundreds of beer bottles sailed through the air, and a dozen bonfires fueled by wooden picnic tables burned at various points in an audience estimated to be around 82,000. Two nearby beer tents were destroyed, and 50 half-barrels of beer were stolen from refrigerated lockers and passed into the thirsty crowd. 

The band blasted through classics like “Up Our Sleeve,” “Four Day Creep,” and “30 Days in the Hole” before vocalist Steve Marriott pleaded two or three times for the violence to stop. “How can there be good vibes when I’m afraid to be up here” he shouted. “Be cool.” At the end of the show, the musicians were evacuated by helicopter.

Concert-goers battled helmeted police officers with cans, bottles, rocks and timbers from food stands that were torn down. Nearly 300 people were arrested for disorderly conduct and public intoxication. “The jails are full,” an officer told a reporter. According to a Summerfest spokesperson, the Main Stage vendors lost about $70,000 in projected revenue. Golf carts and cars parked near the food service tents were overturned with smashed windows or other damage. Employees who tried to protect their businesses were beaten and kicked. People who planned to camp near the lake became angry when they were ordered to dismantle makeshift tents and mattresses.

Two city garbage trucks and a large clean-up crew worked through the night to remove an unprecedented amount trash from the concert site. The mayhem that accompanied the Humble Pie show left festival officials wondering whether to book rock bands for the 1974 season. Numbers showed they brought in the crowds and the money. “Summerfest will die without those rock bands,” a brewery executive said.