Instrument destruction
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The destruction of musical instruments, a tradition in pop and rock music, is normally carried out by band members during a live performance, particularly at the end of the gig.
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[edit] Early years
Jerry Lee Lewis may be the first rock artist to destroy his equipment on stage, with several, possibly erroneous, stories of him destroying and burning pianos in the 1950s.[1]
In the mid 1960s, guitarist Pete Townshend of The Who was the first guitar smashing rock artist. Rolling Stone magazine included his smashing of a Rickenbacker guitar at the Railway Hotel in September of 1964[2][3] in their list of the "50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock & Roll".[4] A student of Gustav Metzger, Townshend saw his guitar smashing as a kind of auto-destructive art.
Keith Moon, The Who's drummer, was also known for destroying his drum set. The most spectacular episode of this occurred during The Who's debut on U.S. television on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1967. Moon overloaded his bass drum with explosive charges which were detonated during the finale of the song, "My Generation." The explosion caused guest Bette Davis to faint, set Pete Townshend's hair on fire and, according to legend, contributed to his later partial deafness and tinnitus. Moon was also injured in the explosion when shrapnel from the cymbals cut his arm.[5] VH1 later placed this event in the top ten of their list of the 100 Greatest Rock and Roll Moments on Television.[6]
Jeff Beck, then a member of the Yardbirds, reluctantly destroyed a guitar in the 1966 film Blowup after being told to emulate The Who by director Michelangelo Antonioni.[7] Jimi Hendrix is also famous for burning two guitars at three shows, most notably the Monterey Pop Festival.[8] He also would drive the guitar like a lance through the grill cloth of his amp's speaker cabinets, but this was replaced after the show and did not actually destroy the amp.
[edit] Later instrument destruction
Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple and Rainbow smashed guitars in performance through the seventies.[9]
Paul Simonon of The Clash famously destroyed his bass on stage, with a photograph of the event becoming the iconic cover to their London Calling album.[10]
Kurt Cobain would frequently smash guitars at the end of Nirvana shows, but they were often Mexican Stratocasters that were brought on stage simply for the purpose of destruction. Cobain and his band mainly shocked people with instrument destruction in their early career, as they came from poor town Aberdeen, Washington and could barely afford to replace them. Krist Novoselic once threw his bass guitar high into the air, seemingly to smash it, but did not move out of the way quick enough and was concussed by the falling bass.[citation needed]
Paul Stanley, the rhythm guitarist from KISS, would frequently smash his signature Ibanez Iceman guitars, at the end throwing the halves into the crowd. These were specially prepared guitars, modified so as to be easy to smash, and to destruct in a consistent and controlled manner.[citation needed]
Marilyn Manson have been known to frequently destroy their instruments at the end of shows. They have often done so in such an aggressive manner that they have injured themselves, most famously when drummer Ginger Fish suffered a fractured skull. This destruction has been captured in their music videos as well in live recordings such as Guns, God and Government.[citation needed]
Nikki Sixx, bassist of Mötley Crüe, also smashes basses at the end of concerts, usually a Precision copy, but sometimes a Gibson Thunderbird.[citation needed]
Trent Reznor, lead singer of Nine Inch Nails, was known for smashing his guitar out of frustration in the early years of his band. Later on, his band mates destroyed their guitars for the end of a show. Throughout the years, the band has been known for destroying most of their equipment, notably keyboards; this destructive rampage was chronicled on the VHS Closure.[citation needed]
Ryan Key, lead singer and guitarist of Yellowcard, has often smashed his most notable guitar, the Gibson Les Paul, to end many of Yellowcard's performances and has also thrown the halves into the audience.[citation needed]
…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead have become known for regularly smashing their instruments on stage.[citation needed]
Big Black ended their final show by smashing all of their equipment.[citation needed]
Die Sektor frequently smashes their custom keyboards called "beasts" at the end of their performances.
Guy Pratt, Pink Floyd bass player (on their latest years), destroyed his bass at the end of the Momentary Lapse of Reason tour (1989) and Division Bell tour (1994). At the latter show the pyrotechnic team placed a large firework to the back which failed to ignite. The bass was never destroyed and merely chucked at a security guard due to its weight and the distance between the audience and stage.[citation needed]
Peter Criss, the drummer from KISS, destroyed his drum kit in 2000 on the last US performance of KISS' Farewell tour.[citation needed]
Greg Hill of Mute Math uses drum mallets to smash the body of his guitar during live performances. He often drums along with the band as he smashes the body.[citation needed]
Win Butler of Arcade Fire destroyed an acoustic guitar at the end of a live performance on Saturday Night Live, after a string had broke during the performance.[citation needed]
Craig Nicholls of The Vines destroyed his Fender Stratocaster at a show at The Corner Hotel In Melbourne in 2006.
Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes smashed a guitar he described as "very expensive" after performing "Road to Joy" on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.[citation needed]
Matt Bellamy, singer and guitarist of British rock band Muse, has smashed various Ibanez, Gretsch and Gibson models of electrics throughout the band's career. He recently smashed two of his famous custom Hugh Manson guitars, before repairing one. The other was beyond repair after being thrown by Bellamy at a strobe light, and the pieces now reside at Manson's Devon workshop.[citation needed]
