Who doesn’t love an absolutely insane rock music performance? A few legendary moments in the genre have happened through the years, but we’re particularly fond of these three times things got a bit out of hand in front of a live audience… or an interviewer. Let’s take a look at three of the wildest rock music moments ever caught on camera!
1. The Who’s Exploding Drums
During this famous The Who performance, one band member decided to pointedly ignore instructions and rules set by the producers. The Who performed their American debut on The Smother Brothers Comedy Hour with great success in 1967, but something happened at the end of the set that no one saw coming… other than Keith Moon.
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Known for packing explosive gunpowder into his drum set, Moon decided to take things a step further and pack way more explosive gunpowder into his drum set for this particular performance. An insane explosion occurred, causing quite a bit of damage. And the whole thing was caught on camera.
2. The Beatles’ “More Popular Than Jesus” Comment
This entry doesn’t involve a performance or something absolutely wild happening on camera. Rather, a passing comment from The Beatles’ John Lennon happened to be recorded on film during an interview in 1966. By today’s standards, this would not have been a “wild” moment at all.
However, Lennon saying that The Beatles were “more popular than Jesus” and that “Christianity will go, it will vanish and shrink” caused an international uproar. The response to his comment was so intense that the band found themselves in physical danger while touring in the American South. Shortly after, they retired from touring completely.
3. Nirvana’s Insane ‘Top Of The Pops’ Performance
This is probably the most hilarious entry on our list of the wildest rock moments ever caught on camera. Nirvana, like many rock bands who made it big internationally, found themselves on the famed British television program Top Of The Pops. However, few at the time knew that guests on the show never performed live. Everything was pre-recorded, other than vocal tracks.
The band decided to poke some fun at that fact by very obviously not playing their instruments. Cobain even impersonated Morrissey as he sang “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in a monotone voice. After he changed the lyrics “load up on guns, bring your friends” to “load up on drugs, kill your friends”, they were done for. The performance caused quite a bit of controversy, but it’s since become an iconic moment in grunge history.
Photo by Wilson Lindsay/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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