Screeching Weasel & Other Notable Onstage Flameouts

Marc Brubaker

Screeching Weasel in happier times: Warehouse Live, August 2010

​In the wake of lead singer Ben Weasel's bust-up with some female fans at Screeching Weasel's SXSW showcase last week at Austin's Scoot Inn, the other members of the band have agreed to go their separate ways, splintering what had been a triumphant past year that included a handful of well-received shows, here in Houston last August.

This didn't come as any surprise, with the rest of the guys running for cover as the war of words got almost unbearable for anyone, even a punk band like the Weasels, to endure with any dignity. Rocks Off brought you the story last week a few hours after the Scoot Inn incident, and the comments on that blog have become a veritable battleground between those who vehemently condemn Weasel's actions, to those who chalk it up to a punk-rock ethos and see Weasel hitting an unruly audience member and assaulting a Scoot Inn owner as the breaks of the genre.

AaronPrimer:

You invite Count Dracula to your house, don't be surprised when he goes around biting people. Ben has ALWAYS been volatile, and clearly the audience loves it...until it gets too real. Ah well, really nothing new here for anyone that has followed his career.

April5K:

You've outed yourself as men who approve of unbalanced violence toward women ("they had it coming"!? are you serious!? had she been wearing revealing clothing should he have raped her as well!?), and I wish you the best of luck ever getting laid ever again in your miserable lives

Bry:

I love how, when the second woman comes to stop him, he checks first that it's not some big tall dude, then lays two fists to her neck and stomach. What a complete fuckhead.

As you can see, the comments section is a hotbed of angry words and ideas, with this whole incident creating a whole dialog on what it means to be punk, the treatment and respect of of women in general, and hero worship.