John Lydon beats up indie 2008-07-22 by Iai EMERITUS | 21 Comments | Amusing news for disillusioned punk fans and indie haters everywhere: John Lydon and his bodyguards are reported to have attacked Kele Okereke of Bloc Party, Ricky Wilson of Kaiser Chiefs, and Yannis Philippakis from Foals, leaving each of them 'bruised and bloodied', and Philippakis in jail.
If you've come here looking for a cheap laugh, stop reading and form your own punchline.
The incident took place on Saturday, at the Summercase festival in Spain. According to Okereke, the fight began when he asked Lydon whether or not there was a chance of PiL - a noted influence on Bloc Party, as well as many of their contemporaries - reuniting. Lydon soon became 'aggressive and intimidating', leading to 'an unprovoked attack'. It gets worse - Lydon's bodyguards, who did most if not all of the indie-singer-kicking, are accused of racist abuse, accusing Okereke of having a 'black attitude'. Wilson and Philippakis became involved in the fray when attempting to defend Okereke from the three bouncers, who had apparently attacked en masse. Festival staff are reported to have broken up the incident, which was apparently witnessed by several onlookers, including various other members of the Sex Pistols, Foals, and Kaiser Chiefs.
"It's not an issue of the physical assault, even though it was an unprovoked attack, it is the fact that race was brought into the matter so readily", states Okereke. "Someone as respected and as intelligent as Lydon should know better than to bring race into the equation, or socialise with and encourage those who hold such narrow-minded attitudes. I am disappointed that someone I held with such high regard turns out to be such a bigot."
Lydon claims that this is all a lie. "I feel very sorry for a man that needs to lie about what was a perfect evening…trouble was brought us, resulting in those causing the trouble being physically removed by festival security…If they need publicity so badly this is the allegation universe they run into. We are in the middle of a wonderful tour, after 30 years we are achieving a true unity in our audience. They are multi-varied, all ages, all races, creeds and colours. When you are at a festival with bands who are jealous fools, lies and confusion usually follow. [Okereke should] grow up and learn to be a true man. It's a shame that the wonderful world of the media is riddled with nonsense like this."
Considering the man's intelligence, and his long-standing appreciation for many forms of 'black' music, one is encouraged to be confused by the entire ordeal. However, if it transpires that his entourage were indeed guilty of racism, then he is surely to blame for not stepping in to enforce his own beliefs. What is clear is that something major happened, and an investigation into that something is currently being conducted by the Spanish police. Okereke has also reported to the UK's Metropolitan Police.
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Tagged: John Lydon
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Hmm I'm not really sure who to believe here. But why is the singer from Foals in jail?
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Over-zealous lackey/s of Lydon's, no doubt; probably getting more than a little bollocked for it
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In fairness, I doubt anybody would quiz someone about rasict beliefs before employing them.
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that bloc party guy probably lied......
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I think it could be true actually.
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Hmm, this might be true. I doubt the Bloc Party guy would lie.
I'm guessing the Foals guy got a little too involved and got arrested.
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Whatever side might be right: that's a really sad and stupid incident. No matter how you turn it, how you interpret ot view it, it just sucks.
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thrue dat^
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so the spanish police will find madeline mccann then get right on this.
wait... mightve been portugal. similar. blah.
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let's think about this
John Lydon is infamous for being extremely erratic
at one moment completely complacent to all of sudden being a raving maniac. take a look at the guitar hero fiasco
first he sounded pretty sane, saying how the guitar hero franchise is noble and than a few weeks later, some journalists catch him dissing the game and turning a complete 180 to bash it.
Even though John Lydon has made some great music with the Sex Pistols, i do not believe we can judge the artist by the art, the guy's a whacko!!
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^wait... your logic just formed a complete contradiction.
you can judge an artist by his art. have you heard the crap he used to do on stage? and for that matter, most of his art IS angry, dramatic, and unpredictable as well.
just sayin i would predict a safe bet on Mark Kozelek not reacting the same and all I've heard are his songs
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Anyone else seen John Lydon's kid show? WTF was that?
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So yeah. I'm seriously skeptical of this entire thing, to be honest. I don't think Lydon would even employ anybody with racist ideas in their head, but at the same time I don't imagine Okereke to be the kind of person who would make this up. I'm also not sure I can imagine Ricky Wilson stepping into a fight that wasn't his unless something really nasty was said.
I doubt Lydon personally vets potential bodyguards.
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wait. why would John Lydon need bodyguards? its not like anyone gives a shit about him anyways.
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Is this news, or an opinion piece? Why does it hint towards racism but does not cite quotes? Can we have some sources?
Even though John Lydon has made some great music with the Sex Pistols, i do not believe we can judge the artist by the art, the guy's a whacko!!
He made better music with PiL.
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Good to see some rock 'n' roll disputes happening amonst the oldies and newbies.
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I could definitely see Lydon randomly attacking somebody. So I kind of believe Okereke on this.
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no you really can't and no, i don't see any contradictions in my previous statement.
i separate the music from personal behavior period.
there have been plenty of assholes with great music and
there have been plenty of nice people with horrible music
the guy is crazy, just because he was a singer for a great punk band doesn't mean that his statements hold any more weight or veracity than that of Kele Okereke's. However, from my observations of his past behavior, he has been known to be extremely erratic and hypocritical with his statements. I'm not going to let fanboyism cloud my judgment about this piece of news. Regardless of his work as an artist, i just don't think that we should side with any one of them based on how much we liked "God Save the Queen" or "Silent Alarm"
that's all i'm trying to say. This Message Edited On 07.23.08
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When will they ever learn
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http://www.nme.com/news/bloc-party/38378
"Rhys, who was present backstage when the confrontation occurred, has claimed that Okereke was indeed racially abused."
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more and more witnesses are stepping up saying he was racially abused including Supper Furry Animals frontman (I forget his name but hes also in Neon Neon)
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