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Riots, arrests and a knocked out Geezer Butler: the most chaotic concert of Black Sabbath's career

When a glass bottle struck Geezer Butler just two songs into Black Sabbath's 1980 Milwaukee show, disaster followed

As the unsavoury events of Netflix's new documentary on Woodstock's catastrophic 1999 instalment filters its way through the conversations of aghast music fans, similarly disastrous occasions are called to mind. One such instance was Black Sabbath 's chaotic concert in Milwaukee in 1980.

Although it was less apocalyptic overall, it certainly held its own in terms of riots, violence and dangerous behaviour. 

On October 9, 1980, a Dio -fronted Black Sabbath played Milwaukee Mecca Arena with Blue Öyster Cult, as part of the bands' co-headline US trek, titled the Black And Blue Tour. The show included an almost one hour change-over time between Cult and Sabbath, allegedly caused by both bands demanding their own PAs and stage equipment, including separate lighting rigs.

Following Blue Öyster Cult's set that night, tensions seemed to grow within a crowd apparently unhappy at waiting an hour to see the Brummie metal heavyweights. Then, when Sabbath finally took to the stage, disaster struck. 

Just two songs in, as newly instated frontman Ronnie James Dio began to introduce N.I.B. , one person present took it upon themselves to lob a glass bottle at the stage, hitting Geezer Butler in the head, drawing blood and knocking him unconscious. Due to the bass player's inability to continue, the concert was immediately called off.

The shocking moment can be heard in bootlegged footage recorded from the night, which also reveals Dio's immediate reaction to Geezer falling to the ground (recognisable via the sound of a 'thump' in the audio).

"I just wanted to say one thing, perhaps the last thing I say" he begins. "The stage is not a trash can. We don't appreciate things being thrown at us.

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"You've thrown something for the last time," he continues. "You hit Geezer on the head. We don't appreciate that either. We wanted to give a lot for you, but not our blood. If you don't want to enjoy it, then tough shit!".

Soon after, as Geezer is carted off to Mount Sinai Hospital (now Aurora Sinai Medical Center) for treatment, Black Sabbath's production manager, Hew Price, takes to the stage, stating: "Good evening! I am Black Sabbath's Production Manager of this crew. And I'd like to tell you that all that Black Sabbath really wants to play here in Milwaukee tonight. Black Sabbath wanted to rock and roll!".

At this point, Hew appears angry at the crowd, and shouts: "Black Sabbath do not appreciate being hit by flying objects!". As the audience starts to boo, he continues, "Please, please. 1776 was a long while ago!" (likely referencing the period in time which saw 13 American colonies separating their ties to Great Britain)). "Let's cool out and have a good time, okay?".

Then, sharing the news that Geezer and the band won't be returning to the stage as  "he's really badly injured", he continues, "Whoever the arsehole was that threw their glass at him, you fucked it all up completely, so screw you".

At 11:15pm, the lights on the stage returned, and as the crowd erupted into an angry chant, demanding that they "want Sabbath", the beginnings of a riot began to unfold, which allegedly saw the venue doors knocked right off its hinges and the entire space trashed. Chairs from the arena were thrown around, windows were smashed, fights broke out, rails were thrown at the stage, and payphones were even ripped off the walls. The resulting damage to the venue was estimated to be around $40,000.

The damage didn't stop there, either. Reportedly, the riot continued onto the streets. "Windows were broken out of several of the Milwaukee police and county sheriff's squad cars ringing the Arena," the Milwaukee Sentinel reported at the time in a front-page story. "Scuffles continued on the streets outside the Arena for at least a half-hour after trouble was quelled inside the building …Police were seen dragging youths by the hair and throwing them into patrol wagons."

Police had arrived on the scene in riot gear and wielding batons, resulting in numerous fans spending that night behind bars. In fact, according to the Milwaukee Record , more than 160 people were arrested, half of which were for riot-related charges and the other for pre-show drug charges. 

Years later, in 2007, Geezer recalled the incident in an interview with Maximum Ink , revealing that he didn't actually think the bottle throwing was meant to cause any harm. 

“It’s all a big misunderstanding, really" he explains. "The lights were down, first of all, so unless the fellow was some sort of incredible quarterback, I don’t know how he could have hit me on purpose.

"But I was knocked out, and the band was busy getting me off the stage and to a hospital. When the lights came back up, there was no band on stage. And of course, the crowd freaked out. Someone should have gone out and explained - the promoter or someone.

"I mean, the band was worrying about getting me to the hospital, you know? So the crowd freaked out because there was suddenly no band on stage, and things got worse from there.”

In the day following the concert, Police Chief Harold Breier ordered a ban on heavy music and beer at the venue, although neither restriction lasted all that long. The next show to play at the arena was Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band on October 14 that same year, and although it was carried out without any mishaps (or riots), the MECCA board sustained the ban on beer only until the end of the year. Heavy acts also made a quick return, with AC/DC and Van Halen playing at the venue in 1981. 

Listen to the amazing footage of the chaotic moment in Sabbath's career below.

Liz works on keeping the Louder sites up to date with the latest news from the world of rock and metal. Prior to joining Louder as a full time staff writer, she completed a Diploma with the National Council for the Training of Journalists and received a First Class Honours Degree in Popular Music Journalism. She enjoys writing about anything from neo-glam rock to stoner, doom and progressive metal, and loves celebrating women in music.

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Black and Blue

Concert film of 1980 East Coast U.S. performance by heavy metal bands Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult. Concert film of 1980 East Coast U.S. performance by heavy metal bands Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult. Concert film of 1980 East Coast U.S. performance by heavy metal bands Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult.

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• May 5, 2010
• December 19, 1980 (United States)
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1980-1981 Heaven & Hell Tour

World tour to support the “heaven & hell” album..

Dates and research compiled by Joe Siegler & Robert Dwyer. If you’d like to use any of this text for non-commercial purposes, please  obtain permission first . Commercial utilization of this work in whole or in part is prohibited!

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Touring Personnel

• Ronnie James Dio – Vocals
• Tony Iommi – Guitar
• Geezer Butler – Bass
• Bill Ward – Drums (until Aug 19)
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• Neon Knights
• Lonely Is The Word
• Children Of The Sea
• Heaven And Hell
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• Guitar Solo
• Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (instrumental)
• Children Of The Grave

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Photos: Riot at the 1980 Black and Blue concert

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“We wanted to give a lot for you, but not our blood. If you don’t want to enjoy it, then tough shit!” —A pissed-off Ronnie James Dio’s parting words to their Black Sabbath’s Milwaukee fans before a massive riot broke out at the MECCA on October 9th, 1980.

It should have been a gig for the ages—a co-headling show between two musical juggernauts, Black Sabbath and Blue Öyster Cult. BÖC and Sabbath had been touring pretty steadily together since July (along with a bunch of other bands like Molly Hatchet, Journey, and Cheap Trick) and by all accounts, the dream bill was something to behold. With Ronnie James Dio at the helm, Sabbath had just released ">Heaven and Hell to much acclaim from their fans and music critics. BÖC also had a new record to promote, their seventh, Cultösaurus Erectus . It is estimated that 1.5 million people were lucky enough to witness one of the many shows the two bands did together—though one stop on the tour at Milwaukee’s MECCA (the Milwaukee Exposition Convention Center Arena) on October 9th, 1980 didn’t go exactly as planned…

Accounts of how the gig devolved into a riot, vary. Some say Blue Öyster Cult played too long leading fans to get restless for Black Sabbath. Other reports say the hour wait between the two sets got under the audience’s skin making them edgy. Whatever it was or wasn’t , the 9,000 plus, near-capacity crowd in attendance at the MECCA was fired up when Black Sabbath took the stage a few ticks before 9:30. The band kicked off their set with “War Pigs” followed by “Neon Knights.” Then, as the lights were purposefully dimmed as Dio introduced their third song, “N.I.B.”, someone hummed a bottle at the stage which struck Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler in the head, knocking him unconscious. Here are Butler’s recollections of the fateful night:

“It’s all a big misunderstanding, really, The lights were down, first of all, so unless the fellow was some sort of incredible quarterback, I don’t know how he could have hit me on purpose. But I was knocked out, and the band was busy getting me off the stage and to a hospital. When the lights came back up, there was no band on stage. And of course, the crowd freaked out. Someone should have gone out and explained—the promoter or someone. I mean, the band was worrying about getting me to the hospital, you know? So the crowd freaked out because there was suddenly no band on stage, and things got worse from there.”

Chairs were thrown, smashed and hurled into a growing pile in the center of the floor. Fans ripped out the handrails in the balcony, and one guy tried to light a pile of wooden chairs on fire because of course, he had his handy BIC lighter with him. Pay phones (remember them?) were ripped from the walls, and random bare-knuckle brawls broke out in the crowd who were now tossing chairs at the stage and smashing windows. Once large numbers of Milwaukee’s finest moved in, all decked out in riot gear, they started indiscriminately beating the shit out of people with their billy clubs, something they would repeat a few months later on the face of Plasmatics vocalist Wendy O. Williams. The riot continued outside the MECCA where angry fans took their aggression out on police cars, private property and even the cops themselves. 160 people ended up spending the night in jail for various crimes including a large number of drug-related arrests. The next day, Milwaukee Police Chief Harold Breier announced there would be no further rock concerts at the MECCA as well as no more beer served at the concessions stands. What a buzz-kill . Thankfully, the restrictions didn’t last and in 1981 rock and roll (and BEER!) returned to the MECCA as did AC/DC and Van Halen.

Audio of the incident which led to the Black and Blue riot at the MECCA. If you listen carefully to the first ten seconds of the audio clip, you can actually hear what sounds like poor Geezer Butler hitting the floor after getting nailed by the bottle. OUCH!   HT: Milwaukee Journal Centinal and Christina Ward of Feral House .

Previously on Dangerous Minds: Kick out the jams: Blue Öyster Cult covers the MC5, Doors, Yardbirds & The Animals Helen Wheels, NYC punk bodybuilder, Blue Öyster Cult songwriter and UFO abductee The curious case of Black Sabbath guitar god Tony Iommi and his very 70s sweater collection Listen to Black Sabbath’s earliest demo recording from 1969 In ‘The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper’s Feast’ cartoon, that singing frog is Ronnie James Dio!

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Blue Öyster Cult

• September 20, 1980 Setlist

Blue Öyster Cult Setlist at Boston Garden, Boston, MA, USA

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• Dr. Music Play Video
• E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) Play Video
• Unknown Tongue Play Video
• Cities on Flame With Rock and Roll Play Video
• The Marshall Plan Play Video
• Divine Wind Play Video
• ME 262 Play Video
• Hot Rails to Hell Play Video
• Black Blade Play Video
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10 activities (last edit by ExecutiveChimp , 11 Dec 2022, 01:44 Etc/UTC )

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• Black Blade
• Divine Wind
• The Marshall Plan
• Unknown Tongue
• (Don't Fear) The Reaper
• E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)
• Born to Be Wild by Mars Bonfire
• Roadhouse Blues by The Doors
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• Sep 08 1980 The Old Waldorf San Francisco, CA, USA Add time Add time
• Sep 19 1980 New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum New Haven, CT, USA Add time Add time
• Sep 20 1980 Boston Garden This Setlist Boston, MA, USA Add time Add time
• Sep 21 1980 Springfield Civic Center Springfield, MA, USA Add time Add time
• Sep 23 1980 Xaverian Brothers High School Westwood, MA, USA Add time Add time

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Black and Blue (1980)

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