Peter Frampton reportedly stopped a show after he became unhappy with the live video screen displaying shots of a fan waving some of his old album covers. He also reportedly tussled with a cameraman after he left the stage.
UPDATE: Peter Frampton posted a lengthy explanation of the incident on Facebook
I have been crafting my live show for decades. I am always working towards it being the best possible performance we can give to entertain you, the audience. Because I love what I do I care an incredible amount about the quality of the music I give to my fans every night.
My band and I follow a carefully written script every show with moments to go off musically and take it to a new, different place. I don’t ever play the same thing twice because I’m creating something new and fresh every time.
When something happens to change the script, like a distraction out of my control, then it messes with the build of the show. This happened in Welch, MN the other night. ”I’ll Give You Money,” is a song that we break down to almost nothing volume wise and it grabs the audience’s attention and pulls them in to hear what we are doing—its one of the most intimate parts of the set for my band and the audience together. At this very climactic moment, the director of the in-house video displayed the audience on the screens, which distracted from the connection that we had worked to achieve. The moment was lost.
From the stage, we aren’t able to see what’s being displayed on the screen so we had no idea they were showing a long-time fan holding up my album cover. I feel very bad for her and totally understand the perception from out front at this point in the show. The screens are there for you to see our playing and what we’re doing close-up on stage from wherever you are in the crowd. I love that this is possible at todays’ shows.
After the first interruption, I asked the director through my backstage team to please keep the cameras on the band during this important part of the song, but the monitors changed again. After the show, the director admitted this was a “very bad call.”
I was frustrated because I felt we had completely lost control of this special moment in the show. I overreacted and tried to take the camera from the cameraman and left the stage to talk to the director. I reacted passionately because I care very much about giving you the best show we can possibly give every night.
I could not take the chance of the screens affecting the show again so I had them turned off. This was not the right thing to do and I apologize to everyone there. The most disappointing thing to me and the band is that it was such a great evening with such an incredible audience—we were all having a great time.
Once again, I sincerely apologize for my overreaction and look forward to seeing you all out on the road some time again soon.
The 67-year-old Frampton apparently became agitated with an audience member and the event video crew at the Treasure Island Casino in Red Wing, Minn., at his show there Sunday night.
The Star Tribune reports that when a women held up a copy of Frampton Comes Alive!, the scene was displayed on the onstage video screen, raising a cheer from the 8,000-strong crowd, which “prompted Frampton to lament that the interruption came during a guitar solo.” Seconds later a similar situation occurred, this time with a copy of I’m in You .Frampton then reportedly “leaned his face into the camera and let out a two-word expletive.”
He then left the stage with his band in tow. But they returned several minutes later and continued their show, with the video screens switched off. One eyewitness said there had been a “camera tug of war” with the video operator, which “went back and forth until Peter finally let go and walked offstage, followed by his band a few seconds later.”
Frampton hasn’t commented on the incident, but a Treasure Island spokesman told Kare11.com that the band’s set wasn’t any shorter than usual. “We talked to him backstage, and he didn’t want the video boards on, so we turned them off,” the spokesman said. “It was an interesting few minutes – and the show went on.” Asked to speculate on why the artist had behaved in such a manner, the spokesman noted, “It kind of is what it is. It’s rock ‘n’ roll, man.”
This isn’t the first time Frampton took issue with technology getting in the way of his performance. In 2014, he grabbed a phone from a fan at a show and threw it away. Pointing out that it had landed “safely on a seat” and was returned to its owner, he explained that he’d done it as a protest against live video clips being shared online. “When I go to do a show, it’s my time,” Frampton said. “It’s all about me. You’ve come to see me. You haven’t come to see me if you’re in an armchair watching a video. It’s very distracting.”
Read More: Peter Frampton Stops Show After Video Incident | http://ultimateclassicrock.com/peter-frampton-stops-show/?trackback=tsmclip
Everyone has a plan, till you get punched in the face,
He was just pissed because the album zoomed in on was "I'm In You" , and he'll never be able to live that cover down.
