In combined Ozzy and Mayhem fashion, during the band's first live performance, Hatebeak's guitarist bit the head of his lead singer, Waldo, who happened to be a parrot. The guitarist continued to chew it and rend flesh from the bones of the twitching bird. After a minute or two of this, he threw the twitching carcass toward one side of the stage where tourmates Caninus were hanging out. In a matter of seconds the band's pitbull duo Budgie and Basil (vocals) had devoured the bird carcass. However, the fighting between the canine "singers" continued and made its way onto the floor, causing a general panic. With fights breaking out and people fleeing the club, the show was cancelled.
Appalling as that incident may be to animal rights activists, the question that fans now want answered is whether any other bird can replace Waldo. Hatebeak's future hangs in the balance, as this incident occurred on the first tour date in support of their upcoming Warner Brothers release.
A Warner Brothers executive was quoted as saying "We're confident Hatebeak will find a suitable replacement and have huge success with us in the future. This nonhuman vocalist trend is on the rise and Hatebeak will be here to spearhead it's rise!"
The pitbull duo of Caninus are currently being held in a local dog pound until the authorities finish their investigation into this matter. The band's human members could not be reached for comment prior to publication of this article.
Damage estimates from the small West Virginia club totally approximately $23,000.
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 3 April 2005 21:50 (eighteen years ago) link