Pitchfork

We've seen Jeff Tweedy enter rehab, throw up in theaters, and dress homeless chic at Lollapalooza, but nothing could have prepared us for this one.

According to several reader reports, entries made on the Via Chicago and Flaming Lips fan message boards, and an interview with Pat Hagin, managing partner of the concert promotion company and nightclub the Pageant, last night's Wilco show at Springfield, MO's Shrine Mosque got a little out of hand.

According to an anonymous Pitchfork reader, Tweedy punched a rowdy fan in the face about 30 minutes into Wilco's set yesterday evening. "So some dude jumps on the stage," the reader claims. "After he gets on stage (who really does this at a Wilco show?), he runs up to Tweedy to give him a fat smooch on his cheek.

"Tweedy freaks out like the retard from [There's] Something About Mary who doesn't like having his ears touched and grabs the dude by his throat. While clinching to his throat, Jeff hauls off and decks him with a punch/open hand slap/shove to the face and [the] dude skirmishes away. Tweedy later apologizes (sort of) and hurries to the point of the set where they bow out before the encore."

Another show attendee e-mailed us, adding, "Tweedy had to comment. 'I mean, come on guys, we aren't used to that! You guys have to stay down there."

So is this shit for real? Hagin, who was the production manager for the show, gave an official confirmation of the story. Then he explained, "To give you a little background here, I went down from St. Louis to promote the show at the Shrine Mosque in Springfield. And it's not a venue that does a lot of shows. They're nice people and everything but the security was not what we would normally want to see I guess. And I'm not blaming it on them or anything.

"But anyway, we had one incident before--it's one of those old theaters where there are lots of corridors, and somebody got by security. This woman came up and sat by the side of the stage, and we got her off finally, and back out into the crowd. And then right after that happened, this guy came across the front of the stage, and that story [the rough plot of the accounts above] is pretty accurate, I think Jeff just kind of shoved/punched, pushed him out of the way...And I even heard somebody mention on the radio as I was driving back in from Springfield, that Jeff was certainly justified, especially with Dimebag Darrell and that sort of thing. If somebody jumps on stage with you, its one thing if they're off to the side or they look passive, but when they're actually attempting to make themselves part of the show, it's pretty startling.

"This guy [the fan] was an idiot. There's this video of Keith Richards taking his guitar to somebody getting on stage, it wasn't certainly anything like that. But he [Tweedy] certainly has a right and a need in my mind to feel safe onstage...It really wasn't that big of a deal. He was just trying to establish ownership of the stage...There wasn't any hard contact or anything like that. We got him off the stage...There was no harm done, though. No blood or anything like that.

Hagin added, "It was an interesting experience all around." I'll say!