Pitchfork

It was a typical club night in Liverpool this past Friday, November 2. A dance-oriented band-- Soulwax-- on stage at the Nation venue, a crowd cutting it up on the floor, and, in between, a bunch of those beefy bouncer dudes. Yet something ran afoul that night, and for reasons that aren't entirely clear, a pack of these security guard types swarmed the stage during Soulwax's set and forcibly removed the band.

A Liverpool Daily Post report cites a number of eyewitness accounts from the event. "There were bouncers standing at the front of the stage making people stand about a meter back because someone got manhandled," described one concert attendee. "The lead singer [Stephen Dewaele] stopped the music and asked the bouncers to let the people come forward.

"One bouncer saw red and jumped on to the stage and waved another couple of bouncers on to the stage, at which point they muscled in and the drummer was pushed over."

The resulting melee was captured on a couple camera-phones and posted on YouTube. The quality leaves something to be desired, but both videos appear to show Soulwax-- the four skinny guys in white-- being roughed up to what would seem an unreasonable degree by a fair number of big dudes in dark clothing.

In one video, you can see a member of Soulwax being pushed across the stage by a bouncer. A second video captures the chaos from a much closer vantage point. If you watch closely (check the vidcap above as well), you can see a hand-- presumably belonging to Soulwax drummer Steve Slingeneyer-- reaching up from the ground. The dense crowd, clearly miffed, also booed the proceedings intensely before erupting into chants of "Soulwax! Soulwax!"

It would seem no one was seriously injured, as Soulwax have pressed on with gigs since the scuffle. Meanwhile, the Daily Post report indicates that Chibuku-- which hosted the club night-- has launched an investigation into the incident. Both Soulwax and Chibuku have also issued statements, which are reprinted after the jump.

Many thanks to reader Nicolas Dalias for the tip.

Undeterred, Soulwax will continue soldiering on with a number of appearances in the coming weeks. Catch them in South America this week.

Soulwax statement:

we've had lots of emails from people about what happened on friday and the band send their apologies to anyone who came to the show at nation for the interruptions to the evening. circumstances beyond our control meant that we couldn't finish our live set or dj and we hope to be able to make it up to you soon

Chibuku statement:

Chibuku has made every move possible to ensure nothing like this happens again in the future and remains undeterred in bringing the best parties to Liverpool. We look forward to the band returning to Liverpool and maintaining the longstanding relationship with Chibuku and the city.

Message from Chibuku forum administrator, titled "The final word on last friday":

After close consideration and speaking to all parties involved it has been agreed that the issues on Friday night could have been avoided.

Even though the club was well within capacity, it is clear the hysteria and chaos that can be inspired by a Soulwax appearance [do] take considerable extra management.

The events on Friday would have been a lot less likely and easier to manage by the security had a barrier or pit been established within the venue for which Nation have taken responsibility. Both Chibuku and Nation are in agreement what [went] on was totally unsatisfactory and can never be given the opportunity to happen again.

From our point of view we have spoken to everyone individually who has complained and have made moves [on] an individual basis to make it up to them. I'm waiting to hear from the band, who did make it clear to me personally on friday they would make it up to the fans.

Wax on:

11-08 Curitiba, Brazil - Eon
11-09 São Paulo, Brazil - Pacha
11-10 Buenos Aires, Argentina - Creamfields
11-16 Reims, France - Cartonnerie
11-17 Caen, France - Nördik Impakt Festival
11-22 Toulouse, France - Le Phare
11-23 Eindhoven, Netherlands - Strp
11-24 Gijon, Spain - Electric Film Festival
12-07 Madrid, Spain - La Riviera *
12-08 Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz *
12-22 Ghent, Belgium - ICC *

* performing Nite Versions