Sheep Head Breaks Music Fan's Skull

AP ^ | March 10, 2003

[Shermy]

OSLO, Norway - A flying sheep's head hit a concertgoer and fractured his skull at a concert of metal band Mayhem.

The band, part of Norway's death metal music scene, was carving up a dead sheep as part of its stage act when the animal's head flew off lead singer Maniac's knife and struck Per Kristian Hagen, 25.

The show was Thursday in Bergen, 487 kilometers (302 miles) west of the capital, Oslo.

"My relationship to sheep is a bit ambivalent now. I like them, but not when they come flying through the air," Hagen told The Associated Press Monday from his hospital room. "I have a headache now." He is expected to recover.

Hagen, a Mayhem fan, filed involuntary assault and battery charges against the band. The charges carry a maximum sentence of six months in prison.

Mayhem member Rune Eriksen, whose stage name is Blasphemer, said the incident was unfortunate.

"The whole thing was an accident, but maybe it would be an idea for another show," he said.

Eriksen promised Hagen a free ticket to the group's next performance.

Police detective Carl-Petter Leganger told the AP an investigation has started, but "nothing suggests this was a conscious act."

[Servant of the Nine]

Gee, I wonder if PETA might not wish to turn their attention to other countries. Perhaps they should move their headquarters over to Oslo.

PETA doesn't have a headquarters, only a hindquarters.

So9

[FourPeas]

A flying sheep's head hit a concertgoer and fractured his skull at a concert of metal band Mayhem.

You get what you ask for.

[maxwellp]

"Disgusting story" - you said it all. May I add "sick creeps." The poor sheep was worth far more than this very sorry bunch of humans.

[archy]

A flying sheep's head hit a concertgoer and fractured his skull at a concert of metal band Mayhem.

I hate it when that happens.

Yeah, and always with these Norwegian Metal groups. You never hear about things like this happening with a retro-rock Norwegian garage band like the Cato Salsa Experience, though sometimes the keyboard player will sometimes break the stick she uses to beat the duck.

[Redcloak]

They're bloody big fish. I don't think that I'd want to be hit by one either!

...with big, nasty teeth too!!

[Chad Fairbanks]

Mental Note to Self: Cross 'Sheep Disection' off 'Stage Show' concept list...

[Chad Fairbanks]

PLAY SOME BE-BAAAAAAAAAAAAP!

[Chad Fairbanks]

Ping (mostly for the armadillos, but for you, too).

the Armadillo thought this was funny, until I told him that I had an idea for a show... ;0)

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Just don't bite the head off of it.

[JOE6PAK]

Don't eat the brown acid...and DUCK from the flying SHEEP HEAD!

[Chad Fairbanks]

oo the < bleep > bloody < bleep > 'ell do I < bleep > look like? Ozzy < bleep > Osbourne??


;0)

[Kenny Bunk]

Shermy, I am quite shocked that you would use valuable bandwidth in this time of trouble which, as you well know from reading the NYT, could end all life as we know it on this planet, to disseminate a CIA-concocted story about a flying sheep head at a rock concert.

Having watched Okrah on TV with rapt attention, I was driving my hydrogen-powered vehicle to a PETA meeting when your message came over my solar-powered cell phone.

It caused me to swerve into on-coming traffic, forcing an SUV-full of clearly Republican, gas-guzzling war-mongers off the road. I am overjoyed that I can find total justification in blaming the horrible pain I caused these capitalist Bush-Supporters on (A) You, and those obviously (B) White guys in that Norwegian Band. Viking Bastards! That sheep was not a living sentient being to them ... it was ...mutton!

I must go now. We are having an anti-war meeting over to the Somali-Unitarian Church Hall. It seems Saddam Hussein had a really groady childhood, which as I do not expect you to understand, means it's OK for him to wipe out Amerika. (Well, not all of Amerika. I am sure he will spare people who believe as I do and many dangerously-close-to-extinction-endangered species.)

Vote Hillary!

[sbelew]

"Yes, and people have been whining and complaining about it the entire time. This is nothing new." Well, it seems that each successive generation tries to out-shock the previous one. This begs the question, "Where does it end?". On-stage rape? On-stage human sacrifice?

I'm no PETA weirdo, and I listen to everything from The Ramones to Lou Reed, but this is beyond the pale. Waaaaay beyond "boys will be boys, so quit whining".

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Don't eat the brown acid...and DUCK from the flying SHEEP HEAD!

Sounds like a good time.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

oo the < bleep > bloody < bleep > 'ell do I < bleep > look like? Ozzy < bleep > Osbourne??

LOL...I could actually HEAR that. Nicely done!

[Chad Fairbanks]

I'm no PETA weirdo, and I listen to everything from The Ramones to Lou Reed, but this is beyond the pale. Waaaaay beyond "boys will be boys, so quit whining".

Hmmm... the things you described as possibilities are pretty much criminal in any decent juridstiction... cutting a sheep apart is not... any questions, straw man?

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

"The whole thing was an accident, but maybe it would be an idea for another show," he said.

And they call themselves a 'death metal' band. Shouldn't they be gloomy and depressed, rather than accentuating the positive?

[sbelew]

Actually, there are animal-cruelty laws on the books in most countries, right?

[Orangedog]

Perhaps they should move their headquarters over to Oslo.

Ten demerits for the bad pun...you should be punished, perhaps sent to the punitentiary. You should go see a priest and receive punance. ;)

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Well, I guess you could start a movement to stop it, if you feel that strongly about it.

I never said "boys will be boys so quit whining". My point was simply that there have always been people who considered trends in popular music to be outrageous - from Elvis Presley's hip swiveling to the present. If you go see a band that classifies itself as "Death Metal", I'm not sure what you'd expect to see. Something like this, probably. (Is it legal in their country to do what they did? If not, arrest them or make it illegal.)