Testament frontman Chuck Billy has recalled the night the band and their crew were involved in a bar room brawl on Bourbon Street, New Orleans.
He says the incident happened when the group had a night off on tour in 2000⁄01. And although he and his bandmates managed to get safely away, the road crew were arrested following the fracas.
Billy tells Digital Tour Bus: “It was us and the whole crew and we were having a good time. The people next to us I guess weren’t because they wanted some trouble and they ended up starting some problems with our lighting guy.
“They knocked his beer over and said he was sitting in their seat. We said, ‘You owe that guy a beer, that ain’t cool.’ The guy just gave us the bird and told us where to go and at that point it was on.”
He continues: “It was literally like a bar room brawl. We had pool cues and we were tomahawking people, breaking chairs over people’s heads – it was like a movie. It got really ugly and we ended up surviving and getting out of it. The crew stayed and the cops came and arrested them.”
Billy says police later told them that the venue had a reputation for fighting and that they were lucky to walk away unharmed. He adds: “We all felt pretty good about it. ‘Yeah, we went to New Orleans and kicked ass and had a great time.’”
Testament are on a European tour and will play Download on June 13. They’re currently writing material for the follow-up to 2012’s Dark Roots Of Earth.