Music

Watch Cedric Bixler-Zavala throw a kettle of boiling water on his fans

by Mark Teo

If you’ve ever seen the Mars Volta, At the Drive in, or his newest band, Antemasque, you’ll know that Cedric Bixler-Zavala goes nuts onstage. Usually, though, it involves getting lost in his music—see: his maniacal rant from his ATDE days, where told the “sheep” in the audience to “express yourself while slam dancing”—but this time, it seems like he could get charged with assault.

The incident occurred while Antemasque was playing a festival, Westfest, in New Zealand. It’s not clear what set Bixler off, but videos show him hurling a kettle while the band was still playing. Fans who were splashed with the water varied in their accounts: Some claimed that, because they were sweating, they weren’t burned by the water. Other claimed that the water wasn’t, in fact, boiling. But another fan, who estimated he was five metres away from the stage, said his hand was bruised by the kettle and his friend, who was splashed in the face, was scalded by it.

Watch the video below.

Fest-goer Hugh Smith told the New Zealand Herald that he was injured by the incident. “Cedric threw a plastic kettle full of boiling hot water towards me and my friends,” he says. “We were standing about four-five metres back. I threw my hand up to catch it before it collided with my friend’s face … this bruised my hand and then splashed hot water all over him and my face.

“It bloody hurt. My friend’s arm went all burny pink.”

He wasn’t exaggerating. They provided this image of the burns to the Herald.

Meanwhile, this photo emerged, also depicting the vessel that was thrown into the crowd. It looks, to our eyes, like an electric kettle.

Bixler didn’t stop there. After pitching the water into the crowd, Instagram photos also depict him throwing stage equipment—which isn’t as hot, but is much heavier than boiling water—into the audience.

Thankfully, no one seemed seriously injured by the water—much of it seems to leave the kettle before it hits the audience. Still, it’s a careless action that could’ve gotten plenty of people hurt. [H/T TheMusic.com.au]