Drink and drugs controversy at Doncaster Puddle of Mudd gig sparks international media storm

During last week's sold-out concert at the Diamond Live Lounge, Doncaster fans said they were left disappointed when lead singer Wes Scantlin walked off stage just a few songs into the set.

Shortly after the gig, video emerged of the singer being booed, jeered and sworn at by outraged fans during the show, many of whom alleged that the troubled singer's antics had been fueled by a cocktail of drink and drugs.

***PLEASE NOTE: ATTACHED VIDEO CONTAINS OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE***

Following Free Press coverage on the concert, the story has since been picked up by several international media outlets including the NME, Billboard, New York Daily News and Rolling Stone - prompting the band to make this statement on Twitter: "My band did not quit . We played 7 shows together in the UK . The media makes up stories . End of subject #pom"

One eyewitness said of the Doncaster gig: "It was an absolute shambles. He was walking on and of stage and was talking about being high on crack cocaine.

"He was telling stories but was incomprehensible and staggering around slurring. People were just walking out saying what a mess he was and how bad the concert had been."

The gig by the band, best known for 2001 hit Blurry which hit the UK top ten, had been lauded by the Diamond Live Lounge as a coup for the venue, but were forced to issue an apology following the concert.

Owner Dominic Gibbs said: “It will be no secret that Puddle of Mudd's gig didn’t exactly go to plan as our 500 strong audience were certainly treated to a very ‘rock n roll’ evening, and in the end, quite concerning performance from lead signer, Wes Scantlin.

“When the band turned up, it was clear that Wes was a little worse for wear with drink and at this point we had to consult the band to make sure, collectively, we were happy to allow Puddle of Mudd to perform on stage. Members of the band, along with Wes were 100% confident that he could perform.

“Before Puddle of Mudd came on stage, the crowd were treated to two very good performances from (support bands) Fear the Fallen and Unzucht.

“Puddle of Mudd actually performed around 45-50 minutes and not the ‘short’ set reported, they completed most of their allocated set of one hour. Unfortunately at this point Wes was not in a good way and it was very distressing to see a person like this.

“The reaction of the crowd was very mixed, some people enjoyed what was seen as a very rock and roll moment, some with genuine concern for Wes and a very small section of the crowd were quite perturbed to say the least.

“We do understand that a small number of the 500 audience are angry with the performance of Puddle of Mudd as fans had travelled far and wide to see their rock heroes. All we can say at this stage is that as part of the agreement, Puddle of Mudd were paid to perform up front and we are currently trying to contact the agents and band management to negotiate the costs. If anything is recovered we will look at a way we can give any costs recovered back to the audience.

“I would like to thank the support acts who played a great show and we have already had an email from Unzucht, wanting to play at our venue again and we would welcome both support acts back to headline, they were superb.

“For most part of the night the crowd enjoyed the show but I would like to personally apologise for the performance of Puddle of Mudd at the end of the night. It wasn’t how we wanted a great show to end or what we wanted a very patient audience to witness. Hopefully Wes gets the help that he requires for the sake of his own health and the career of an awesome band."

The venue has now offered half-price admission for those who attended the Puddle of Mudd concert to see Slipknot tribute band, Slipnowt on Saturday.

You can find out more here.