Puddle of Mudd’s Wes Scantlin Walks Offstage After Arguing Over Lights Being in His Eyes
Puddle of Mudd singer Wes Scantlin walked offstage mid-set during the band's performance last Saturday (Nov. 20) after complaining about the stage lights and arguing with a concertgoer who clapped back at him.
That's what seems to happen in a fan-captured video of the Puddle of Mudd performance at Epic Event Center in Green Bay, Wis., according to Blabbermouth.
At the start of the clip, Scantlin shields his eyes from the stage lights. He later explains to the audience, "I don't know why the lights have to be blinding me for this whole show. Hell, now I can see all you people. But if you guys were standing up here where I'm at right now, it's like a fucking flashlight blinking in your fucking head. And I don't think that's fucking cool, really."
At that point, an unseen attendee speaks back at the singer from within the audience, saying in a sarcastic tone, "Whoa, that was a deep thought, man."
Scantlin retorts, "Sounds like a fucking motherfucking idiot to me. Fuck you, motherfucker. Yeah, and then look, out of nowhere, here's another fucking douchebag fuck. Yeah, well, I got a flashlight too, motherfucker."
The video then shows Scantlin singing a few bars before he abruptly stops performing. As the band keeps playing, he unplugs his guitar and turns off his amplifier before exiting the stage without any announcement.
A fan present at the show told Loudwire, “The band came onstage late. He sang four songs and had the meltdown about the lights. That comment, ‘Whoa deep thought,’ was from the crowd after he already butchered everything and was forgetting to play rythmn guitar. He left stage and the crowd waited for about 15 minutes, then he came back out and [played] two more songs."
Scantlin has a history of walking offstage during performances, such as when he exited a show mid-song in Dallas in 2017 or when he scolded a sound person and left the stage in Pennsylvania the year prior. He's since entered rehab and said he achieved around a year of sobriety in 2018.
Puddle of Mudd's debut album Come Clean, which contains rock hits such as "Blurry" and "She Hates Me," celebrated its 20th anniversary this year.
Below, see the video of the incident in Wisconsin.