When Layne Staley punched a Nazi at a concert

In 1993, while performing live in the Swedish capital Stockholm with his band, the frontman of Alice In Chains Layne Staley invited a Nazi skinhead onto the stage before punching him and sending him back into the audience.

It happened that the frontman of the American band, who tragically died of an overdose in 2002 at the age of 34, noticed a boy making a Nazi gesture. Staley, very annoyed by what happened, stopped the concert, called the boy to him, helped him get on stage and then knocked him out with a right hand, sending him back to the pit.

At the time of the incident the band from Seattle she was in Stockholm as she was on a European tour with Screaming Trees in support of their second album “Dirt”, released the previous year. According to what was told by Randy Biro, the band's guitar and bass technician during the tour, a man began making obscene gestures and attempted to hit people right under the stage. After completing “It Ain't Like That”Staley, who had grown tired of the situation, resolved it in his own way.

Then, after saying into the microphone, “Swedish people, we love you”, which was greeted by applause from the people, he went to the edge of the stage and, with the help of security, managed to reach the man in the crowd and then to get him on stage. Then the unexpected: after punching him twice, he pushed him off the stage again.

After the concert, however, the man reported the band to the police who, in turn, tried to track down the band's frontman Alice In Chains to ask for an explanation of what happened. At this point, however, Staley and Biro were already on their way as they had to take a ferry to Finland. The local authorities did not lose heart and detained the rest of the band, confiscating their passports until Staley's return. A short investigation, which also saw the alleged Nazi's brother siding with the band, finally led to Layne Staley to be praised by the Swedish police and released immediately.