Most outrageous concert stage props, etc

What are some of the craziest/most outrageous stage items you can think of or saw, such as the spaceship coming down in the 70s Funkadelic concerts or Alice Cooper with the guillotine thing, etc

 

Beastie Boys and Rolling Stones both used giant inflatable penises.

 

All the Eddie the Beast giants on Iron Maiden tours over the years...

Lady Justice statue reduced to rubble/"falling" lighting rig on the Metallica "...AJFA" tour back in '89

It may sound tame, but Nine Inch Nails had an INCREDIBLE light show in mid-90s and Trent used to run around stage tearing keys off the keyboards, etc. Not exactly a set piece, but very memorable.

Slightly later in the 90s, Beastie Boys did an quadraphonic tour where the FOH monitors were split in four around the venue and the sound was controlled by joystick by the DJ, IIRC.

Ministry had cattle skeletons on stage and would throw bones into the audience...

 

Any GWAR show from any tour. Once I saw them exhume the rotting corpse of Jerry Garcia and skin it on stage. Another time they had a giant crack rock around 10 feet high and smoked it. That’s in addition to the buckets of pus and blood that they would shoot at the audience during their battles and sword fights.

Honorable mention to Cypress Hill who had their stage set up like a 30 foot bong with DJ Muggs set up in the “bowl” and B-Real and Sen Dog performing in the “chamber.” Great show, by the way.

 

The Beastie Boys could be sued for plagiarism, imagine what that case would be like

 

pH!sh new years stuff
Dead new years stuff
SCI new years stuff

...pick whatever year applies.

 

It could be the first time a stenographer shorthands the phrase, "balloon phallus technology".

Edit: It looks like Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga both did this too. Could be a class action suit! Of Montreal also displayed one onstage, but theirs was shaped like a certain president of the United States.

 

Billy Idol had some giant balloons in different shapes at a show I was at.

 

Gorgoroth. Animal Heads, fire, etc.

 

Phish always does it big on NYE...with taste and class

 

Pink Floyd’s various inflatables and puppets are quite impressive.

 

The Alice Cooper stage show including his beheading.

 

Not outrageous by any means but Ian Anderson is worth a mention.

 

I was gonna say poo but a quick google search...

Frank Zappa
"For the record, folks: I never took a hit on stage, and the closest I ever came to eating sheep anywhere was at a Holiday Inn buffet in Fayetteville, North Carolina, in 1973."

 

Pink Floyd performing behind a wall was the most pompous egotistical presentation I have ever witnessed

 

Can't argue with this one at all!

About a week ago my band played a show with local treasure Valerie Sassyfras who did an awesome dance with a large inflatable pickle I'll leave the details to your imagination.

There are legends of old Morbid Angel/Deicide gigs in Tampa involving mannequins filled with guts from a butcher shop and pitbulls tearing them to shreds. Ah, the good ol days

 

It's very easy to just substitute Frank for the real thing with GG Allin.

 

The first time that happened was in Creve Couer, IL, right next to my hometown of Peoria: http://www.meanwhilebackinpeoria.co...us-1985-vfw-show-in-creve-couer-by-bob-gordon

I know two people who were there. Hard to be impressed with all the young Dan Fogelberg stories around here after that.

 

The Electric Light Orchestra’s giant “flying saucer” that lifted off the stage like a big steaming manhole cover at the start of each show during the 1978 “Out of The Blue” / “Big Night” tour. It was also the first time I recall seeing actual laser lights implemented for a live show.

 

Motorhead's Bomber lighting rig was pretty unique at the time, 1979.



I remember being at the show in Newcastle City Hall, we had great tickets down in front. Parts of the lighting rig/plane were directly above us.
Our biggest concern was "is this thing going to drop bombs?"

Also of the same period, Judas Priest: Halford with his bullwhip, motorcycle etc

 

I didn't realise that they were using a blow up Mick Jagger.

 

I can proudly say I ate at that Holiday Inn buffet table in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1977 when me and my family drive from Florida to NJ.
I remember eating ravioli with burnt tomato sauce and had the worse case of heartburn, my sister ate fish and got food poisoning and spent the best part of the next day puking her guts out. I don't remember what my mom and dad ate, she survived where my dad also had a major case of heartburn.

Didn't the Beasties get the inflatable phallus from the Stones?