A Matchbox Twenty performance at the Illinois State Fair took an unexpected turn when frontman Rob Thomas accidentally struck longtime bandmate Paul Doucette in the head with a microphone stand.
The incident happened Sunday, August 16, as the band performed “Bent,” one of its best-known songs. Thomas was energetically swinging the stand during the performance when it collided with Doucette.
Doucette briefly left the stage after the impact, while Thomas was clearly concerned about his friend and bandmate. The singer addressed the crowd and expressed his remorse over the accident, making it clear that a bit of rock-show theatrics had gone very wrong.
Fortunately, the mood improved when Doucette returned to the stage. Rather than letting the accident derail the show, he joked about what had happened and his long history with Thomas.
The consequences were more than cosmetic, however. Doucette later shared video from the tour showing pieces of his damaged in-ear monitor being removed from his ear with tweezers.
Despite the uncomfortable aftermath, Doucette appeared to take the incident with a sense of humor, turning what could have been a frightening end to the evening into another chapter in the bandmates’ decades-long relationship.
Thomas and Doucette have been making music together since before Matchbox Twenty became one of the defining pop-rock acts of the late 1990s and early 2000s. The band formed in 1995 and went on to build a catalog that includes hits such as “3AM,” “Push,” “Bent” and “Unwell.”
Three decades later, their friendship apparently remains strong enough to survive the occasional piece of airborne stage equipment.
For Thomas, though, swinging a microphone stand near his bandmates may be one rock-star move worth retiring.
