Damon Albarn’s Roskilde Incident: Security Kicks Rocker Off Stage [Video]

Damon Albarn’s Roskilde incident shocked spectators because security had to literally carry the rocker off stage because he refused to leave the stage after playing a set that lasted for 5 hours, the New York Times reports.

The Blur frontman and creator of Gorillaz, Damon Albarn, had to leave the stage after pressure from the organizers at the Roskilde 2015 music festival Saturday night in Denmark. The British pop icon clearly did not want to end his performance, despite the fact that it was 4 a.m.

Some fans filmed the moment in which the English musician, 47, was kicked off stage by security. As reported by the New York Daily News, as Albarn’s band started playing the Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go,” a man entered the stage and asked the band to immediately end their performance, which was met with protest from the crowd, who obviously did not want the band end their show. But their demands were not met, and a short while later, a burly man picked up Albarn and carried him off stage.

According to a report from the Guardian, Ian Birrell, co-founder of Africa Express, explained that the show only ran over the 4 a.m. curfew by a few minutes before Dave Prentice, the veteran Africa Express stage manager usually known as “Big Dave,” carried Albarn off stage.

“The crowd were in a very ebullient mood despite it being 4 a.m. They were chanting for more and more, quite noisily,” Birrell told the site, noting that “Damon was clearly enjoying himself and wanted to carry on, as did all the musicians.”

Birrell went on to explain that Albarn and his crew continued their performance backstage, despite being kicked off stage. Apparently, the crowd didn’t want their night to end as well, and Birell said they “carried on outside the tent for almost an hour.” He also said the unruly crowd was “drumming against the poles of the tent and chanting.”

The list of performances featured in the Denmark show — besides the aforementioned Albarn cover of the Clash’s “Should I Stay Or Should I Go” — included covers of Randy Newman and some songs from Gorillaz, the animated musical creation. Also, this show featured a special appearance from Graham Coxon, a founding member of Blur, and Laura Mvula, a British soul singer-songwriter.

[Image via YouTube screenshot]