EXODUS Vs. Security: Mokena Concert Turns Into 'Total Chaos'; Video Available

Veteran San Francisco Bay Area metallers EXODUS clashed with the in-house security during their headlining performance on February 16, 2008 at The Pearl Room in Mokena, Illinois after a fan was allegedly thrown out of the venue "for no good reason."

A Last.fm user by the name of "Fosster3567" describes the incident in the following way: "The last band of the night was well worth the wait. EXODUS caused a huge stir in the Pearl Room. All was fine until about three songs into their set when a fan jumped up on stage and stage-dived. This was fine with the band, they even headbanged next to him. But security felt otherwise and kicked the kid out. EXODUS stopped playing 'Children of a Worthless God' immediately. They shouted at security to let the kid back in and even told the security guard who kicked the kid out to get the fuck out. When they didn't, EXODUS' singer [Rob Dukes] shouted, 'Hey, I'm stage-diving. Kick me the fuck out, big boy.' He jumped into the crowd. When he got back on stage, he commanded the audience all stage-dive. This is when the place turned into total chaos. Audience members were running on stage by the dozen and we were all enjoying the fuck out of ourselves. Then, Pearl Room's management shut off their mics and amps. The singer was arguing with the manager for a few minutes. Luckily, EXODUS was allowed to continue their set, although no one else could stage dive. They were awesome live and played all the fan favorites."

Watch video footage of the incident below.

UPDATE: In a posting on EXODUS' official message board, Dukes had the following to say about the Mokena show: "First off, The Pearl Room is one of the best clubs in the U.S. This was all the result of one security guard who was way overzealous and beating on little kids. We stopped the show a few times. The kid was brought back in and even brought on stage. I shook his hand and he said thanks; it was cool. The reason for the mayhem was a miscommunication. The band was told earlier in the day that stage-diving was allowed, then they changed their minds without telling us. Overall, it was a great show and to all the people that came out, I thank you, it was fun as hell. Frank, the owner, is a cool guy and at the end of the night we all did a shot and had a drink. It was all good."

EXODUS is in the middle of a North American tour in support of its latest album, "The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A", that will culminate in a hometown show in San Francisco on February 24 at Slim's.