311 vs. Scott Stapp in Bar Flap
Here's one battle of the bands that could have left marks.
Former Creed frontman Scott Stapp and members of 311 were involved in a Thanksgiving Day smackdown in a swanky Baltimore hotel.
In a Web posting this week, 311 says that Stapp "sucker-punched" drummer Chad Sexton following a chance meeting in the bar of the Harbor Court Hotel.
"We did not intend to discuss this incident publicly, but since rumors are beginning to spread we'd like to set the record straight," the band says, before giving its version of the incident.
Stapp, the message claims, entered the bar, "drank a shot at the bar and then threw his shot glass, smashing it on the bar. He was acting belligerent and got into an argument with patrons sitting at the bar. He then sat down next to [311 band member Douglas "SA" Martinez] and his wife. He made a disrespectful and crude remark to SA's wife. Chad and SA asked him to step away. He then sucker-punched Chad. Scott was looking for a fight--and that's what he got."
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Martinez says he fractured his hand in the fisticuffs.
Harbor Court employees confirmed Wednesday that a scuffle occurred sometime after 10 p.m. Staffers declined to disclose specifics, however; one clerk described the incident simply a "brief altercation."
Employees say Baltimore police were called to the hotel, but Stapp was not arrested and no charges have been filed. A public information officer would not confirm details of the incident.
Stapp, whose vocals helped Creed dominate the modern rock charts in the late 1990s and sell over 30 million albums worldwide before imploding last year, has yet to remark on the dustup.
His Los Angeles-based publicist, Dvora Vener, would only issue a "no comment" late Wednesday.
It's been a rough few days for the 32-year-old singer. His debut solo album, The Great Divide, barely dented the charts this week, opening at 19 with 94,000 in sales. (By comparison, Creed's final studio album, Weathered, sold 887,000 copies in its first week in 2001; and his former band mate's offshoot, Alter Bridge, sold 95,000 first-week copies last year of their debut, One Day Remains.)
Stapp has been dogged by rumors of alcohol abuse for years; Creed was sued by fans in Chicago, who said the singer was so intoxicated at a 2002 concert that he was unable to remember the words to some of Creed's best-known hits, like "Higher."
According to his Website, Stapp will begin touring in 2006 in support of The Great Divide.
Meanwhile, 311 is due in Toronto Friday as part of a fall tour in support of the Omaha-based band's latest album, Don't Tread on Me. The band is also set to tape two songs for Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve.
