If this fracas ever gets to court it could be quite a rock n roll affair, given that the Kaiser Chiefs, Mystery Jets, Neon Neon, Har Mar Superstar and The Foals have all been named as witnesses.
Sex Pistol John Lydon has denied allegations he was involved in an unprovoked racist attack against Bloc Party's Kele Okereke at a festival in Barcelona this weekend. A statement issued by Okereke's people yesterday claims that Lydon's entourage assaulted him backstage at the Summercase festival - leading to "severe facial bruising, cuts to his face and body, and a split lip" - after Kele approached the Sex Pistol to ask him whether there'd ever be a Public Image Ltd reunion. Okereke says that the attack was entirely unprovoked, and that Lydon's associates made a number of racist remarks during the altercation, including saying that "your problem is your black attitude".
Foals man Yannis Philippakis and Chief Kaiser Ricky Wilson both seemingly attempted to intervene and end the bust up, though it was festival security who brought it to a proper end. Okereke has reportedly filed a police complaint in relation to the incident in both Spain and the UK.
Kele told reporters: "It's not an issue of the physical assault, even though it was an unprovoked attack, it is the fact that race was brought into the matter so readily. Someone as respected and as intelligent as Lydon should know better than to bring race into the equation, or socialise with and encourage those who hold such narrow-minded attitudes. I am disappointed that someone I held with such high regard turns out to be such a bigot".
But Lydon has denied everything. Well, he hasn't specifically denied anything, but implies he and his people were on the periphery of any trouble, and not the cause of it, saying of Okereke: "I feel very sorry for a man that needs to lie about what was a perfect evening". Lydon's full statement reads thus: "After the show, John Rotten and management remained behind to sign autographs, which we did for four solid hours without incident and had a great time talking to other Spanish bands. This seems to have sparked jealousy in certain bands. The trouble was brought to us, resulting in those causing the trouble being physically removed by festival security. It's a shame that the wonderful world of the media is riddled with nonsense like this. Grow up and learn to be a true man".
With police in two countries presumably looking into the incident, it remains to be seen how many of the indie rock bystanders will be asked to comment. Philippakis, though, has already made a statement of sorts, telling his Latitude audience the next day: "We were in Spain yesterday and I got into a fight with Johnny Rotten. I don't know why I'm telling you all this, but I was handcuffed and we nearly didn't make it".