Smells Like Tween Spirit! When Boy Band Concerts End in Violence

Violent movements, uncontrollable excitement, dementia. These are just a few symptoms of rabies, but they also describe the effects of Bieber Fever, a mysterious psychosis caused by Justin Bieber that is affecting adolescent girls worldwide. From Long Island to Australia, anywhere the Canadian pop star goes, stampeding tweenage fans follow. Just yesterday, a swarm of fans in New Zealand tackled Bieber's mom while trying to cop a feel of the 16-year-old. And while Justin Bieber may have set a new standard for turning ordinary girls into blood-hungry Wildebeests, he's hardly the first boy pop star to cause a ruckus, as you'll see in our History of When Boy Bands Cause Violence.

New York City, 1944

In the days before boy bands, Frank Sinatra was causing a ruckus among would-be teenyboppers. When New York's Paramount Theater booked the Italian Stallion for several back-to-back performances, savvy fans who attended the first show refused to leave the venue. When the thousands of screaming female fans waiting outside weren't allowed in, it caused full-on rioting in the streets. Some of the lucky fans who made it in to the Paramount reportedly sat through so many shows without eating they started to collapse from exhaustion. Now that's devotion!

The Philipines, June 1966

The Fab Four left hordes of crazed teenage girls in their wake for years, but their biggest disturbance occurred when a first lady wanted to smash. In 1966, the band was on tour in the Philippines and declined an invitation to lunch from that nation's president's wife, Imelda Marcos. The result of such a culturally rude gesture was widespread rioting in the streets. The group was forced to essentially flee the country without any official security and were nearly killed in the process, eventually prompting them to quit touring that year.

Seoul, South Korea, February 1992

When the excitement of watching New Kids On The Block perform became too much for a crowd of South Korean teens to handle, a stampede broke out. Girls began storming the stage, injuring over 30 fans, leaving some unconscious and others writhing in pain on the concert hall floor. Finally, we have a real reason to hate NKOTB other than the fact their obnoxious pop music makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside no matter how much we don't want it to.

Edmonton, Canada, August 1998

More than 50 fans were treated for injuries after bum-rushing the stage just to get closer to the hetero-questionable Backstreet Boys. One teenage girl who left the show with a broken rib told a reporter, "I'm lucky I even got close to the stage. This was the best day of my life." We guess nothing numbs pain like the sweet smell of Nick Carter's Abercrombie cologne.

Indonesia, March 2001

Although we've never heard of the British and Norwegian boy band, a1, there are about 20,000 Indonesian fans who worship them. When the band stopped by a shopping mall to sign albums in 2001, four teenage girls were crushed to death by hundreds of panicking fans trying to catch a glimpse of the Backstreet-wannabes.

Minneapolis, MN, November 2005

Unlike any of the offspring from Making The Band, B5 was one venture that was relatively successful for P. Diddy. Successful enough to send 2,000 screaming girls stampeding toward the stage when B5 held a free concert in a Minneapolis mall. We think everyone might've just been running to find the nearest exit.

Birmingham, UK, November 2009

Spawned from a British talent reality show, JLS somehow attracted an enormous British fan base. During a 2009 performance, almost sixty people were crushed and injured when nearly 20,000 screaming fans knocked down a stage barricade in order to get closer to the group. JLS = "Just Lacerated my Shin!"