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A fight between artists and security broke out onstage at the annual art-rave What the Festival in Durfur, Ore., over the weekend, cutting one group's set short and leaving some of the festival's equipment at the bottom of a pool.
According to a thread on Reddit, Sacramento-based production duo Hippie Sabotage became upset over pervasive technical difficulties, and midway through its performance began throwing microphones into a nearby wading pool. They then climbed atop their gear table, and grew violent when security guards intervened.
Related: "The Past, Present and Future of What the Festival."
"The security guards then tried to pull them down from the speakers/gear table and they started violently punching the security guards," says attendee Meghan Kearney. "It was so disgusting and disrespectful and they were completely at fault."
In a statement to Willamette Week, Hippie Sabotage says security instigated the incident. "It was an unfortunate event that placed us in an unsafe situation in the middle of our performance," the group says, adding that security apologized to them afterward. On Twitter, the duo also said that it paid the festival for the damaged equipment. (Representatives from What the Festival did not immediately respond to requests for comment.)
"We feel terrible that the fans didn't get the full set," the group says. "But we love performing for Portland and will be back."
Willamette Week