Tossing the guitar to the guitar tech is a classic stage move patented by legends such as Eddie Van Halen: a captivating display of athleticism, showmanship, and sheer efficiency during a fast-paced concert.
It’s also risky, as metal/electronic musician Sullivan King found out the hard way during a recent gig.
The botched guitar toss happened a few weeks ago and was documented on King’s TikTok. In the clip, King is immersed in a bath of strobe lights having just finished a song. Behind him is the silhouette of a figure, who Sullivan assumes is his guitar tech.
Without a second thought, King hurls his guitar skyward toward the figure, but as the stage lights change, we catch a glimpse of not a guitar tech, but King’s hapless photographer with a look of shock on his face as the instrument flies toward him.
Sadly, the photographer moves out of the way as the guitar lands slightly to his left — much to the dismay of the actual guitar tech, who shoots a dirty glance at Sullivan as he walks over to scoop up the potentially damaged axe. King doesn’t really know how to react, offering a shrug of “Oops” with the photog, who is also a bit stunned by the whole thing.
King and his photographer have since practiced some guitar tosses, in the event that such a mishap occurs again.
“Turning my photographer into a guitar catching king,” reads the text on a more recent TikTok video in which King brought his photog onstage to throw him a guitar, which the latter then smashed to bits.
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Sullivan King is currently on tour supporting Avenged Sevenfold’s North American tour (get tickets here). Below you can see the TikTok videos of King and his photographer.
@sullivanking 0 days with out incident on the job site
@sullivanking Replying to @blupillmusic no photographers were harmed in the smashing of this guitar