News

VIDEO: Tallah Frontman Arrested On First Night Of Tour, Currently Missing

Justin Bonitz was arrested following an altercation with the venue's security team, and after his release from jail, his bandmates are unable to find him.

VIDEO: Tallah Frontman Arrested On First Night Of Tour, Currently Missing

When we premiered the new music video for rising nu-metal quintet Tallah just three days ago, we were excited for the band to kick off their east coast U.S. tour. However, we never could have expected it to kick off like this.

On their first show of the run at Lancaster, Pennsylvania's Lizard Lounge, vocalist Justin Bonitz was arrested following an altercation with the venue's security team.

The band were just five songs into their set when Justin -- in one of his typically wild performances -- decided to hang from a pipe on the ceiling. When the head of security tried pulling the vocalist down, Justin lashed out, not knowing his out-of-uniform assailant was actually a venue employee. A fight ensued, with multiple bouncers getting involved to subdue the frenetic frontman.

Despite all of the chaos, Justin actually carried on singing throughout the whole ordeal -- but when police arrived, Justin was arrested halfway through the band's set and taken to the local police station.

The remaining band members -- drummer Max Portnoy, guitarists Derrick Schneider and Eric Novroski, and bassist Andrew Cooper -- were informed that Justin would be taken to see the judge this morning. But when the band called in, they were told that their bandmate had been released at 2:30AM without a cell phone, shirt or any money.

The band have since been searching parks, coffee shops and bus shelters across the city in an attempt to find their MIA singer, but have failed to locate him thus far. Fans are urged to contact the band immediately through social media if they happen to see Justin or know of his whereabouts.

Video footage from the gig shows Justin hanging from the ceiling, being tackled on stage and then dragged out by security before being arrested:

Tallah's tour is expected to continue on Sunday assuming that Justin is found safe, before the band head to the UK's Boomtown Fair in August to play at The Earache Factory. Their remaining schedule is as follows:

Jul. 21 - Syracuse, NY - Lost Horizon
Jul. 22 - Lakewood, OH - Winchester
Jul. 23 - Philadelphia, PA - Voltage Lounge
Jul. 24 - New London, CT - 33 Golden Street
Jul. 25 - Amityville, NY - Revolution Bar
Jul. 26 - Teaneck, NJ - Debonair Music Hall
Jul. 27 - Long Beach, NJ - Brighton Bar
Aug. 08 - Winchester, UK - Boomtown Fair (Earache Factory)

The best of Kerrang! delivered straight to your inbox three times a week. What are you waiting for?