Machine Head Guitarist Collapses Onstage In Finland

Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel collapses again at Sonisphere in Finland.

Posted Monday, 27 July 2009 in

The following is taken directly from the Sonisphere website:

Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel is fine after dramatically collapsing on stage during the finale to an electric-stomping set that had the crowd so pumped up they were running at each other in a ‘wall of death’ and charging around in manic circles. Although he had to be helped off stage, he exclusively told Team Sonisphere that he is now feeling okay.

“Basically I want to apologise to all the fans for cheating them of their last song,” he said. After breaking the news on Twitter, Team Sonisphere was inundated with messages from worried fans.

“I feel I short-changed the fans and really want to make it up for them,” Phil said backstage afterwards. “Thanks for all the concern.”

This is not the first time Phil, who suffers from a rare condition called cardiogenic syncope, has collapsed on stage. Essentially the condition means on occasion that the heart fails to pump enough blood to the brain, resulting in the sufferer blacking out.

A fan in the crowd caught the moment on camera, for the footage see below: