A concert photographer narrowly missed a guitar being thrown at him on stage — after a heavy metal musician mistook him for someone else.
In a viral TikTok video, American heavy metal guitarist and DJ Sullivan King was performing on stage while on tour with his band Avenged Sevenfold.
@sullivanking 0 days with out incident on the job site
King then decided to throw his guitar off the stage to a silhouette of a figure who he assumed was his guitar tech and was ready to catch the instrument.
However, the musician accidentally launched the instrument at an unsuspecting concert photographer Drue Pines instead.
In the clip, which has over 1.9 million views, the stunned and terrified photographer can be seen watching in horror as the guitar flies straight at him.
Pines grips tightly to his camera and manages to narrowly dodge the flying instrument coming toward him.
The guitar then falls and crashes to the floor. However, the photographer’s camera is still safe in his hands.
King stares at the photographer and raises his arms, apparently questioning why Pines did not even attempt to catch the guitar. But the concert photographer just raises his hands in shock.
At this moment, an annoyed guitar tech proceeds to come out on stage and grab the guitar off the floor.
An amused King then approaches Pines and they both shrug in disbelief at the near-miss.
‘I’m Not Dropping My Camera to Save a Guitar’
Photographers took to the comments to react to King’s TikTok video and many commented on the concert Pines’ instinctive response to keep his camera safe.
@sullivanking Replying to @blupillmusic ♬ original sound – Sullivan King
“As a photographer, my camera is probably worth over $6,000, I’m breaking my arm before I drop it,” a viewer writes.
“One of my cameras and lens is about 7 grand. I’d let the guitar fly too,” another photographer remarks.
Meanwhile, a further individual similarly comments: “As a photographer, I’m not dropping my camera to save the guitar.”
In a follow-up TikTok video, King gave Pines another opportunity to catch a guitar.
The concert photographer was able to redeem himself. In the clip, Pines catches the instrument and even smashes the guitar in a full heavy metal spectacle.
However, King shared that the concert photographer did not manage to capture any images of the flying guitars during the original chaotic incident.
Image credits: Header photo via TikTok/@sullivanking.