The Kinks' 1965 UK tour

By early 1965, the Kinks had developed a reputation for violence and aggression,[20][21] both on and off the stage.[22] The band sometimes broke into physical altercations during rehearsals, recording sessions and concerts, with infighting common between brothers Ray and Dave and between Dave and drummer Mick Avory.[23]

A major fight ensued on 18 May, following a concert in Taunton, Somerset.[2] After returning from a post-show party,[2][24] a drunk and high Dave got into separate arguments with Ray, Curtis and the hotel's night porter.[25] Dave asked Avory to weigh in on his argument with Ray, but Avory's refusal to engage further angered Dave.[25][26] Bassist Pete Quaife recalled that as he and Avory attempted to get away, Dave struck Avory with a suitcase.[27] An enraged Avory began fighting Dave, violently punching him in the head while also placing him in a headlock. Both fighters suffered cuts and bruises, while Dave was also left with a pair of black eyes.[28][26] The band's management broke-up the fight,[26] and Curtis later recalled a trail of blood running across the staircase where the fight took place.[28]

To prevent further fighting, Curtis kept the Kinks separated before their 19 May show in Cardiff, Wales.[28][2] Ray and Dave travelled in separate cars and had a different dressing room from Quaife and Avory, and the pairs did not interact until the concert began, entering from opposite ends of the stage.[28] Dave wore sunglasses at the show to obscure his injuries.[2][24] Dave verbally insulted Avory during the show's opening number, "You Really Got Me",[24] then further insulted him as they began "Beautiful Delilah",[12] denigrating his drumming abilities and saying it would sound better if he played "with his cock".[26][29] Dave kicked Avory's drum set across the stage,[12][30] eliciting laughter from the audience who presumed the act was prearranged.[31] Avory emerged from his kit, took his hi-hat stand and struck Dave in the head,[30] who collapsed and lay motionless.[26] Watching from the edge of the stage, the Yardbirds' rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja recalled:

[Avory] delivered what to me was like an execution – a beheading. Seriously. It was such a violent act. He hit him over the back of the head. I was absolutely stunned. I remember shaking, then thinking, "He's killed him."[31]

Worried he had unintentionally killed his bandmate,[12][32] Avory fled the theatre and hid in a nearby cafe.[33][34] The police were called after Dave fell unconscious,[35] and they arrived at the theatre and the Kinks' hotel looking to question Avory.[36] Ray later said that the incident "horrified him",[35] and both Quaife and Genya Ravan of Goldie and the Gingerbreads recalled him screaming hysterically onstage.[31][37] Dave was hospitalised at Cardiff Royal Infirmary, where he received 16 stitches to his head.[12] He later said that his only memory on the incident was kicking over the drums before waking up in the theatre's dressing room covered in blood.[35] Bain announced to the crowd that the Kinks' second show had been cancelled,[38] and the Yardbirds instead returned to perform another set.[39]

After locating Avory, Curtis advised him to change out of his stage attire, go to Cardiff's station and board the next train, regardless of its destination.[36][34] The band's management explained to officers that it was simply a stage act gone awry, but police soon considered charging Avory with grievous bodily harm.[40][41] The Kinks refused journalists' requests for comment, but Curtis expressed to the press scepticism that the band would continue.[36][34]

The Kinks' four remaining dates on tour were cancelled.[35] The package tour continued, with contemporary American pop group the Walker Brothers performing in the Kinks' place.[12][nb 3] After returning to London, Dave spent the next ten days recuperating at his sister's home, while Avory retreated to journalist Keith Altham's house in New Malden, Surrey.[12][24] Altham fronted a story that Avory was hiding out at his parents' home Molesey, while the British press soon dubbed the incident "the Kinks Kontroversy".[12][nb 4]

Like Curtis, the Kinks' personal manager Larry Page expected that the incident would lead to a break-up of the Kinks.[36] The band briefly considered replacing Avory with another drummer; by 24 May, Mitch Mitchell of the Riot Squad had agreed in principle to joining the group.[46][24] Motivated to keep the band together for their first US tour, Page sought to reconcile Dave and Avory and avoid the likelihood of police involvement.[36] Page convinced Dave to not press charges,[36] while he instructed Avory to downplay the incident in press interviews.[46] In an official statement, Avory suggested that he had accidentally hurt Dave while doing a new stage routine, where Dave would wave his guitar in the air and Avory would pretend to strike Dave in the head with his cymbals.[47] He added: "It's untrue that we had rowed and are going to break up. It was just an unfortunate incident."[46]

Page phoned each Kink individually and invited them to the London offices of his firm Denmark Productions.[36] Expecting to see Page alone,[36] the members arrived on 28 May for the group meeting.[46] Page spoke for most of the meeting about plans for the band's US tour,[48] which was set to begin on 9 June.[46] The band agreed to regroup and fulfill their upcoming commitments, though the tour was delayed a week until the 17th,[46] something necessitated by Dave's head injury.[49][50] To downplay the public perception of his injuries, Dave appeared the following day at the Variety Club Star Gala at Battersea Park, south London, signing autographs for charity.[46] The band performed one concert and made four British television appearances in the first week of June, before departing to the US on the 17th.[51]