[bombaysaffires]

well you got me wondering so I decided to ask Richard on his tumblr. I was floored he answered almost immediately. He says totally a prank. Here's the Q&A

Anonymous: Richard, so believe it or not your behind-the-scenes tour story about Chris and the platter has generated some debate. Some think it's a funny road story about how the band pranked you, and others say no Chris was really mad and was really threatening to leave the band and you walked in at the wrong time and got hit. (I think it's the former). Can you clarify?

It was a total joke, it was one of my first tours and I guess this was part of my breaking in process, being the newbie. Chris did not really threaten to leave that night, let me be clear about that. This was to get me back stage right away. PRANK ! Sorry I wasn’t more clear, my bad.

Thank you Richard for being so accessible and cool!