Don't get me wrong, the show itself was amazing, but the concert experience itself was horrible. I've seen a good eight or nine shows at the Newport, and none of them were like this.

It was my first time actually getting to see Billy live, so I'm sure you all can understand how beyond excited I was. We ended up with pretty good spots, about two or three people behind the barrier. I was right behind Blue Star actually, who was right up front next to the barrier.

Anyway, Billy comes on stage after awhile, and I was absoultely blown away. (I'm sure you guys of all people understand) but after just a few seconds, the pushing and shoving just got insane. It was so harsh, I found myself almost falling over, and it just got worse and worse. I was trying really hard to not touch Samantha, because she's so teeny and was right against that barrier, but there was only so much I could do. After awhile, the crowd surfing started. I got a boot to the back of the head, someone rolling over top of my head, I even got my head pinned between a few people when I was ducking trying to avoid the random people flying over my head. And that's only the half of it. After two or three songs, people start freaking out all over the place and people are having to be pulled out of the crowd left and right. They had to pull Kenzie out because she was pinned and couldn't breathe and shoved and all that, and Chelsea had to be pulled out because she got trapped between three or four people and couldn't breathe and was blacking out, the poor girl had to beat on some guy to get his attention to show she needed help, because she couldn't even scream. Some other girl had a broken nose and blood was pouring from it like a faucet. And to top it all off, our very own Samantha who drove from DC and had been sitting in the cold since the wee hours was pulled out of the crowd after two or three songs because she had a CRACKED RIB. Ariel and I were the only ones who "survived" the whole show. Mostly because we were pinned and couldn't move if we wanted to. I went from being right up front to somehow finding myself somewhere near the middle struggling to breathe because eight foot tall drunken frat boys are jumpping on top of everyone.

I understand things like this happen at concerts and stuff, but I've seen my fair share of shows, and I've never experienced *anything* like it. Sure you get pushed and shoved a bit, but it's all harmless. I've never seen anything like what happened at the Newport tonight except like, shit that you see on the news. I don't know how many people I counted that had to be pulled out of the crowd by the security guards because they were either about to suffocate (literalaly), or had some kind of serious injury. To me, there's just no reason for that. I've never had to see *anyone* be pulled out of a crowd at all, actually And the main thing is, I don't understand why Billy just didn't say something. He obviously had to see people being pulled out left and right crying, bloody nosed, or whatever. All it would've taken was a "okay, things are getting a little out of hand, everyone take a giant step".

All in all, I'm just really bummed that this is what my first Billy experience had to be like. And of course, I'm REALLY bummed and upset that it got so violent and so many people got hurt. Especially Samantha, I feel like it's my fault because I was standing right behind her, even though I was trying to support all the weight I could on one leg to avoid crushing her against the barrier, and I just wasn't strong enough. I didn't get to talk to her afterwards, I didn't even know she had a cracked rib until after the show when Chelsea told me. I automatically felt really guilty since I was standing right behind her.

*sigh*
Dispute me if you must, but to me and everyone else I talked to that attended it was an amazing show, but just all around a terrible experience. I just feel really bad about the whole thing, y'know?

someone on the z-board knew the girl with the bloody nose. it wasn't broken. she got landed on by a crowd surfer that drilled her into the barrier.

hooray for rowdy rockin'!

happens all the time. that's the way it is.

Originally posted by SP9
happens all the time. that's the way it is.

Exactly...It's a concert

I myself didn't think the crowd was THAT bad...i've seen way worse before

P.S. Fucking excellent show. Mary Star of the Sea makes me want to cream my pants.

Maybe so, but what I'm saying is I've NEVER seen it happen. And even if it does happen all the time, there's no reason for people who pay good money to hear music they love to have to miss 3/4 the show because they have a broken nose, a cracked rib, blackout, whatever.

Originally posted by Helena Handbasket
Maybe so, but what I'm saying is I've NEVER seen it happen. And even if it does happen all the time, there's no reason for people who pay good money to hear music they love to have to miss 3/4 the show because they have a broken nose, a cracked rib, blackout, whatever.

Exactly

Why the fuck must people act like idiots at shows.

Originally posted by Sacred Age Of Innocence


Exactly

Why the fuck must people act like idiots at shows.

Probably the same reason people blow off debts and ignore people they've ripped off.

They're losers.

you have to expect it in the front row
I'm sure you know that anway, so yeah, that sucks

I agree. The crowd surfing at the show tonight was exessive and obnoxious. How the hell are you supposed to enjoy a show when you have to turn around every three seconds to make sure you're not going to get kicked in the head? Crowd surfing = worst idea ever.

I was actually in the same area as Helena, about two or three people back from the railing. The one bright spot of the whole incident was that some foolish crowdsurfer stuck his foot to close to my head, so I straight ganked his shoe and put great lengths between it and him. I hope that motherfucker enjoyed going home with only one fucking shoe!

Wow. I didnt get to go unfortunatly. But WHAT THE FUCK! I must ask.....I mean....Zwan are a VERY VERY tame sounding band....and that sounds worse than HEAVY fucking shows I went to. DAMN!

The show was amazing...the best I've seen to date. But the crowd was terrible. Just a bunch of drunken idiots! I won't go into the list of all the people who pissed me off because I think you all get the idea from other posts. From what I could tell, it just seemed to be a lot of OSU students...people who live in the houses right down the street and had nothing better to do. At least that's the impression I got from everyone around me in line.

<font color=33FFFF> that sounds pretty harsh</font>

ehh, what the fuck?

I've been to lots of concerts in my life, Zwan would not be the show where i'd expect people to crowdsurf at all.

Originally posted by dammit paul


...Just a bunch of drunken idiots!...

....From what I could tell, it just seemed to be a lot of OSU students...people who live in the houses right down the street and had nothing better to do.



That's about par for the course for OSU, and Ohio as a whole. This is the same group that rioted after winning a college football game in November, destroying property, injuring people, and chucking beer bottles at firefighters and police. It doesn't surprise me that they have the same amount of respect for Zwan and their fans as they do for property and the safety of emergency workers.

If anybody here lives near the campus or goes to school there, good luck after OSU plays Miami in the Fiesta bowl. Win or lose, there is going to be some nasty shit going down. Any excuse to riot and loot, they'll be out. I thought this behaviour was limited to the euro's and their soccer, but OSU fan has proved me wrong.

Originally posted by Nothing/everything
ehh, what the fuck?

I've been to lots of concerts in my life, Zwan would not be the show where i'd expect people to crowdsurf at all.

i've seen people crowd surf to sigur ros...

anyways, it sounds kinda harsh, but i have to tell you, i experience it a like this everytime i go to gigs that are a bit harder, esp. on the summer-festivals over here, there was a gig when i was on the floor about 10 times in 5 minutes. you can always go back. i've yet to get to a gig where you can't leave the pit either by walking back or by getting dragged over the barrier (which i have been too a few times[ poor sec]) . i don't like crowdurfers very much (i was once nearly strangeled by an extra-long keychain of one of those pseudo-punks), but i expect them and i know, if i want to be up front, i'll have to take that into account. (and you always can get your elbow in someones stomach if it's getting to hard)

Without sounding callous, you've gotta expect that at the front of gig. I've seen Biohazard play numerous times and it's worse than that trust me. Perhaps a better idea would have been to start slightly further back and then make your way forward, then you can judge how much you can take. Anyway sounds like a ROCKING SHOW!

Originally posted by ModernCheeze

The one bright spot of the whole incident was that some foolish crowdsurfer stuck his foot to close to my head, so I straight ganked his shoe and put great lengths between it and him. I hope that motherfucker enjoyed going home with only one fucking shoe!


From zwan.com:

posted by:Madpenguin41
And then the crowd surfing came and I was most glad to be where I was. Even so, my friend did get pegged in the face with an airborne shoe and I quickly realized that I was instinctively jumping in front of my girlfriend to protect her any time bodies came our way.

posted by: starchild17
i saw somebody rip a persons shoe off and completely whip it at the back of the floor audience for no apparent reason
____________________________________________

BUSTED!

The american concert attitude is probably the worst i've ever heard about. Just listen to some 98 SP concerts, terrible. And crowd surfing at Sigur ros? Those people should be kicked out of the concert hall immediately. Bands like Sigur ros, but also Zwan, are totally not the bands to crowdsurf on. What a terrible disrespect and disinterest for the music...

Originally posted by Ranger



From zwan.com:

posted by:Madpenguin41
And then the crowd surfing came and I was most glad to be where I was. Even so, my friend did get pegged in the face with an airborne shoe and I quickly realized that I was instinctively jumping in front of my girlfriend to protect her any time bodies came our way.

posted by: starchild17
i saw somebody rip a persons shoe off and completely whip it at the back of the floor audience for no apparent reason
____________________________________________

BUSTED! HAHAHAHAHHAHA That's fucking great!

Originally posted by Nothing/everything
The american concert attitude is probably the worst i've ever heard about. Just listen to some 98 SP concerts, terrible. And crowd surfing at Sigur ros? Those people should be kicked out of the concert hall immediately. Bands like Sigur ros, but also Zwan, are totally not the bands to crowdsurf on. What a terrible disrespect and disinterest for the music...

that sigur ros show wasn't in america, it was in austria

Originally posted by severin
that sigur ros show wasn't in america, it was in austria

well so much for my rant then...:D

but i still think that crowdsurfing at such shows is nonsense.

Originally posted by Nothing/everything


well so much for my rant then...:D

but i still think that crowdsurfing at such shows is nonsense. i think it depends on the show, really. i mean with bands like sigur ros it really pisses me off, but i can see people surfing at zwan shows...and at punk and hardcore shows it's the same, it somehow adds to the experience, if you're strong enough to take it. if you're not, then you should really conider standing back or at the sides a little bit

Originally posted by severin
and at punk and hardcore shows it's the same, it somehow adds to the experience, if you're strong enough to take it. if you're not, then you should really conider standing back or at the sides a little bit

Very true. I've been to the New bomb turks some days ago, i didn't really expect anything else than crowdsurfing, beerthrowing and slamdancing. I had a great time to be honest :D

It's just that i think that Zwan is not the band to crowdsurf on. But maybe i'm too used to a timid crowd. I've been to the Datsuns and trail of dead, and even there people didn't do anything.

Do what i do to crowdsurfers: steal their shoes

Just glancing around at some of jockish-looking characters standing in line before the show, my friends and I decided that it might be a good idea to stand against the rail on the elevated area that encircled the pit area. This was confirmed after all the meatheads decided to smash forward and/or crowdsurf -- we had a perfect view and didn't get touched once by anybody. The pit looked pretty hairy at times, but I agree that I've seen much worse. I just think it's a bummer that there even IS a "pit" at a Zwan show. This was my fifth Zwan show, but it was the first I've seen that had an unruly/aggressive audience.

What, hasn't Ariel gained any superpowers from all those medical experiments yet? I'd have expected some "KENZIE HURT! ARIEL ANGRY!" Incredible Hulk-style action

Girls shouldn't be up front.

i hope the show tonite isn't like that. it probably will be though with the crap that's playing. oh well.

the worst crowd i have ever been was the Tool concert, which happened to be in the Cobo Arena (same as tonite's concert), i still have a scar on my hand from that show. there was maybe about 10 whole minutes of the show that were actually enjoyable. why must crowdsurfers and lame moshers ruin it for everyone else?

*is going crowdsurfer-shoe hunting tonite*

Originally posted by Nothing/everything
The american concert attitude is probably the worst i've ever heard about. ...

Please, blame america.... There have been quite a few concert related deaths in other countries in the past few years.

The sad thing is, for just about all the shows I've seen at the Newport I've been right up front, and I still have never seen anything like that happen before.

I thought maybe it was just that bad up front, but it seems like the further I got shoved back the taller, sweatier, drunker, and more violent and obnoxious all the frat boys got.

Prepare for Detroit's crowd to suck, then.

I saw SP there and it was really rough, which I expected. I didn't expect it to be rougher for Weezer, though. How the hell do you get violent for Keep Fishin'?

My brother spends much more time going to concerts than I do, and he's said that he just goes to Chicago instead. It's farther away, but the crowds there understand what the shows are.

Deege is absolutely right, though. Zwan isn't that heavy.

Originally posted by Ranger
posted by: starchild17
i saw somebody rip a persons shoe off and completely whip it at the back of the floor audience for no apparent reason
____________________________________________

BUSTED!

Originally posted by Why Am I So Ugly?
Do what i do to crowdsurfers: steal their shoes

Vindication? The idiot got what he deserved.

I had a bad experience, too, but I thought I was being smart standing on the elevated level by the railing.

As soon as the band came out this huge fat guy, about 40 years old, came running up behind my wife and I and rammed us to try to get up against the railing. Of course, I elbowed him in his gut and told him to fuck off. Then, we were standing by this group of four lesbians (no, I have no problems with lesbians) who were making out/giving back rubs to each other/etc who wouldn't stop touching my wife. One of the lesbian's FATHER was there with them smoking weed and blowing it in my wife's hair -- that was a nice touch.

There was a lot of crowd surfing, but only about 5 people doing it -- they just kept getting pulled out and doing it again.

Seriously, crowd surfing during "Settle Down" is fucking retarded.

Somebody also threw a cup at Billy. He just kept looking at the cup like "Is this 1993 or what?"

The band was on fire, though, even though Billy seemed sick.

I really did NOT want to get yanked out of the crowd - I mean, I did only because I couldn't get out any other way, and I needed to get out, but shit. I made my way back to the wings to see Chelsea shaking all over. And BlueStar/Samantha was just... not even able to talk. I tried to see if she was ok, but it was so clear it wasn't.

And "girls shouldn't be up front"? That's crap. People shouldn't be dickshits and push to kill at rock shows. That's ridiculous. I'm 5'2'', and there were all kinds of other short girls around me trying to see over the sea of shoulders, shoving and pushing us forward like we weren't even there.

I was at the breaking point right before that burly bouncer lifted me out.

Originally posted by ModernCheeze




Vindication? The idiot got what he deserved.
yeah except i take the shoes home and grow plants in them

it's also in a college town. I know that doesn't excuse it, but most of the people there weren't Zwan fans, they were beer fans

sorry about your lousy experience

some people act like such dicks in pits, it's meant to be fun, not life-threatening.

Originally posted by DamingR


Somebody also threw a cup at Billy. He just kept looking at the cup like "Is this 1993 or what?"



The idiot that threw the cup was next to me. After spilling his beer on like 5 different people while pushing his way to the front he stopped next to me as asks 'Should I throw this?' and points to the stage. I just give him a look and say 'No' he asks me like 5 more times if he should throw it up on stage and I just ignored him. Then he launches it up on stage starts to giggle like a girl and his 2 other drunken friends who were pushing their way to the front as well slap eachother high five. Then the fucker tries to signal to the security that I threw the cup.

These 3 some how made it to the front rail by musling their way past the smallest girls they could find. Knocking them over and just being disrespectful dicks. UGH...and to top it off in their drunken stupor they kept screaming at Billy to play Zero. The sad thing is I'm not sure if they were trying to be funny or are just that dumb.

Tonight's show will be a better crowd, just for the fact that its going to be made up of teeny boppers who want to see NFG and Box-Car Racer. At least that's the way it was in DC.

I just got back from the ER here in DC...I have a couple of slinter fractures on my sternum (sp?) and a mjor chest contusion to the bone and muscle. I have a huge gigantic bruise between my boobs. I have never felt pain like that before. When one of the security guards pulled out one of the crowd surfers, the crowd surfer hit me in the back and slammed me down into the barricade. And when I got pulled out, I started throwing up and feeling like I was going to pass out. And the guards wanted me to go to the hospital and called an ambulance for me...but I broke down in tears and refused to leave (I had come all the way from DC and got in line at 6am and it was my first time being front row for Billy). :( The songs were great, though. And I got almost an entire roll of film taken before I got pulled out, so hopefully those will turn out.

I got to meet some Netphorians I hadn't met before. :)

Originally posted by King of the Horseflies
the worst crowd i have ever been was the Tool concert, which happened to be in the Cobo Arena (same as tonite's concert)


Yeah, unfortunately I've been to a few shows at Cobo where the people in the lower bowl decide to rush the main floor, so you end up with about twice the number of people crammed onto the floor than can actually fit. I really hope we don't have to deal with that tonight.

Originally posted by BlueStar
I just got back from the ER here in DC...I have a couple of slinter fractures on my sternum (sp?) and a mjor chest contusion to the bone and muscle. I have a huge gigantic bruise between my boobs.

:(

pics?

Originally posted by Helena Handbasket
Especially Samantha, I feel like it's my fault because I was standing right behind her, even though I was trying to support all the weight I could on one leg to avoid crushing her against the barrier, and I just wasn't strong enough. I didn't get to talk to her afterwards, I didn't even know she had a cracked rib until after the show when Chelsea told me. I automatically felt really guilty since I was standing right behind her.

*sigh*
Dispute me if you must, but to me and everyone else I talked to that attended it was an amazing show, but just all around a terrible experience. I just feel really bad about the whole thing, y'know?

Not at all your fault.

And I totally agree that it was great show, but definitely a terrible experience. If I could back and change things...I would choose to be the "oooh look, that balcony looks nice" girl as opposed to the "I want to be right in front of Billy" girl.

ok so it wasnt my favourite convert by any means, but it wasnt my worst experience either..
the two big drunk guys were more than a little annoying, as well as the crowdsurfers.. i only remember four or five though the whole night.. sorry for those that got hurt by them, i was just enough to the right to miss them all..
billy was great to watch. i finally got to see what everyone meant when they said he looked happy.. he did, and it was cute and wonderful.

one thing no one has mentioned where ive been..
whats up with the zwan shirts? dont get me wrong, i bought one and all, but when my husband saw his, he was just like, 'yeah, i'll be wearing That one pretty often'.. lol.

Originally posted by ModernCheeze




Vindication? The idiot got what he deserved.

You hit someone in the face you fucking idiot.

I agree with you taking off the persons shoe, but you should have just thrown it on the floor below you, not flung it across the room.

Originally posted by Sacred&amp;Profane
Without sounding callous, you've gotta expect that at the front of gig. I've seen Biohazard play numerous times and it's worse than that trust me. Perhaps a better idea would have been to start slightly further back and then make your way forward, then you can judge how much you can take.

I'm front row at 85% of the GA shows I go to. And I have only been pulled out 3 times...Pumpkins at the Aragon because I fainted, Tool at Hammerstein because of broken ribs (because of the crowd pushing me so hard into the barricade) and Zwan at Columbus because of a crowd surfer. Yes, crowd surfers are to be expected, but serious injuries because of them are not. And, in my opinion, it is almost always worse in the middle than in the front row.

This is another example of why I hate people so much. You get people together in large groups and the whole mob mentality kicks in and people revert to animals. And these fucking crowd surfing mosh pit assholes, who don't seem to give a fuck about the music being played, ruin a good show for everybody else. The worst part is that the rest of us just accept that kind of behavior as par for the course and respond with "Oh well you should have known it would be like that in the front. What did you expect?"

I know I sound like a grumpy old man but it just pissses me off.

Originally posted by DamingR
Somebody also threw a cup at Billy. He just kept looking at the cup like "Is this 1993 or what?"

I was just waiting for him to say "stoppen throwen zie cuppen!"

Originally posted by DamingR

my wife .... my wife. ... my wife's hair

wtf!?!?

aren't/weren't you and caine walker boyfriend and boyfriend?? :confused:

What a mess. I was really hoping that this and the Toronto shows were going to be THE shows to be at. I can't believe people went to the hospital: I thought Canes was rough, and all I got was a bruise from my bra.

Originally posted by pale_princess


wtf!?!?

aren't/weren't you and caine walker boyfriend and boyfriend?? :confused:

LOL are you refering to me? voted 'best couple that never was' a couple of years back ;)

I have to disagree. From where I was, which wasn't too close, but not too far back, say maybe 5-10 people back, I only saw the same 5 idiots crowd-surfing the whole time, and maybe about 10 morons shoving people. The venue was over-ful. I've been to sold out shows at the newport that was less than half as full, so any one moron shoving people created a domino effect of the entire crowd toppling. Also I only saw about 20 people with drinks the whole time I was there. Sure people got hurt, but blame it on poor planning by the venue, not the "drunken OSU students" Finals already happened, a lot of people had already gone home for break. The fact that the line was all the way to 15th by the time the show started showed that it was overfull, and add to that the fact that almost nobody was on the balcony, and thus on the floor, and you have injuried and stupidity waiting to happen. Hey, at least the crowd in Columbus seemed to like the band and didn't boo them (I was at Detroit tonight, and I had to leave the venue and scream at that ridiculous city...side note, I'm NEVER going to Michigan again after that) like the show tonight.

and for the record, every crowd surfer near me got the shoe stolen, a punch to the kidneys, or both

Originally posted by pale_princess


wtf!?!?

aren't/weren't you and caine walker boyfriend and boyfriend?? :confused:


Ummmm.... No.... I don't know WHAT you are talking about.

Originally posted by friedicee
and for the record, every crowd surfer near me got the shoe stolen, a punch to the kidneys, or both

Man, I tried really hard for a chunk of some blond bitch's hair... I missed though. I've never had the violent side of me brought out like that. I (later) wanted to punch some guy who was pushing, but I couldn't get my arms free. Lucky bastard. :mad:

Originally posted by BlueStar


Not at all your fault. And I totally agree that it was great show, but definitely a terrible experience. If I could back and change things...I would choose to be the "oooh look, that balcony looks nice" girl as opposed to the "I want to be right in front of Billy" girl.



that would be me. my friend and i were some of the last people into the concert because of traffic and ticket issues (we had to get lisa's ticket from a scalper because roll call claimed we didn't have a ticket!). i wanted to be up front but i knew that there was no way in hell that it would happen. so lisa and i took our spots right up front on the left balcony. we had maybe 3 people looking behind us. i have never been so comfortable in my life at a show. i bet we had one of the best views of the band. we should have had a camera our spots were that good. we could see everything.

halfway through the 2nd or 3rd song billy stopped what he was doing to wave at me. swoon! that was a great concert. they all performed wonderfully.
i'm so sorry about everything that happened. i saw a lot of people ripped out of the crowd that looked like they were seriously in bad shape. it looked scary down there.
the only minus were the shirts. i'm not a fan of rainbows on white.

at the detroit show, somehow no crowd surfers had gone past me even though they were all over. a couple girls got lifted out near me b/c they couldn't take the pushing and people wouldn't even let them move back. so i try to be a little nicer to some crowdsurfers, now that i understand that some of them may just trying to get the hell out of dodge.

look on the bright side of things, if you die at the concert you will be a zwan/pumpkin icon, you will live in the hallowed halls of bolly history! uh

Originally posted by Don_Mecca


Probably the same reason people blow off debts and ignore people they've ripped off.

They're losers.

loser

Toronto - Dec. 19th:

Not a single crowd surfer. Not too intense pushing. It was perfect. I mean, really, you go to see a show for the music. If it was for the moshing, there would probably be moshing events where people can just go and mosh. ;)

The Toronto show was perfect cause I was actually able to enjoy the whole thing. I saw SP at the Spectrum in Montreal in 2000, and I found myself not paying attention to XYU cause I had to figure out a way to keep my balance and a position against the barrier where I wouldnt get my ribs crushed.

So Toronto was perfect. The neergy was still extremely high. It just wasnt dumb energy.

This is why, if your near the front, you always have your hands up..because you never know when people are gonna surf over you.