Columbus show - worst concert experience EVER

Helena Handbasket · 12-17-2002, 01:50 AM

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?

Irrelevant · 12-17-2002, 01:53 AM

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'!

SP9 · 12-17-2002, 01:57 AM

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

decoy-13 · 12-17-2002, 02:06 AM

Quote:

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.

Helena Handbasket · 12-17-2002, 02:08 AM

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.

Sacred Age Of Innocence · 12-17-2002, 02:11 AM

Quote:

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.

Don_Mecca · 12-17-2002, 02:26 AM

Quote:

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.

Travis Meekz · 12-17-2002, 02:48 AM

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

ModernCheeze · 12-17-2002, 03:03 AM

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!

Deege · 12-17-2002, 03:05 AM

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!

dammit paul · 12-17-2002, 03:20 AM

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.

strange_one · 12-17-2002, 03:54 AM

that sounds pretty harsh

Nothing/everything · 12-17-2002, 04:15 AM

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.

Ranger · 12-17-2002, 04:52 AM

Quote:

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.

severin · 12-17-2002, 05:01 AM

Quote:

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)

Sacred&Profane · 12-17-2002, 05:14 AM

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!

Ranger · 12-17-2002, 05:33 AM

Quote:

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!

Nothing/everything · 12-17-2002, 05:37 AM

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...

Deege · 12-17-2002, 05:59 AM

Quote:

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!

severin · 12-17-2002, 06:15 AM

Quote:

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

Nothing/everything · 12-17-2002, 06:18 AM

Quote:

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

well so much for my rant then...

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

severin · 12-17-2002, 06:29 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Nothing/everything

well so much for my rant then...

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

Nothing/everything · 12-17-2002, 06:35 AM

Quote:

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

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.

Why Am I So Ugly? · 12-17-2002, 07:17 AM

Do what i do to crowdsurfers: steal their shoes

Myxomatosis · 12-17-2002, 10:17 AM

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.

DeviousJ · 12-17-2002, 10:23 AM

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

lament · 12-17-2002, 10:38 AM

Girls shouldn't be up front.

King of the Horseflies · 12-17-2002, 10:40 AM

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*

lament · 12-17-2002, 10:40 AM

Quote:

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.

Helena Handbasket · 12-17-2002, 10:47 AM

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.

12-17-2002, 01:50 AM	#1
Helena Handbasket Apocalyptic Poster Location: grove street Posts: 4,265	Columbus show - worst concert experience EVER 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?

12-17-2002, 07:17 AM	#24
Why Am I So Ugly? Apocalyptic Poster Location: in a bottle for 100 years Posts: 3,838	Do what i do to crowdsurfers: steal their shoes __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

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12-17-2002, 01:53 AM	#2
Irrelevant Minion of Satan Location: kitties Posts: 6,844	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'!

12-17-2002, 01:57 AM	#3
SP9 Amish Rake Fighter Posts: 20	happens all the time. that's the way it is.

12-17-2002, 02:08 AM	#5
Helena Handbasket Apocalyptic Poster Location: grove street Posts: 4,265	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.

12-17-2002, 02:48 AM	#8
Travis Meekz Minion of Satan Location: . Posts: 6,309	you have to expect it in the front row I'm sure you know that anway, so yeah, that sucks

12-17-2002, 03:03 AM	#9
ModernCheeze Oblivious Virgin Location: the south side, mother trucker. Posts: 31	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!

12-17-2002, 03:05 AM	#10
Deege Demi-God Location: North Robinson, OH, USA Posts: 332	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!

12-17-2002, 03:20 AM	#11
dammit paul Pledge Posts: 91	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.

12-17-2002, 03:54 AM	#12
strange_one No Chance Location: Here Posts: 13,798	that sounds pretty harsh

12-17-2002, 04:15 AM	#13
Nothing/everything Minion of Satan Location: Groningen; Netherlands Posts: 8,010	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.

12-17-2002, 05:14 AM	#16
Sacred&Profane Oblivious Virgin Location: Bristol Posts: 44	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!

12-17-2002, 05:37 AM	#18
Nothing/everything Minion of Satan Location: Groningen; Netherlands Posts: 8,010	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...

12-17-2002, 10:17 AM	#25
Myxomatosis Ownz Location: Bargle nawdle zouss? Posts: 667	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.

12-17-2002, 10:23 AM	#26
DeviousJ CORNFROST Location: GUREITO DESU YO Posts: 24,912	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

12-17-2002, 10:38 AM	#27
lament Demi-God Posts: 486	Girls shouldn't be up front.

12-17-2002, 10:40 AM	#28
King of the Horseflies Ownz Posts: 536	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

12-17-2002, 10:47 AM	#30
Helena Handbasket Apocalyptic Poster Location: grove street Posts: 4,265	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.