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Thread: Will Bands Decide Touring Is Too Dangerous?

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  1. #1

    Will Bands Decide Touring Is Too Dangerous?

    I'm just thinking out loud here but weird or dangerous situations seem to be happening to touring bands with increasing frequency...or do they just get more media attention these days?
    I think back to The Beatles touring the South after John's "Jesus" comment (taken out of context; save your comments about that and don't derail me)...there was real concern that he would be shot onstage, and when a firecracker went off at a show George said he looked over to see if John was shot.

    Not a digression but a foundation for my thinking here. We also had the club shooting in France at the Eagles Of Death Metal show, that horrible mass shooting in Vegas, the assassination of Dimebag onstage, and so on.

    These days we constantly hear about these insane things happening at concerts...people somehow getting past security to get onstage (forgive me for not being able to cite particulars here but l recall that it has happened with many big names in the past few years). Somebody throwing their mother's ashes onstage at Pink, and just yesterday someone shot a laser pointer into Nick Jonas' eyes onstage, and he walked off.

    For context l am a child of the 70s and saw Pat Travers get hit in the face with a gallon jug of piss (Georgia Jam, man), saw Nugent stop a show until someone was handed up who threw something at him, etc, and just read in a Peart book about Geddy being stunned for a couple of minutes after taking a Zippo to the forehead..not to mention Zappa being attacked onstage and almost killed.
    In the 90s l was a nobody in a nobody band and l was accosted by a guy because his girlfriend talked to me.

    So, this is behavior (not the murdering) that has been going on as long as live music has, l suppose. I equate these fuckheads with what are *commonly* now known as "tourons", who routinely desecrate places like the Colusseum, wildlife areas in Yellowstone, or decide they want to pet a bison.

    And again to tie this back to bands that have to tour now to make any money, are these "tourons" becoming more of a feature now, or are we just hearing about every instance now because *everything* is instantly reported?

    As far as l know this isn't an issue with progressive bands, or is it, and like all things prog, we don't hear about it?

    Frankly people are just fucking crazy now and if l was a musician in a large theater- or arena level band l would be legitimately frightened. This is probably stupid and alarmist thinking, or is it? Remember when we crusters used to go to shows and get a once-over for bottles and such? What do they do now? The only big concert l have been to in 15 years was Genesis, and l didn't even get a pat-down. Do they have metal detectors at big concerts?

    I am a pattern seeking animal and l think l am seeing one here that is gonna lead to something bad. Or do I? Are there just the base level idiots out there like there has always been, or is there a complacency out there that isn't considering the possibility of something tragic eventually occurring? And is that freedom for the musicians and audience just the price of admission?
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  2. #2
    Moderator Poisoned Youth's Avatar
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    It sounds like you’re not sure which way you believe or want to believe.

    I was just reading a local Facebook group where every other day someone shares a “missing person” post. Many times the person missing lives nowhere near the locality. Still more often, you hear about the person missing, but it turns out to be a false alarm. And even beyond those instances, there are outright fake missing person posts that circulate the internet regularly.

    Knowing all this, the reaction to each one is the same. Besides all the “prayers” posts, there will always be someone who says “wow, lots of people are missing lately. It’s an epidemic!” and “Human trafficking is occurring here all the time.”

    You could explain to these folks there likely is not the trafficking occurring to the degree they think it is. But it won’t do any good, especially in today’s world of misery driven algorithms, where the world is awful, everyone is evil, and debunked conspiracy theories never go away.

    Because of the frequency of these posts, people conclude that the situation is much more dire than it actually is. This is what I thought of when I read your thread.

    That said, it is also “a thing” that the more people believe something to be an epidemic, it sometimes eventually becomes that thing. When you give a concept, idea, situation, person, etc. national attention, a contagion effect can occur. It’s like school shootings. Or maybe, more accurately like that week a few years back where people were shooting others in their driveway or front door. Even though these acts were all separate and different from each other, media channels started reporting it as if they were cosmically linked. Thankfully, this went away quickly before a contagion occurred, or this might still be a thing. Ironically, I’m sure we could find these type of domestic events with strangers still happen frequently. It’s just not getting oxygen at the moment.

    So, in short, no. But if we talk about it enough, then possibly.
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  3. #3
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    I still attend a lot of concerts. These days if you go to an arena, theater, or larger club you are required to go through a metal detector and often a patdown. This has become standard procedure and I think it has led to less incidents of things being thrown on stage or people with weapons. Most venues no longer allow purses are any kind of bags, no matter how small, in the venues either. I would argue that because of this it has gotten better over the years. Then again, I am an old man that tends to go to shows with older audiences, so I could be completely wrong.

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    Parrots Ripped My Flesh Dave (in MA)'s Avatar
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    I remember when they used to frisk for alcohol, ostensibly to prevent booze-fueled rowdiness, but then around 30(?) years ago they started selling alcohol in the venues, but they'll still check to make sure you aren't bringing any in because they want you to overpay for theirs.

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    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Referring back to the OP, I just heard that part in Geddy's memoir yesterday - he said it "required several stitches" when he got hit by the lighter, which he said was a disposable.

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    Member since March 2004 mozo-pg's Avatar
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    I Saw Tull on the mid-70s and someone threw a lit firecracker on the stage. Ian stopped playing and said he want to knock the teeth out of the asshole who threw the firecracker and then went back to play.

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    Quote Originally Posted by mozo-pg View Post
    I Saw Tull on the mid-70s and someone threw a lit firecracker on the stage. Ian stopped playing and said he want to knock the teeth out of the asshole who threw the firecracker and then went back to play.
    Yeah if you listen to live bootlegs from then, firecrackers are fairly (and worryingly) common. There's a Pink Floyd one at Madison Square Garden where it sounds like a war zone for a while- explosion after explosion. Waters lost his cool a few times at the end of that 1977 tour as a result of all the madness.

    Isn't it in Zeppelin's Live On Blueberry Hill with Plant saying 'who threw the firecracker? You want locking up'.

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    Parrots Ripped My Flesh Dave (in MA)'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JJ88 View Post
    Yeah if you listen to live bootlegs from then, firecrackers are fairly (and worryingly) common.
    And, annoyingly, air horns.
    (The Tull Madison Square Garden release has air horns from the crowd, as I recall)

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    Parrots Ripped My Flesh Dave (in MA)'s Avatar
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    Ian Anderson got an eye injury on the Stormwatch tour when a probable Yankee fan* threw a rose at him at Madison Square Garden.


    *

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    Jazzbo manqué Mister Triscuits's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave (in MA) View Post
    Ian Anderson got an eye injury on the Stormwatch tour when a probable Yankee fan* threw a rose at him at Madison Square Garden.
    That’s why, when I saw Tull later on that tour, Ian was wearing tinted glasses onstage.
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  11. #11
    I think all public figures have taken on greater risk in recent years. There will always be assholes. Fewer crazies with guns would certainly help.
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  12. #12
    The air horns may have been a 1978 thing. I remember hearing them on some Zappa stuff from Halloween that year, and one of the Bruce Springsteen broadcasts from the Darkness tour.

    I read that the Bursting Out box set has a quote from Ian that they found bullets on the stage floor at the end of some Tull shows.

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    Quote Originally Posted by pb2015 View Post
    The air horns may have been a 1978 thing. I remember hearing them on some Zappa stuff from Halloween that year, and one of the Bruce Springsteen broadcasts from the Darkness tour.

    I read that the Bursting Out box set has a quote from Ian that they found bullets on the stage floor at the end of some Tull shows.
    In my area Air Horns were pretty standard at concerts and hockey games in the late 70's.

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    Parrots Ripped My Flesh Dave (in MA)'s Avatar
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    Maybe they shot the guy with the air horn.

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    Member Garyhead's Avatar
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    Firecrackers thrown onstage for Yes’ Going For The One tour in Seattle. Band stopped and Howe was yelling something. 1977?
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    Moderator Poisoned Youth's Avatar
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    After reading the rest of the comments, I feel kinda overdressed actually trying to address the OP's question.
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    Outraged bystander markwoll's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Poisoned Youth View Post
    After reading the rest of the comments, I feel kinda overdressed actually trying to address the OP's question.
    Ha, not much has happened in the last 50 years.
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    Jazzbo manqué Mister Triscuits's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Poisoned Youth View Post
    After reading the rest of the comments, I feel kinda overdressed actually trying to address the OP's question.
    We can’t help it if it takes you 500 words to say “It’s always been like this.”
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    Serengeti Svengali Hobo Chang Ba's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Poisoned Youth View Post
    After reading the rest of the comments, I feel kinda overdressed actually trying to address the OP's question.
    I would disagree and say you've basically covered it properly. i had the same thought that back in the day seemed worse with so many stories of musicans having beer bottles and random shit thrown at them on stage with worrying frequency. I suppose today the concept of terror attacks are much more heightened, but overall, its always been a hard job to be a touring musician (unless you were super rich/famous I suppose) and danger has always been part of the game.
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    Parrots Ripped My Flesh Dave (in MA)'s Avatar
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    I think it was a Hackett show a few years ago, or maybe KC or Wilson, but as the line to enter the venue turned the corner, metal detectors came into view, and it dawned on me that I had a knife in my pocket. We were told to take phones, keys, etc. out of our pockets and hold them up so they didn't set off the metal detectors. I held my phone, keys, reading glasses in a metal case, AND my knife over my head, and walked in without an issue.

  21. #21
    Man of repute progmatist's Avatar
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    What's new(ish) is things being thrown at Taylor Swift, by kids accepting a Ticktock challenge. What's new is Taylor having to cancel shows in Europe due to credible terrorist threats.
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    Outraged bystander markwoll's Avatar
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    Or the crowd crush at the Travis Scott Astroworld concert. There are many ways a concert could go sideways.
    I would not want to be famous these days. Fans or haters have an amazing degree of entitlement and fervor.
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  23. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by markwoll View Post
    Or the crowd crush at the Travis Scott Astroworld concert. There are many ways a concert could go sideways.
    I would not want to be famous these days. Fans or haters have an amazing degree of entitlement and fervor.
    That was the basis of my far too lengthy original post. I am just wondering if at some point a band is going to say "Screw this, we're not touring any more."

    Seems to me that people are getting more creative in the ways they fuck with bands, like going to the trouble to thwart security to get onstage during a show....and laser pointers in the eyes?
    Also the Taylor Swift/TikTok thing seems problematic, not to mention the terrorist threats.

    It is certainly the case that "it has always been like this", but at some point someone is going to bail on touring. Danger after all was one of many factors in the Beatles' decision to stop. Someone like Swift with an equivalent modern popularity could certainly afford to stop, especially if the risk- and hassle factors become too much.
    Last edited by veteranof1000psychicwars; 3 Weeks Ago at 05:19 PM.
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    Outraged bystander markwoll's Avatar
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    I saw Alison Krauss and Robert Plant this summer at Wolf Trap. It is usually a pretty laid back place. There are uniformed ushers in the venue and some Park Police officers walking around.
    For that show there were "Security Contractors" , bulky guys with ballistic vests and weapons, near the stage and around the edges. I had not seen that before. But Plant is a musician with potential cult-like followers.
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  25. #25
    Man of repute progmatist's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by markwoll View Post
    I saw Alison Krauss and Robert Plant this summer at Wolf Trap. It is usually a pretty laid back place. There are uniformed ushers in the venue and some Park Police officers walking around.
    For that show there were "Security Contractors" , bulky guys with ballistic vests and weapons, near the stage and around the edges. I had not seen that before. But Plant is a musician with potential cult-like followers.
    Plant can also draw the ire of certain cults. Remember the satanic scare of the early 1980s, when supposedly Stairway was laden with subliminal "backward masked" messages?
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