Mark Synchro said: it's inappropriate to throw objects at people.
Yeah... just rememeber that the next time some chick down the front row throws her undercrackers at you. Stop the show, get on the mic and say 'I understand why you did that, but it's inappropriate.' 
'What, you must be a 26 waist, yeah?'
Quite shocking. Gladly nobody got seriously injured.
It's not a cultural thing. A-holes are everywhere.
Stupidity doesn't seem to be limited by any national borders, and it seems to be one resource all countries have in abundance.
I'm glad Brian wasn't seriously injured and that the object thrown wasn't something more dangerous. Hopefully they'll improve security for the remainder of the tour.
Is "stupid" premeditated? Do stupid people sit around and "think up" stupid stuff to do? Is there "first degree" stupidity? Misdemeanor stupidity? Should stupid behavior be punished? Should you shake your fist and retaliate at stupid behavior or simply roll your eyes, shrug and walk away...?
TAG4
The next french gig, in Toulouse, was apparently OK 
I've been there. Crowds can be so fickle sometimes! Let me tell ya, I don't care where your're from, THIS hurts:
<img src="
" alt="" />
You know me, always have a story....
In 1968, Duane was playing The Albert Hall, in London, with Bill Haley. A huge crowd of very excited fans, and a few had spent time in the pub before arriving.
During Duane's portion of the show, in the middle of Ramrod, the drums suddenly stopped. Duane looked around and saw his drummer slumped over his snare drum. He had been hit in the head by a bottle thrown from the crowd. Duane and the group helped him off his kit and carried him offstage. He was bleeding, but he wanted to continue with the show. Duane told him to take some time and make sure he really wanted to return to the stage.
Duane came out from the backstage area, walked to the mike and said, "That's it! You can all go back and sit down, or this show stops right now. I'll go back and ask Bill Haley not to come out, unless you start behaving like civilized people."
The show proceeded as planned, and everyone had a wonderful night. It has since been referred to in the press as a "John Wayne moment". I love that.
I can absolutely picture Duane going all Rooster Cogburn on their asses!
I've played in places that had cargo net in front of the stage.
It would stop a chair.
But not a shotglass!
It's why I played Telecasters for a LONG time.
It's a sure bet he did, Pilgrim!
I'm so proud I've had nothing to say in this thread.
(I don't think I've posted, have I?)
I still have nothing to get all bent about vis a vis crowd stupidity, the motives of item-tossers, or the relationship of nationality, culture, and inappropriatude. You've all covered it!
I WILL mention that, I can picture a guy at a gig, just feet away from a performer. The performer's looking right at him sometimes (he thinks), and he can see him clear as day, and even thinks they're sharing a moment. Not necessarily he and the performer, but the performer and the crowd, particularly the crowd up front.
Something in the performance triggers the guy's notion to toss something up on stage...like we'd toss an apple or a tool or a beer across the room to a buddy.
Thing is, our buddies can see us, and we ARE all sharing the same experience. Guy on stage, though, is having a completely DIFferent moment than the guy in the audience, is bombarded by lots of stimuli the audience knows nothing of, and attending to all kinds of details. He can't pay attention to several hundred people who might helpfully toss him something.
Also - the lights are in his eyes. He is SEEN, but he can't SEE.
Guy tosses something, no intention to hit anyone, figures the guys on stage see it coming. They don't. Disaster.
Maybe not malignant or malicious stupidity, maybe just thoughtlessness.
(This doesn't apply to situations of obvious malice and assault, the spitters, the tossers of bottles of piss, the ashtray thrower, the fireworks idiots, or the gun-shooters. Those idiots are just idiots, and now we can go back to our outrage that they're part of the human race!)
(We also have people who will drop concrete blocks from freeway overpasses, trying to land them on - or put them through the windshields of - the speeding cars below. Sometimes, just to see what happens.
Extreme science, I guess. I'm pretty speechless about that.)
I'm probably not the only person who's run across this one. Would you stay up there?
In my freshman year in high school I was in the photo club. This sounds boring enough, but it had great perks.
Our school principal, Mr. Held, had a side job as an usher at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. While no press passes were ever issued to us personally, we were able to bring in our cameras and big lenses with hardly a care about getting caught with them.
I went to the Aerosmith show, section 108, and started snapping with a 400mm lens attached. At about 4 songs in, I think it was "Back in the Saddle" when I saw a bottle sail from the back of the hockey arena and smash on a monitor right in front of Steven Tyler, the singer.
Immediately, he grabbed at his eyes, and ran off stage. The band threw down their guitars and followed him.
The drummer, Joey Kramer, came to Steven's mic stand and cursed us out for doing this.
It was just a year prior when someone threw an M-80 firecracker up onstage, which went off inches from Joe Perry's face, causing some scars if I remember.
Joey swore that Aerosmith would never come to Philly again, then walked off stage. This made for 17,000 fans wanting bloodlust for the one who was guilty.
They found him, at the back of the rink, and the crowd pummeled him mercilessly. I got no pictures of that though.
It is surprising how one idiot's idea of something funny can ruin everyone else's good time.
Proteus said: (We also have people who will drop concrete blocks from freeway overpasses, trying to land them on - or put them through the windshields of - the speeding cars below. Sometimes, just to see what happens.Why must you always pick on my hobby.
I've seen Jim Heath being handed a firecracker by someone in the audience in Brussels, squinting with the stage lights down, thinking he was being handed a smoke.
He found out just in time it wasn't, and managed to throw it on the floor before it went off. After the shock wore off, he came back on stage and finished his set, which I thought was amazing - I wouldn't have!
It's crazy how seemingly normal people turn into intoxicated neanderthals at shows and think anything goes, and get physical and think it's OK or even funny.
I'm not comfortable around loud, drunk people, even if they mean well, and I've cursed myself a million times for my chosen profession - it does get extremely surreal sometimes, and I'm sure everyone who's on stage regularly is very familiar with the "why the hell do I do this again?!?" - thought.
Seriously, you make a good point Proteus. It's still a less than intelligent thing to do but at least it's explainable. I know that when I was playing out a lot most of my gigs were small, wedding receptions, small club dates, corporate parties etc. It seemed that there was frequently someone in the audience that seemed to be trying very hard to connect with the band. Sometimes an air-guitar superstar, a frustrated singer wannabe or maybe someone that was just a bit too enthusiastic. In any event, I could imagine that if one of these types wanted to toss you a beer or something else as a "gift" you might never see it coming and they truly might not even realize the harm in it. Still, it's a very inappropriate thing to do. A lot of societal norms are nothing more than the result of years of collective experience distilled into a custom or social rule.
The Johnnie Winter thing was perfect. I would have done the very same thing had I been in his place. Ditto for the Aerosmith thing.
I don't play out much anymore and I never again want to do it as a means of real income. It just doesn't work for me at all. I want, NEED, the freedom to be able to pack the moment I don't like the direction things are taking. I've personally had beer bottles flung at me and once a chair. Much worse than that, from my point of view, was having to put up with stupid behavior of drunks.
Two of the worst were a 15 year old kid that had swiped some beer from the cooler at an pinic-like wedding reception and snuck off to get drunk. It was just very sad to see some kid that young pickled. That was over 30 years ago and such matters were not taken very seriously in the '70s.
Another one was a friend's Saturday afternoon Jazz gig in a coffee shop. This was a weekly event and a lot of nice folks came every week (kids and all) to hear some Jazz in a very pleasant setting. We paid a small cover at the door and the place was usually full by the time the music started. The espresso bar was running at 100% of capacity and because no one was available the door went unguarded. IOW, the cover charge became an honor system matter. A very well dressed fellow started making a habit of sneaking in about the end of the first set, usually finding an empty seat at a table and ordering nothing. After a few weeks he started coming in drunk and boisterous. The owner asked me to help out so I came along and quietly asked him to leave to which he loudly argued that I was disrupting the show. I just kept saying in a loud whisper that the owner didn't want him there and ushered him out the door. What a deal.
Yes, it's good to have a Telecaster with you on stage.
You can always go Keith Richards on someone's ass.
I really cannot understand why people do such things.
Craving for attention?
You were saying?
Ratrod said: I really cannot understand why people do such things.I think it's more to be a part of something that seems important to them. If someone is a Setzer freak and he can cause a reaction of any sort from Brian Setzer than that person has, in a strange and twisted way, touched their idol.Craving for attention?
The dolt that threw that bottle at Johnny Winter probably though that is was cool that his hero was talking about something he had done.
Hmmm... I just saw that Noel Gallagher thing. Now why coudln't that fan have been carrying a switchblade?
/Walter said:I still have a couple of fans around the house......... /
Hope they don't throw anything at you
At the Stray Cats' gig in Shepherds Bush on their last tour (just after the Brixton DVD was recorded), some clown threw a pint of beer at Brian and missed. The venue uses plastic glasses. Brian joked that it was a waste of beer and kept playing. Then someone took another shot and hit Brian and splashed beer all over his guitar. He paused (Jim and Lee kept playing) while a roadie came out and Brian pointed out who threw the beer at him. The doofus in question was escorted out. Brian wiped down his guitar and continued playing. It showed guts and good showmanship to continue.
I know what you mean about ticket prices on this farewell tour too Walter. The Melbourne shows are about $90 a pop. They've sold out three nights and have a fourth show for sale, so looks like plenty of Cats fans are prepared to shell out to see them.
Cheap shots, all of those. Thanks for the vid of Johnny Winter though. Dang, I forgot how he could tear it up.
In Poland in the late 90s the bars were crazy. Fronting a band I was involved in quite a few "incidents." At the time I was playing a crap guitar and was a little nuts myself. Nowadays I would take these much differently, but it's calmed down a lot and most places have security.
I did fend off an idiot with my foot the other night, however. Kept falling into the stage and got a footprint in his back (not from a hard kick, but from my dirty shoes :P)
Cheap shots, all of those. Thanks for the vid of Johnny Winter though. Dang, I forgot how he could tear it up.
In Poland in the late 90s the bars were crazy. Fronting a band I was involved in quite a few "incidents." At the time I was playing a crap guitar and was a little nuts myself. Nowadays I would take these much differently, but it's calmed down a lot and most places have security.
I did fend off an idiot with my foot the other night, however. Kept falling into the stage and got a footprint in his back (not from a hard kick, but from my dirty shoes :P)
I haven't been on here in a while, so I had no idea. WTF is wrong with people???
