skull bashing event staff at camden, PHISH.

i saw some crazy event staff on a power trip up at the phish show in camden last night. people need to be aware of what went down, and this sort of thing has to be prevented in the future...

we couldn't get tickets, but the cops told everyone that if we hung out in the grass/sidewalk and were quiet, we could chill. so we did. event staff were assholes, and would walk past and yell things like, "suck my cock," "fuckin' pussies," and snarl, "****!" at women walking past. granted, we supposedly have the right to free speech, but you're on the job here &that's not cool.

anyway, on with the real story...

during the set break, this guy with shaggy brown hair walks by the gates. the ticket-taker comes up to him and starts yelling and screaming, so the kid turns and starts to run away. the event staff guy grabs the guy by his yellow bookbag (obviously, his back must have been turned while running the opposite direction in order for the guy to have grabbed his backpack) and starts punching him... then he swings the kid SKULL-FIRST into a LIGHTPOLE!

it made the most horrible sound ever, i felt like my skull was ringing from across the street. the kid screams in pain and reaches up to cover his head, but the ticket-taker pulls his arms down, smashes his skull into the concrete, and calls his buddies over &they kick him while the dude holds him down. so while the poor guy is crying out in pain, a bunch of us try to rush over and help, but then more event staff run up with arms like tree-trunks and threaten to charge us all with tresspassing. they wore some sort of brass-knuckle-style devices.

the cops eventually show up and the staff membesr all jump back from the guy. he didn't receive any medical attention on the site. a cop who claimed to be the sargent came over and yelled at us all to leave, and we all said we were witnesses. some people had PHOTOS. definite evidence. we also told him that another cop said we were allowed to stand there. we kept asking to make witness statements. then a paddy-wagon rolled up and he told us that we could not make witness statements, and if we didn't disperse, we would be charged with tresspassing. even after the crowd dissipated, we tried to go back and make a witness statement, but were threatened with arrest yet again, and then yellow-shirted monsters started charging after us. what a nice cover-up. and i wonder whose word they're going to take. they even targeted people waiting for the metro nearby.

i hope the kid sues the fuck out of the tweeter center and i hope that barbaric abuser is fired. event staff is not allowed to attack concert-goers, or slam their skulls into poles. especially when you've already turned around to leave.

bottom line: DO NOT GO TO THE TWEETER CENTER IN CAMDEN. EVER. urge your friends to do the same. i want to write a bunch of letters (better business bureau, tweeter center, etc) and start a petition to urge other artists not to perform there any more until their patrons and passersby are guaranteed safety.

did anyone else witness this?
has anyone had a similar experience at the tweeter center? i had no problems when phish played there last year, but this year was ridiculous.

 

WTF!? Fucking boneheads

 

u should definitly not let this go. what happened to the guy that got beaten? did he go to a police station or anything?

 

Fuck those bitchs! Thats a great example of our great police force at work...

"To protect and serve" my ass!


Fuck all those bitches I only wish some cops could read this shit and know that I think they are a bunch of bitchass pussies!

 

would any of you guys be interested in signing a petition on the matter? i want to start one up (online, as well as one on actual paper that people could sign at festivals and such) and mail copies to the tweeter center, bbb & bands, as well. something to let them know that we're not happy with what went down, and that we'll only go to camden to picket -- and not attend any shows -- until we get a resolution. i know string cheese is planning on playing there as part of their new years run (before nyc) so maybe... if we got a lot of people... and it's not too late, some artists would refuse to play there or switch venues?


what i'm also hoping is that this will encourage artists to hire their own event staff, rather than rely on power-hungry jerks who are still pissed off because a hippie stole their prom date back in the day.


also, camden is a slight trek from where i live now, but nonetheless i want to wheat-paste some flyers around the venue and such. i've contacted a guy who got photos of the attack, too. do any of you live in the philly area? even if you're far away, make sure to spread the word. ("ain't no power like the power or the people, cause the power of the people don't stop!") shit like that is totally disgusting.

 

I'd sign it. Thats bullshit. The pigs show up and rush you off. You should have said "Charge me with trespassing but I want those guys arrested for assult and battery"

 

Welcome to my fucking life. Every week I see a fight like that. People don't even fucking care anymore.

 

ill sign it. its nasty. wher abouts is camden?

 

That's fucking bullshit! And my friends laugh at me for bringing a tazer with me to concerts! I had my head smacked off of the floor about 10 times at an Yngwie Malmsteen concert in Sweden by the event staff. They claimed I was trying to get on stage, as if that's some sort of justification. I'm fairly strong, but that's not much when you've got a 500 pound ape and his beer buddy beating on you for no reason at all. Those people love to beat up on hippie looking people. Why? Because they know they won't meet any resistance and because they only make about 6.00 an hour, which must make them very angry. I'd like to see a hippie one day just flip out and go ape-shit on the event staff.

 

That hippy would be me. You reminded me about something though. I was at a korn concert(sorry, really i'm so sorry) and I was standing behind this guy when he decided, for one reason or another, to throw someone right over his fucking head. omg, I was so fucking pissed.

 

Hello class, and welcome to Reasons To Carry Two or Three Knives At A Time 101. Take your seats, as I teach you how to whip out your butterfly knife in a quick and intimidating manner.

 

lol, it's okay, we've all been to a crappy metal show at one point in our lives. I'm guilty of having gone to a Metallica show, so you know. Anyway, the knife thing is not such a great idea unless you know how to use one. One of my friends was stabbed with his own knife because he took it out and didn't want to use it. Not a great idea. Atleast with a tazer you're fairly certain you're not going to be killed with it if it's taken from you.

 

yeah and tazers are fun too

 

Oh my God! I bet Phish wasn't cool with that; they don't seem like the type to condone gratuitous assault. I will most definitely never go there if that's the sort of thing that goes on.

 

i emailed clear channel and camden about what happened (clear channel put the show on, through the tweeter center) and got a response. they say they're investigating the claims, and cc contacted the tweeter center. they also gave me the name of the event staff company for the tweeter center (national event services). hopefully, something positive will come of all this.

 

Wtf?!? Grrr!!! Ftp! Ftp!

 

Well I be damed! that was soooooooo wrong of them to do that, I hope your plan works, Lawngirl.

If I had of saw that, I would have pissed me off to. :$

 

yea its stuff like tyhat the cops use against us at peaceful protests. they'll assault someone to rile the crowd up, everyone gets SO pissed and start fighting back, the cops film the protesters fighting back and its reason to use excessive tasers...tear gas...rubber bullets ect ect. its shit like that, that makes me wish i was as strong as super man...them fucks would never see it comming