Wow..ya'll took this and ran with it. Cool.
I was just venting a little (and being a bit overly caustic) because as I understand it, at least for many people, the Crowes and kind-bud go together like peas and carrots.
So, when I saw bouncers physically searching everyone at a hippie concert, well...it just seemed a bit excessive.
Hell, the bird in the Black Crowes logo is smoking a spliff. I guess the shakedown dudes knew what to expect.
What I was initially trying to do was provide a public service announcement to tonight's concertgoers - leave it in the car, hide it very well, or get jacked at the door.
I took my own surreptitous, indoor puff at last night's concert out of a juvenile defiance more than a burning, psychopathic need for the weed. That's kinda rock-n-roll, isn't it? Maybe no one here can appreciate my admuittedly juvenile moment of clarity. Sigh. Anyway, I think I stuck it to the man and I'm glad.
For the record, I'm generally sensitive to other's people's aversion to smoke. But this is a rock club and these are the crowes, no? Kinda gotta expect it, but then again, here, maybe not. Make the club non-smoking. Make all bars non-smoking That's fine. I don't smoke cigs. And I damn sure won't plan on smoking anything at the 930 again, anyway. Whatever.
But I was also trying to articulate (admittedly lazily - it was a late night) my general frustration with the 930 Club.
In my West Coast opinion, it's uptight. And in my opinion they could frequently turn the volume up some, last night notwithstanding.
They get great shows and I frequent it fairly regularly, but my OPINION is that the staff, while maybe ruthlessly efficient at their jobs, could lighten up a little (no pun intended). I'm not indicting all of those who work there. It's just that I've witnessed a lot of attitude - and not always directed at me - that was completely unnecessary.
I've seen the doorman loudly chastise a woman who was obviously no less than 30 for having an ID that had been expired for a week. The invasive searches at the doors. The gestapo guys barging through crowded floors to collar a perpetrator with a one-hitter. Security searching in bathroom stalls for illicit behavior. They way they make you put your hand in that handprint for the stamp. Ok, not such a big deal, but it seems symbolic of the overall mindset of the club's management. "GET IN LINE AND DON"T FUCK WITH US." Ok. Got it.
I understand the need for order in a place where people are rocking out, getting excited and maybe drunk. But the staffs at rock clubs in other places, especially the South and West, seem to smile more, and they generally don't bark at patrons and frisk our nether-reigions. Again, I'm sure there are some nice staffers at 930. I've met a couple.
It just doesn't seem too inviting -- or frankly, all that rock and roll - to be patted down for a spliff at the door. I know - terrorism, weapons, etc., but at a Crowes show? Nah.
The 930 was targeting those with evil nugs of green.
Maybe I'm naive about how big a club and how big business the 930 Club really is. Perhaps I'm bleary-eyed with nostalgia, but I hate to see the ethos of the MAN taking charge over the rock clubs, in addition to all the arenas and other, larger venues.
I hate to see some of rock's soul stripped at the door.
