I don't want to "pile on", but I want to mirror snailhook in a response to this. To be clear, I wasn't there either, and I mostly just read this board, posting very rarely. However, when I read a thread like this, I think it affects me personally the way it would any other doorstaph member. We try so hard every night to ensure that everyone that walks through those doors; bands, crew, staph, *and* patrons, have a good time and walk away with a positive reflection of that club and the band and show they saw.
In my 33 years and what I "guess-timate" to be probably over 500 shows, including the full mix of those that I've worked in the last two years at the club, I've never understood "moshing". I like to get excited and jump up and down and "dance" at shows when they really excite me. However, no matter how excited I get, I don't like people hitting me, punching me, or overtly bumping into me when I'm watching a band that I paid money to see. I feel like... if you wanna do that with your buddies, go home, put on the album, and beat the shit out of each other, but please, let me watch my band.
*HOWEVER* THAT SAID, Many people seem to embrace this phenomenon of "Hey man, the music gets me and my buddy angry and we want to run into each other and bang our skulls together." I have grown to accept this phenomenon, (reluctantly) and in those said 2 years at 930, I've watched it unfold at many shows. It has several different forms, almost ALL of which are usually never interfered with by 930 doorstaph. However, there may be one or two of us standing nearby making sure that no one falls down, breaks an ankle, cuts themselves badly, passes out, or fights another person. ALL OF WHICH I HAVE SEEN from mosh pits at our club, which the starter of this thread has basically said she thinks is understandable if you choose to go to a show and "get in the mosh pit".
Some of the doorstaph that work at our club pour their hearts and souls into wearing many hats and working alot of behind the scenes hours apart from the 2 to 3 that a patron sees every night. Some people are like me and do it for the love of the 930 Club, music and bands that I might not either have the chance to, or would even think to see. Most of us are a mix of both, and as I understand Seth so eloquently put it, an ??Amalgamation of Misfits and Characters?.
Whatever we are, we all love to tell people about the cool shows we have and brag about the ??Nightclub of the Year?? award, but grabbing or roughing patrons is not in anyway any part of what we do or who we are. I see us more as "ushers" or "customer-service reps." ..we don't even use the "S" word to describe what we do.
Despite what you may think, getting bumped into in the mosh pit does not give you free reign to throw punches at another patron. From what everyone else??s account of the event tells me, that??s what you did. (again, I wasn??t there, but not I, nor most of this board, is buying your story and it's contradiction and irony) If one of our doorstaph sees someone doing that to another patron, they will step in between it and diffuse the situation. I??ve never seen any of our doorstaph grab a patron, especially someone??s neck, and I highly doubt ANY of our staph did that, especially the guy that you are accusing.
Sorry for the essay on this, but I don??t sweep up cigarette butts, clean up vomit, carry inebriated people out of the club, and deal with 40 crazed fans who??ll wait 2 hours after Weird Al Yanovic??s show to get him to sign their accordion?
...to read a post from someone flaming my friends and co-workers for an accusation that makes about as much sense as having someone kick you in the face for fun.
Oh wait? isn??t that that *other* phenomenon called ??Crowd surfing"?
