Wednesday, March 16, 2005
I Wanna Be Adored
I wasn't there, but found this pretty interesting. The first Stone Roses album is one of my favorites of all time.
check out this review of Ian Brown from last night at GAMH , former Stones Roses singer...
Within a couple of minutes the band began "Made Of Stone" once more.
Again Ian stopped and went off to have words with the monitor person.
Two-thirds of the way through the third attempt at "Made Of Stone,"
some idiot jumped up on stage and barrelled into Ian's knees, wiping
him out and sending him to the ground. Ian, understandably angry,
started kicking the idiot. And punching the idiot. Ian was joined by
his bass player. And guitarist. And drummer. And keyboardist. And
percussionist. You could say it was overkill, especially since the
idiot, laying on the stage, did not appear to be fighting back.
It looked like they were trying to kill the guy.
Up came the house lights.
Finally a couple of security guys made it up on stage and pulled the
now-pummelled idiot toward the exit to the left of the stage. Ian
wasn't done pounding the idiot, however, and continued swinging at and
kicking the idiot even as security had him nearly off the stage. One
large, blond security guy peeled Ian off the idiot. Ian and the
security guy exchanged words, then Ian tried to grab the idiot again,
and the security guy grabbed Ian again. Ian attacked the security
guy. Ian was joined in his attack by his bass player. And guitarist.
And drummer. And percussionist. AND as-yet-unseen trumpet player.
Attacked by the entire band, the blond security guy (the only security
left on stage as the others had taken the idiot away) went down, and
the entire band proceeded to punch and kick him. It looked like they
were trying to kill the guy. By the time other GAMH security arrived,
the blond security guy was bleeding from his head.
The band left the stage.
I'd never seen anything like this in San Francisco where the locals,
even at rock shows, tend to be mellow and calm, almost to a fault. I
was so stunned by the goings on that I failed to take a single photo
of the melee until the tail end, when the blond security guy was
having his head stomped by the percussionist.
During this downtime I learned that prior to the show my friend John
had been in the ticket line next to the now-pummelled idiot. Said
idiot was apparently a little out of his mind, from England, and a
huge Ian Brown fan who spent his time in line going on and on the
greatness of Ian Brown.
Twenty minutes passed before the crowd cheered the band's return. I
did not cheer. I wasn't sure how I felt about it. Ian had every
right to be mad at the idiot, but regardless of what the blond
security guy said to Ian, he was doing his job and did not deserve to
be beaten. I looked around at the cheering crowd and thought, "These
guys just beat up a guy who hadn't done anything wrong..." It was
bewildering.
Before the first song of act 2, Ian made matters worse by asking if
anyone in the crowd wanted to fight. He invited potential pugilists
up to the stage, even pointing out individuals, "You, with the
glasses, come up, I'll fight you." It was distasteful at best. The
crowd had just suffered through multiple delays -- the wat to remind
everyone that we were there to have a good time dancing around to
music was surel not to invite more fighting.
Then he took it a step further and asked if there were any members of
the security staff that wanted to fight. He repeated his question
several times before finally getting around to starting a song.
I wasn't there, but found this pretty interesting. The first Stone Roses album is one of my favorites of all time.
check out this review of Ian Brown from last night at GAMH , former Stones Roses singer...
Within a couple of minutes the band began "Made Of Stone" once more.
Again Ian stopped and went off to have words with the monitor person.
Two-thirds of the way through the third attempt at "Made Of Stone,"
some idiot jumped up on stage and barrelled into Ian's knees, wiping
him out and sending him to the ground. Ian, understandably angry,
started kicking the idiot. And punching the idiot. Ian was joined by
his bass player. And guitarist. And drummer. And keyboardist. And
percussionist. You could say it was overkill, especially since the
idiot, laying on the stage, did not appear to be fighting back.
It looked like they were trying to kill the guy.
Up came the house lights.
Finally a couple of security guys made it up on stage and pulled the
now-pummelled idiot toward the exit to the left of the stage. Ian
wasn't done pounding the idiot, however, and continued swinging at and
kicking the idiot even as security had him nearly off the stage. One
large, blond security guy peeled Ian off the idiot. Ian and the
security guy exchanged words, then Ian tried to grab the idiot again,
and the security guy grabbed Ian again. Ian attacked the security
guy. Ian was joined in his attack by his bass player. And guitarist.
And drummer. And percussionist. AND as-yet-unseen trumpet player.
Attacked by the entire band, the blond security guy (the only security
left on stage as the others had taken the idiot away) went down, and
the entire band proceeded to punch and kick him. It looked like they
were trying to kill the guy. By the time other GAMH security arrived,
the blond security guy was bleeding from his head.
The band left the stage.
I'd never seen anything like this in San Francisco where the locals,
even at rock shows, tend to be mellow and calm, almost to a fault. I
was so stunned by the goings on that I failed to take a single photo
of the melee until the tail end, when the blond security guy was
having his head stomped by the percussionist.
During this downtime I learned that prior to the show my friend John
had been in the ticket line next to the now-pummelled idiot. Said
idiot was apparently a little out of his mind, from England, and a
huge Ian Brown fan who spent his time in line going on and on the
greatness of Ian Brown.
Twenty minutes passed before the crowd cheered the band's return. I
did not cheer. I wasn't sure how I felt about it. Ian had every
right to be mad at the idiot, but regardless of what the blond
security guy said to Ian, he was doing his job and did not deserve to
be beaten. I looked around at the cheering crowd and thought, "These
guys just beat up a guy who hadn't done anything wrong..." It was
bewildering.
Before the first song of act 2, Ian made matters worse by asking if
anyone in the crowd wanted to fight. He invited potential pugilists
up to the stage, even pointing out individuals, "You, with the
glasses, come up, I'll fight you." It was distasteful at best. The
crowd had just suffered through multiple delays -- the wat to remind
everyone that we were there to have a good time dancing around to
music was surel not to invite more fighting.
Then he took it a step further and asked if there were any members of
the security staff that wanted to fight. He repeated his question
several times before finally getting around to starting a song.
