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Gigs and concerts


Carbomb

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I'd say;

1) Have security staff who's job is watching for unusual activity in and around the mosh pits and similar areas where the crowd is all bouncing into each other and mixing together. Both times I had my phone nicked it was when I was up close with the audience. The pit near the front of the audience is where you'll find most of that activity, as it's crammed enough to do the deed and get out before the victims realise.

Watch for people making quick exits from those areas too, especially after people are shouting "WHO TOOK MY FUCKING PHONE?!" and trying to get the attention of security. You can't accost everyone who leaves the crowd and heads away from the area hastily, but someone with a trained eye for those matters could spot them a mile away.

2) Have the security teams keeping an ear on what bands are saying in-between songs, as no doubt from their position the band members will notice anything amiss. I don't mean having them stop songs to flag up something dodgy, but all through the fest I saw most bands say something like "Ah, I see you guys aren't up for a circle pit today!", and looking back that's because people were getting their shit stolen during those pits so they were anxious to get involved.

3) Either hire a security team who are good enough to provide quick, efficient searches on entry or plan the fest out better so you're not overloading the team when the gates are opened. I was one of the first few hundred people to arrive, and everyone was getting the full pat down, "put your shit on the table" check, and then a full bag check on top of that. I was only a few people away from being searched when I heard the security staff get an instruction to sop the body searches and just do bag checks. So most of the festival attendees had no pat down and no vetting, just bag checks, so fucking anyone could've got in and out with anything. You read that, and then you read about the people  getting drugged and injected against their will, and you come to the conclusion that the security is shockingly bad.

And all of that might be laughed at or mocked, or might be considered illogical or a waste of resources, but it shouldn't have to be up to punters to give advice about this. If you run a festival, and at the end of the day the floor is covered with empty phone cases and you've got tons of reports of theft coming in, that's a bad ending and you need to improve. If you run the same fest seven years later and the results are still the exact same, that's because you're shit at creating a safer, more secure environment. That or you don't care or haven't put the effort in.

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24 minutes ago, Accident Prone said:

Have security staff who's job is watching for unusual activity

This is what I do. I work as Behavioural Detection Officer at a musuem in London and at a coach station. People who are up to no good are often surprised when caught by us as we are plain clothed and they thought they’d avoided security. I was at a gig the other week and seeing all that was going in those crowds and the security not really paying attention, I did start to think that my line of security should be deployed more at gigs and festivals. Considering how much stuff we actually stop more than security do. 

Would probably end up working at a gig for someone really shite though. 

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2 hours ago, TheBurningRed said:

This is what I do. I work as Behavioural Detection Officer at a musuem in London and at a coach station. People who are up to no good are often surprised when caught by us as we are plain clothed and they thought they’d avoided security. I was at a gig the other week and seeing all that was going in those crowds and the security not really paying attention, I did start to think that my line of security should be deployed more at gigs and festivals. Considering how much stuff we actually stop more than security do. 

I think this would work wonders, and that's without the plain clothes bit because just the slightly increased security presence would be enough. All it'll take is one of the fuckers to get caught and shaken down with five phones on their person, and it'll spread.

 

But then again...

43 minutes ago, Ironic Indie Lad said:

One way to cut down on this sort of behaviour is by getting a better clientele through the gates. Could do this by booking less pop punk bands.

WAHEY!!!!!

This really is the best idea!

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1 hour ago, Ironic Indie Lad said:

One way to cut down on this sort of behaviour is by getting a better clientele through the gates. Could do this by booking less pop punk bands.

WAHEY!!!!!

I thought Pop Punk fans only steal underage girls, not phones?

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I've had an email every day for the last 5 days from Tickemaster telling me not to take a bag with me when I see Beck tomorrow. What a waste of resources. 

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So I got some ridiculously cheap tickets for Barry Manilow on Friday night.... something something Family Guy.... I'm sure it'll be worth the money but it's been hard finding someone to come with me, I've had to resort to asking my wife who has said if I can't find anyone else she'll tag along, that's love for you.

He toured a few years ago and I read a few reviews that said he was amazing so... Barry fucking Manilow.. never in all my born days did I think id be going to see him.

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31 minutes ago, Harry Wiseau said:

So I got some ridiculously cheap tickets for Barry Manilow on Friday night.... something something Family Guy.... I'm sure it'll be worth the money but it's been hard finding someone to come with me, I've had to resort to asking my wife who has said if I can't find anyone else she'll tag along, that's love for you.

He toured a few years ago and I read a few reviews that said he was amazing so... Barry fucking Manilow.. never in all my born days did I think id be going to see him.

Can't Smile Without You is a very special song to me (football related...still not sure how it got associated with Spurs but hey ho) but it is a fantastic tune in it's own right. 

That'll be a cracking gig.

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13 hours ago, Harry Wiseau said:

So I got some ridiculously cheap tickets for Barry Manilow on Friday night.... something something Family Guy.... I'm sure it'll be worth the money but it's been hard finding someone to come with me, I've had to resort to asking my wife who has said if I can't find anyone else she'll tag along, that's love for you.

He toured a few years ago and I read a few reviews that said he was amazing so... Barry fucking Manilow.. never in all my born days did I think id be going to see him.

My mum would love going to that. I remember her dragging me to see the jukebox musical Copacabana when I was a kid, and I couldn't have cared less for it. When I started studying music I worked out how all his stuff worked and realised what a great songwriter he is. I bet it's a heck of a night out. 

Beck was an interesting experience. The first hour of the set they must gave done at least 20 songs, but as a series of medleys. I know he's got a lot of back catalogue, but it felt like "we'll go once through all the highlights, twice through the chorus so they can sing along, and then onto the next one." the crowd were into it, but maybe not as into it as Beck would have liked because he remarked on us all being shy. 

They performed a couple in full. Morning was particularly good, and they played Lost Cause, which is one of my favourites. Finished with E-Pro. Then after a few minutes Beck came back on with an acoustic guitar and played Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime from the Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind soundtrack, and a few other acoustic numbers while plugging his acoustic tour of Canada with Arcade Fire. 

Then the rest of the band came back on and everybody had a big singalong of Loser & Where It's At, before an unexpected performance of One Foot In The Grave, which got a massive pop. When it was good, it was really good, but I get the feeling it would have gone down better if he'd done a longer set with full songs, or fewer songs, but in full. It's a difficult spot to find yourself in with such a diverse back catalogue, I guess. 

Edited by jazzygeofferz
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2 hours ago, Onyx2 said:

What bitch grenades their own son. 

She REALLY hates people swearing. 

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