Arcade Fire Fans vs Radio City Security

Last night Arcade Fire and The National played their third New York show of the week, and the first show of the inaugural High Line Festival (which kicked off at Radio City Music Hall). David Bowie, co-founder and curator of the festival and Arcade Fire's #1 fan, was in attendance but didn't perform with the band as expected. He also didn't announce the kick off to the festival - nor does he seem to know what the High Line actually is. Ah, rock stars.

The real story seems to be one that took place off-stage. The Gowanus Lounge has a full report on the fights that broke out and "the manhandling of at least one fan by Radio City security" at last night's show.

"It all started late in the show when Arcade Fire's Win Butler urged the audience to come up to the stage. "Jesus Fucking Christ," he said. "Come up here. What can they do to you?"
What they could do, it turned out, was rush you, jump you, beat you and drag you from Radio City in a headlock...The action kicked off between Rows AA and GG in the aisle between the 300 and 400 section of the orchestra when someone took Mr. Butler at his word and pushed past ushers...At that point, about a half-dozen employees descended on him, trying to stop him. They pushed him into the seats and we saw at least one (and possibly more) of the Radio City security employees punching the concert goer...seeing someone who's done nothing wrong other than try to get near the stage getting jumped and punched rather fucks with our concert experience. We wouldn't say it was a savage beating, but security was punching the gentleman.

After the show, we approached a supervisor and asked why excessive force had been used. She told us to mind our own business and denied that anything improper had happened."

Tuesday night at United Palace Theater, Win Butler also invited the entire audience up on stage with the band and everything seemed to go smoothly. While a rush of fans towards the stage may get the security on guard, this has happened before without anyone getting hurt - punching fans (and denying it!) is a little bit out of control.

More photos from the show last night, below.

Photos by Jake Dobkin.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Carlson in Arts & Entertainment on May 10, 2007 11:29 AM

Comments [rss]

David

Outstanding photos....

As someone mentioned before - some of the best out there.

Ben

Was it just me or did the crowd mostly seem to consist of "bros" and iBanker types instead of hipsters?

dalton

Great photos, Jake.

Dave

That made almost no sense.

dude

Not a big fan of live shows in general. I love music and live music, but being squeezed into a pen with a bunch of other sheep, getting knocked around, and leaving deaf with a sort back and knees (all for the super low price of $$$$) is not my ida of a good time. I'd rather see a cheap small band at a small venue while wearing earplugs...

When a band like Arcade Fire has gotten as big as they are, it's time to move on to the next hipster band.

Belle Cose

Um, Kojak, I know you personally and you only listen to Weird Al and Star Wars themes so you cannot speak on the wonderous David Bowie.

I was at the show last night and it was so incredibly good, the mezzanine was shaking from all the dancing. Radio City was the wrong venue for getting folks on the stage. Hammerstein is better for that stuff.

Gwinny

deb: ah, I understand what you are saying now. I do think he's put out some great stuff in the last 10 years or so (Earthling is a particular favorite) but it's definitely on a different plane than his "young man" material. I imagine one can only crank out so many masterpieces...

sonnydawg

At-ti-ca! At-ti-ca! At-ti-ca!

hip replacement

I once saw Tommy Stinson pull this same act ("let's make these bastards work for a living, everyone on stage!") and the bouncers beat the shit out of him.

But of course, times were different then. By which I mean, it was probably way less calculated on Tommy's part.

deb

Gwin, I've seen Bowie 5+ times and I think the man is incredible live. Wasn't saying the man can't work a room cause I think he's a top-notch performer.

Again, the better shows I've seen he's doing songs 20+ years old in his catalog. He gives the impression that he's always doing something new & exciting, but it sure as hell isn't at the same level of Hunky Dory or Ziggy. You ask the average music fan to name a song of his that has come out in the last 5-10 years you'll see alot of blank faces.

Gwinny

I saw David Bowie perform a full at Radio City in 1997 at the end of some GQ Man of the Year event... the whole front section was full of Conde Nasties who didn't give a shit about the great show he was putting on (sorry deb and kojak, but the man was amazing in concert then, still was last time he toured, and is still putting out good music too)... anyway all the impatient Bowie fans who'd paid $70+ and had been patiently sitting through the previous 2-hour awards show then started to rush the stage. I was one of those folks (and my original seat was in the 2nd mezzanine!) and the Radio City security folks weren't nice about it then, either.

I therefore have to agree with the people in here saying it's really not a good venue to see rock concerts due to the stringent rules and overzealous security people. I mean, it's a nice place -- but rock 'n' roll just doesn't seem to suit the environment.

That being said, I had an awesome time at the United Palace on Tuesday night. I was in row C of the orchestra and didn't rush the stage (I felt that was more of an opportunity for the GA people) but it was still an incredible experience, and the security people seemed pretty cool.

deb

Well, when Win & the band face a couple of million dollar lawsuits due to people getting crushed to death (ever hear of Roskilde? - yes it does happen) he'll probably wise up. Security is only doing their job - and (guess what?) the BAND actually hires the security for their shows. You probably get a few rotten apples in every bushel but yeah, I'd say what you can get away with in a club isn't bright at a venue like that.

anon

The same thing happened on Tuesday. Win invited everyone up front. The crowd was fine and well behaved other than moving forward, but security was terrible and violent.

bklynd

From up in the balcony, it looked like some fans were really causing trouble, engaging in prolonged shoving matches with the staff. You try to get up front, security denys you, you give up. You don't *fight* with security - it's Radio City Music Hall, not Altamont. (Though of course Win deserves some blame for basically encouraging fans to do it.)

brooklynbee

Thought I saw Jakey there. Great pics!

I've been to hundreds, if not thousands, of live shows. I've been all the way in the back; I've been in the middle; and on very rare occasions I've been lucky enough to be all the way up front. I know rock n' roll and politeness are not supposed to go hand-in-hand, but the people in the front are not the enemy - and whether you are a fan or security, it's not cool to do stuff like kick people in the back or knock someone over or nearly trample a guy in a wheelchair, all of which I witnessed last night. I'm not complaining, I had an awesome awesome time and I love the band and that's all that matters, but that's just my 2 cents worth. :)

Anon\

That person who rushed the stage deserved to be beaten up. He was the agressor. what an asshole

scoboco

I had a blast at the show, dancing, singing, fist-pumping, getting goosebumpy, kissing my girlfriend, grinning from ear to ear. Didn't get into any fights with security; had a great time back there in Row OO.

For my full review, plus set list:

http://scoboco.blogspot.com/2007/05/arcade-fire-at-radio-city.html

joey z

Jukeboxgraduate - how are my facts wrong????

Did I say all GA events were dangerous??? NO. I gave 2 tragic examples of something awful that can happen when people rush a stage.

My point was it's not smart to encourage it like that and try to cause a mad rush. That is dangerous and I would call that poorly managing a situation.