A Pet Peeve of Mine

Part of the reason you may have noticed a decreasing lack of gig reportage on this blog is my growing disatisfaction with crowds. Not only am I growing weary of tight, packed-in crowds, I am also very wear of conduct by the crowds. I hate moshing and crowd surfing and I especially hate it at shows where it is completely inappropriate. And then there is stage crashing. Some jackass thinking this will make him the coolest guy in the world by jumping on stage and rocking out with the band. That being said, there are shows where all this kind of behavior can be expected. And when it is expected that is fine. If you don't like it, you can simply move to a different spot in the venue or just laugh off the antics on stage.

However, when it happens inappropriately, it really gets my goat. It really does. Especially the stage crashing. Last year's Dirtbombs show at the Knitting Factory included a real moron jumping on stage to not only sing, but to touch Mick Collins and grab Ko's bass. Mick was too nice a guy to do anything about it but someone else would have done something...someone namely being Jack White.

But now someone else has come to speak up against stage crashing. In a clear cut example of inappropriate setting and violating someone's personal space (and also, let's face it, the risks that come along with it all - see Dimebag Darrell's tragic end). Jeff Tweedy, leader of Wilco, faced such a problem a couple nights ago in Springfield, Missouri. Tweedy did the most appropriate thing possible...he decked the guy. And then he explained himself.


Score another victory in the War on Stage Crashers.