Appreciation.

Sunday was a strange night. The band was Kingspade, two guys who are a part of the Kottonmouth Kings, a stoner rap band. The music wasn’t great; just rap covered with lyrics about pot, “bitches,” drinking and weed. None of this came as a surprise for me, even the drunken/strung out crowd wasn’t to bad.
The crowd was on par with other rap shows; very angry, very high and overall very caustic. As usual I had to say over and over that drinks couldn’t be brought into the pit. It’s a simple idea. Since, there are kids under 21 down in the pit, no alcoholic beverages can be brought down.

“But I’m over 21. See I have a wristband.”
“Yeah, I see that. The fact is that kid right there is something like 16 years old. That means when he steals the drink out of your hand, the venue is liable.”
“You suck man, I can’t believe you won’t let me take this down there. I paid for a ticket so I should be able to do what I want.”
“OK, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll throw out the drink and you can go wherever you want. Then, when you get thirsty, you get to think about how much money you wasted just to get ten feet closer to the stage.”

I don’t want to be a dick to these people, I really don’t. It just seems that the only thing they understand is empty threats.
Back to the performers. Most of the time bands have a rock star complex where they only talk to people who work at the venue if they happen to be in their way. Otherwise, us lowly employees are just there to have someone to talk down to when their bottled water is to warm. The cool thing about Sunday night’s bands was that these guys were very polite to the stage crew and security guards. Don’t get me wrong, they were walking stereotypes with tattoos EVERYWHERE, (a special thanks goes out to Big B for taking off his shirt and showing everyone the canvas that is his gut) and saying things like “yo dawg, where the women at?” But I have a feeling this was just a façade that they put on to sell little kids rap albums.
We can all agree, being appreciated at your job is a wonderful feeling. Working as a bouncer you don’t always get on people’s good sides, so when a band thanks you for your help at “keeping the peace” it is a good thing.
Another cool thing about Kingspade: when a fight broke out in the pit, the guys stopped the music long enough to tell everyone in the crowd to calm down. “Come on guys, this is a pot party. There’s no need to fight.” Ahhh, stoner logic, nothing tops it.