From the mailbag:
To qualify what I’m about to say (which may upset some), let me point out that I have worked security for various nightclubs and events in Seattle off and on for over 12 years. I have also done bodyguard work for Afrika Bambaataa and former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. I also know some of the artists who were performing at Chop Suey that night.
Now, to my point: This tragedy could have been prevented.
The majority of club owners, promoters, and artists (with a handful of notable exceptions) still steadily refuse to bear witness and act upon simple steps that I and other nightclub security professionals have advocated for years, including:
1. Proper training of security staff. This cannot be stressed enough.
2. Some amount of investigation of potential safety issues, such as credible threats against guests and staff.
3. Maximizing opportunities to connect with the crowd and the performers on a personal level.
4. Holding firm to club rules and state law regardless, to whom or what; even if the offending party is “with the DJ,” is “on the VIP guest list,” is “the promoter’s girlfriend,” or whatever else they may claim.
It is also up to club owners, promoters, performers, and security team leaders to establish clear behavioral expectations for guests that are relatively uniform at every venue in the town.
Problems will continue spiral out of control so long as a “wait and see” attitude prevails. Staff and ownership must be pro-active instead of reactive. It is this pro-activity that will also help minimize negative experiences with law-enforcement and city leaders.
There are also larger societal issues we all need to face, but that’s a longer and more complex conversation.
Greg
In this week’s Stranger, Jonah Spangenthal-Lee and Dominic Holden look at the facts; Charles Mudede separates the music from the murder; Larry Mizell Jr. addresses the scene; and Mayor Greg Nickels says “Snitchin’ Is Bitchin’!”
Here’s how the tragedy could have been prevented: Seattle needs to stop living in the glory days of the 90s and move on with the times. HipHop is dead. Grunge is dead. Stop tattooing and piercing yourselves as if time had stood still. Most likely Seattle with lose about 40 percent of its population in the next decade and hopefully the people who leave with be the most violent…in search of richer places to rob.
File this letter under, Durr…no jaw dropping insights there. How high does the body count have to rise before club owners or the city take effective action to curb violence at shows?
* Gangster rap on the bill
* Many known gang members in the audience
* Performer with known “beef” with knucklehead
* Widespread rumors of “trouble” beforehand
* Confusing security scenario with multiple providers
* Culture of guns, jewelry, cars, and cash
What could possibly go wrong?
The Chop Suey shooting happened via the backstage access door. As with virtually all clubs in Seattle (and pretty much everywhere), the backstage is at best an afterthought, with little to no consideration given to security or convenience. Club owners take the space they find themselves renting and make do with the current layout. From my own experience, anyone carrying a guitar case can pretty much walk in and out of any club in town. There is little to no “security” in backstage situations, and it’s very unlikely that clubs are going to start paying for a “second doorman” in back. Even if they did, it’s often one door into the backstage, so unless the door guy stands outside, in the rain and cold, with the door closed, a security breach is ridiculously easy to affect.
Jesus Fnarf, you STILL haven’t actually paid attention to any of the factual details of this incident have you?
It’s like closing the back door after the gang-banger has escaped…
@4 I see you point.
Maybe we should not have to worry about protecting performers. Do we need to start having armed security at drag shows and karaoke night?
Something is just not right with the explanation that there should be more security to protect some local nobodies while they perform in a bar.
It means going to the root of the problem.
Fnarf hates black people
Or you could just go to Fremont.
We’re the safe neighborhood with bars and music.
@5 did fnarf MISS any factual details? Please add the ones he missed below.
So now the problem is that clubs have back doors? Or that performers bring their girlfriends along? Please.
As someone who’s worked security at The Chop in the past, I can tell you one of the very preventalbe problems that made this incident possible lays heavy on the shoulders of performers. (And all musicians here, regardless of genere.)
That backstage door @ Chop is never suppose to opened by anyone other than security or staff. Period. Everyone who has ever played a gig there — from gangsta rappers to hippie-dippy jam bands — knows this. (Even if they didn’t know before, they were reminded of it by the staff when they loaded-in before the gig.)
But, as Mizell noted, its a convention often ignored by performers — performers who think that just because they’re playing a gig somewhere, that place somehow becomes “their house” for the night.
Listen up: It.Is.Not.Your.House!
Get over it: you are a visitor. And just like a visitor to your house is outta line if he answers your door and lets people you don’t know into your home, same holds true for the venues at which you perform. Artists, if you can’t get that through you thick heads you’ve got no one to blame but yourself when you get got.
(And if I was going to be really, really cold, I might even call 29-E’s death an instance of natural selection at work. But even I’m not that cold.)
@11 – well, girlfriends should always be banned, or boyfriends for that matter.
But that’s a whole separate ball of wax.
@12 You’re pretty hardcore and that’s a hell of a lesson to suggest for performers. Luckily, the law doesn’t agree with your theory.
It’s up to the owner of any public establishment to meet safety standards set by the city, state or fed. It’s a pretty cut-and-dry liability issue. Having played at the Chop and having worked in the hospitality industry, I can attest to the fact that people don’t read signs, they don’t remember instructions, they drink – they need immediate reinforcement of rules pretty much thrown in their face every time. A doorman that demands to see a stamp or armband, a crash bar that sets off an alarm if you use the door, etc. People expect that from certain places and learn to live with it. In the end, it takes the pressure off the performer and concertgoer and makes everyone feel more at ease when they know exactly where the boundaries lie.
Performers (people in general) don’t want to fuck shit up for everyone, but they’re lazy and don’t want to be the fucking hall monitor. You can blame the victims all you want, but the fact is Chop Suey is responsible for the security failure on their property the same way the TSA at Seatac is responsible for letting that runaway kid slip past them 5 times.
Now, if you’re suggesting an updated version of The Gong Show combined with Running Man, I’m listening…
* Homosexuals on the Hill
* Many known homosexuals in the audience
* Crackpot with known “beef” with homosexuals
* Widespread rumors of “trouble” beforehand
* Confusing security scenario with multiple providers
* Culture of drugs, unprotectected sex and lisps
What could possibly go wrong?
—what you still don’t get is that this was the act of one (ok, three) idiotic individuals, they were not patrons of the show, it was not due to the type of music someone decides to perform or host. It is so strange that you get off on blaming the victims.
If I was a “guest” at someone’s house who treated me the way musicians are treated at Chop Suey (which is really no better or worse than any other club), I’d leave. Musicians aren’t “guests” they’re poorly paid contract workers. There’s no way Chop Suey has the organization or discipline (again, no better or worse than any other club I’ve seen) to start enforcing back door policy. If nothing else, musicians need free access to the backstage on an ongoing basis throughout the evening, from the back door or through the club. What are you going to do–have security there with a list of the names of all band members and demand to see ID each time? Start handing out access lanyards? Does Chop Suey pay its security enough to tussle with armed thugs?
@ Greg referenced in OP.
That’s all well and good Greg. Let’s make a night out as fun as a trip through booking.
All of your well stated insights aside, what would you have done different? Not answer the door?
LOL @ all you motherfuckers.
I blame people with guns.