Alexis Incident

Paul · Apr 15, 2005

Edmonton fans we have found out why certain bands don't play Reds and we are now one of those bands that will never play there again.

This does not mean we are not coming back , just means we will do more days at a smaller venue or if their is an alternative that is the same size.

Coles Notes Version of what went down

- Security sucks life, during Rise Against set Dallas had words with security about the abuse that was happening with the kids

- during AOF set it was escalated and the show was stopped several times because of bullshit fighting. The security did not help control this in a proffessional manner at all

- we spent quite sometime autographing everyones merch at the end of the night Dallas saw two big security officers picking on a smaller dude

- dall went over to break it up and dall got put in a full nelson then arm bar. Check this out, the asshole security was refering to himself as 'Deisel' and was saying 'You made Deisel mad', 'Deisel is going to brake your arm',.

- Tim from Rise Against comes over and the same things happens

- Ratboy from Jersey comes over and we have a 3 peat. Ratboy breaks free and goes gets our family

- Family comes out and security are completey wanting to scrap (pieces of shits). Some spectator toss's a bottle and our tour manager gets punched in the face

- Dall gets kicked out and banned from the mall by mall security, for no reason at all. More back and forth continues and we don\'t get out of there until like 2AM

Needless to say we are never going to play there again and we really wish promoters would take more control over the security they hire, not just for our sakes but for the god damn fans sakes. They pay their hard earned money to come in and to get treated like shit, fuck that, that is bull shit.

We are going to do our best to make sure this doesn't happen but its hard for us. So please if you fans ever encounter this, take action, write a letter, start a petition, do something becuase its bullshit, security is there to protect you, not instigate a fucking fight. Needless to say its really unfortunate that people like 'Deisel' exist.

A young man by the name of Thomas wrote this to the Edmonton Daily Paper. Its a good forward step to fixing a shitty situation.

I am writing to bring to attention an incident of abusive behaviour by Red's staff and West Edmonton Mall security at the Alexisonfire show on April 14th.

After the show, during autograph signing, a fight broke out near one of the band members. Most of the audience had left already. Although I was very close to the incident, I didn't see exactly what happened. Immediately, several people were put in arm locks by bouncers. Dallas, the guitarist of Alexisonfire, was one of these people. I found this to be highly suspect. During the show, Dallas interrupted the band - stopping the entire show - to tell people to stop fighting, twice.

My suspicion already piqued, I was more alarmed when another young man in a red shirt was forced to the ground by two bouncers, one of whom used his knee to bend the young man's neck at an angle. This young man was not fighting; he was struggling to not have his neck broken.

I am not a rebellious person, but I was very alarmed and scared for the young man in the red shirt. Someone else screamed, 'you're breaking his neck! I attempted to restrain the bouncer's arms, but backed off in fear of the retaliation the man in the red shirt men was receiving. I told the bouncer he had to be gentler. Another bouncer quickly became aggressive to me.

At this point many customers started questioning Red\'s staff, some quite belligerently. However, these were all just words, and it was bouncers who continually escalated the arguments physically. WEM security started arriving. As their numbers grew, many of the bouncers and guards began to act abusive towards customers. They were acting like a gang of thugs who had to protect their allies from some supposed insult, saying things like why dont you do something about it, when the customer had not acted violently.

For instance, a drunken young man was looking for his girlfriend and being quite noisy. WEM security intentionally escalated his frustration and called him on, despite the fact that they could see I was trying to calm him down. I asked them to stop, and the guard muttered some platitude about 'protecting themselves'. Against the drunken kid looking for his girlfriend? Doubtful. This was clearly an expression of unchecked aggression.

In defense, I want to point out that the several staff members (especially the women) were acting calmly. The EPS officers who arrived later were a pinnacle of professional behaviour. Red's and WEM and the people involved can claim they were pushed, and that we're a bunch of lying kids. They were making up excuses and defending themselves all night - even when nobody was accusing them. I can only assume Alexisonfire will choose a better venue next time.

-Thomas Roy
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What fucking assholes. This is exactly why I hate the sercurity at shows.

Chris Luke · Apr 15, 2005

Why can't live shows go back the way they were in the early-mid 90's. Why. Security can be a bunch of dicks sometimes.

Mark · Apr 16, 2005

At the Sum 41 concert I went to in February, my friend got kicked out because some guy in the same color shirt (green) went over the rail while bodysurfing three times; the max. My friend went over once. He got kicked out because of it. It was bullshit. They should remember the people's faces or stamp their hands or something, not just remember the color of their shirts.

NofxPants · Apr 16, 2005

That's my city... Nice one Edmonton.

savetomorrow · Apr 16, 2005

Were these the same people that were Godsmack's crew that beat up SOTY or were they the security guards that mistakened Mike Durnt of Green Day for an out-of-control mosher and knocked some teeth of him during Woodstock

SoniX · Apr 17, 2005

Wow, what asses... Seems like stupid fights are happening everywhere as of late.

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Alexis Incident

Paul The Ultimate Victory LPA Super Member

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Alexis Incident

Paul The Ultimate Victory LPA Super Member

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Mark Canadian Beauty LPA Administrator

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