Rapper at SxSW incites riot, later arrested

[dvsDave]

"All you outside the gates; y'all push through. Y'all push through. Get in, come on." is what rapper Tyler, of the hip-hip group Odd Future yelled at a sold out show at South by Southwest on Thursday, encouraging fans waiting in line to forcibly enter the concert venue despite employees at the door telling everyone to stay put because the venue was filled to capacity.

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The 23-year-old artist, born Tyler Okonma, was arrested at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport this weekend for a class-A misdemeanor of inciting a riot and assault on a bartender who shielded several patrons from being trampled in the stampede. The bartender sustained a blow to the face. Tyler paid a $25,000 bond, was released and played a venue in Dallas the same day of his arrest. Tyler could face up to six months in jail if convicted of a charge of riot, a class-A misdemeanor.



Austin police were called in to disperse the crowd after Tyler made his announcement from the stage. It's noted in the affidavit that he cursed employee's after leaving the stage.

So, who has a penalty clause in their venue contracts that would cover an incident like this? And if not, would you consider adding one now?

 

[Footer]

You don't need that in your contract... all you need is a lawyers number.

 

[dvsDave]

Alright, so what actions would you take at your venue if that happened?

 

[Jay Ashworth]

I would cooperate with the local DA in having him hauled back into town, and put the hell in gaol for the maximum available time. I'm pretty sure the contract already has a clause making the act financially responsible for any damage caused directly or indirectly by its actions; no?

 

[Footer]

Alright, so what actions would you take at your venue if that happened?

Kill the PA, hit the works, and have my backstage security guy haul the performer offstage while the pit guards keep the crowd back. The only issue is realizing and reacting to what is happening while it is happening. When dealing with audience issues this is the biggest issue. We have had a rash of stage jumpers recently and you usually don't realize what is happening until the drunk guy is onstage and your running at them to get them off stage.

 

[Jay Ashworth]

Ok, so let's unpack this:

At any of your performances -- *who* is authorized to 'Pull the ripcord', how much judgement may they apply, and precisely what's the procedure for doing so?

Have you discussed this? Written it down?

It amounts to "exercising judgement about when the contract has been violated"; it seems to me that the protocol ought to be both 1) written down and b) actually included in the contract outright.

 

[Footer]

Ok, so let's unpack this:

At any of your performances -- *who* is authorized to 'Pull the ripcord', how much judgement may they apply, and precisely what's the procedure for doing so?

Have you discussed this? Written it down?

It amounts to "exercising judgement about when the contract has been violated"; it seems to me that the protocol ought to be both 1) written down and b) actually included in the contract outright.

No promoter would sign it if it were in the contract. In reality, if you have sufficient security/usher coverage of the event this type of thing should be easy to avoid. We make every outside promoted even carry separate insurance so it is on their back if something/someone is destroyed so the promoter does have something at play.

This situation is kind of like the porn thing "I'll know it when I see it". There is no written procedure at my place. But, I do always have a guy on com next to our fire alarm, fire wall abort, fire wall over-ride, and work lights for every show. I'm kind of in a weird situation that we have panic phones everywhere that connect directly to a state police barracks on premises, so on the rare occasion that stuff does go down it is rather easy to get a few troopers up to help out.

I work with my FOH and stage staff enough to know what needs to be done when. If I get a panicked call from one of the house managers that they need houselights... we do it. Same thing goes if they get an audience member. Procedures are great, but procedures don't always fit every situation. I've had Disco Biscuits play my venue... and it was a smooth night. We had plenty of security and everyone played nice. One of my worst nights with audience was for a speaker on a book tour connected to our local PBS station. We had an audience member rush the stage and try to take the guy out because he disagreed with the speaker about something. You can't assume anything about any show... which throws procedures right out the window. Have a plan, but trust you staff to make the right call at the right time. Seconds count.

 

[dwthomas]

I am in constant communication with people assigned to the key functions(head of security, lights, sound, and house manager) so when something does happen one of us is immediately communicating concern and we make a snap decision on how to correct this which usually entails killing the pa, bringing up work and house lights and escorting them out of the venue. My worst show was when a performer decided to crowd surf but was dropped onto the backs of fixed seats then tried to pursue a lawsuit which was quickly thrown out because we make it very clear that crowd surfing is not acceptable and is grounds for immediate removal from the venue


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