Even a child knows you're an idiot

[NecessaryCatharsis]

I attended a concert last night.

Scratch that, I attended an extremely well publicized, well organized and well run outdoor concert last night (and had a fantastic time)

I only saw, all night, one person who I am sure security wanted to scour with brillo and vinager, although everyone else nearby, including my 5 year old, was laughing at him.

It's about 4pm when I got there and we are moving forward in line to have our tickets taken, security check, bracelets on etc and he is standing to the side of the entrance gate arguing with event security. I witnessed about 15 minutes but most of the time they were stuck in a conversational cul-de-sac so I will give you the gist of his complaints, with security responses in italics (paraphrasing is mine, they were extremely respectful and polite throughout, as only the truly disinterested can be)

1)The music is too loud, I can hear it across the street, and you need to turn it down We don't care, we are not turning it down and it's only going to get louder
2)I need to enter and talk to the person in charge, and get him to turn the music down, it is too loud! The person running the event is far too busy to bother with you, only ticket holders can enter, and nobody cares what you think or will be turning down the music
3)It is illegal to keep me out, this is public property, and I need to enter, find the person in charge and complain!!!!!!!!!!!!!11!!!!!!1 We rented the property for the event, it is a private function for that time, you are not getting in without a ticket and still nobody cares what you think
4)I am calling the police, getting you charged with keeping me out of a public property, and they will make you turn down the music!!!!!!!!11!!!!!1!!!!!!!1!!!

Once the police were mentioned one of the event security guys went into the park, got two of the uniformed police officers that were hired to attend the event and brought them out to deal with crazy man. I was inside by then, but turned around to witness him being involuntarily squired away.

[Pixilated]

When I worked at the little weekly paper, there was one outdoor venue that was often used for concerts ... and yep, sure as sugar, EVERY FREAKIN' TIME there'd be somebody from the houses across the street moaning about how loud the music was. It's ONE NIGHT; get over it!

But the topper came when some residents in the little town started an annual event that became The Little Event That Grew. It went from one weekend, to a week, and I believe it might now run for two solid weeks. And some of the local store owners were bitching about the amount of work it was making for them, having all these people run in and buy stuff, and they EVEN HAD TO HIRE EXTRA STAFF!!!!!!ELEVENTY!!!!!!!!

Apparently it's not just customers who are Entitlement Whores; these folk obviously preferred that people just send them cash but gawds forbid they actually set foot in the shops!

[MoonCat]

Pixilated, wow, that is just so dumb. We have an annual art show here, and for years, business owners were annoyed because the agency that organizes the event told them they COULDN'T open their businesses for those two days. Biggest event in town, thousands of potential customers, and they were told they couldn't open. That's been settled for a while now and most of the businesses that want to open, do. I can't imagine a business owner NOT wanting extra business!

[Pixilated]

I don't think it was the majority of businesses by any means ... maybe the paper should've told those who were upset at all that "extra work" to just close their doors while the event was on!

[EricKei]

business owners were annoyed because the agency that organizes the event told them they COULDN'T open their businesses for those two days

Wait, why was it any business of the event organizers' whether those stores were open or not? Were they compensating the businesses for the closures/lack of potential sales?

[Cia]

Wait, why was it any business of the event organizers' whether those stores were open or not? Were they compensating the businesses for the closures/lack of potential sales?

My bet is because the organizers wanted the attendees to spend money only at their event and not share the wealth with the established businesses.

[bhskittykatt]

I was staying at a hotel once where next door they were hosting "Battle of the Bands and Chick Fights!", which I could hear in my room on the other side of the building. Saw plenty of guests giving the poor desk clerk hell about it, but she had nothing to do with them and besides the concert had a permit for the noise. They were done by 9:30 so it didn't bug me at all, but heaven forbid some of those guests should have to put up with temporary noise!

I don't think it was the majority of businesses by any means ... maybe the paper should've told those who were upset at all that "extra work" to just close their doors while the event was on!

I stumbled across an outdoor block party downtown earlier in the week. They were playing loud music (pretty good band, too). The small indy movie theatre next door had its doors closed (they are tiny and the band stage was literally right outside their door), but had set up an info booth outside and had some merch to sell to party-goers. I don't know if the museum next door closed or not but they had a little booth outside too. Seemed like a good way to take advantage of the situation.

[sms001]

Wait, why was it any business of the event organizers' whether those stores were open or not?

Yeah, I'm curious about that too. If I'm an established business, and get told to shut down for anything not already on the books, it's lawyerin' time! Maybe the "agency" is some aspect of the local government? Still...

[DaisyQueen]

In a city close to where I live, there is a theater that often does concerts and live performances. Above the theater, whose names is in large prominent letters that light up on the building, are several stories of condos. Everyone is aware of this theater. The amusing part is that frequently when a concert comes to play at the theater the condo owners get all upset about the noise, call the police, call the building owner and the building manager, try to contact the concert promoters, etc to complain about the noise. When they weren't getting anywhere, they started calling the local newspaper to complain. The newspaper did a story all right--and the comments were hilarious. Every comment was "Why do you live above a THEATER if you don't want the noise?" "Did you not notice the THEATER NAME on the side of the building when you toured?" "Did you not realize when you walked through the theater on the ground floor to get to the elevator to go upstairs that there MAY be concerts played now and then?" and so on. It was awesome. Bunch of idiots.

[EricKei]

If a permit-party wanted me to shut down a store during their party I'd say "OK, here's what it will cost you:..." and hand them a bill that covered what payroll would have been for the day, double the store's average net profit for the day (because bigger crowds generally mean more business), tack on another 20% for my trouble, and add a refundable damage deposit. All payable up front. If they TOLD me I needed to shut down, I'd just call the cops.

I would imagine that the places nearest the THEATER are cheaper than most, and these people simply never wondered why that might be...~_~ If they were comparable to other condos, however, I would place the onus upon the company that owns the condo building itself to have better soundproofing on the walls and (where possible) thicker glass. Of course, if the tenants open their windows during concerts....

[PepperElf]

I'm sure they were more than glad to hand him off to the police. But seeing that it was well before 10PM there wasn't anything illegal about the show. Only time I've ever heard of cops getting involved against a concert is when the show continues on past 10PM.

So no matter how butthurt the SC was... pretty much the only answer for him is "pound sand" and "go buy some ear plugs"

[AccountingDrone]

Sheesh, I used to live next to a bar that had live rock bands on Fridays and Saturdays. I looked upon it as the chance to sit at home drinking for a hell of a lot less and still get free loud music! Win win situation

[PepperElf]

When I worked at the little weekly paper, there was one outdoor venue that was often used for concerts ... and yep, sure as sugar, EVERY FREAKIN' TIME there'd be somebody from the houses across the street moaning about how loud the music was. It's ONE NIGHT; get over it!

This makes me think of the race track here. It specializes in local car racing, dirt track, and a bunch of other events too. They've been here since the mid-60s - almost half a century!

Some of the nearby land has been converted into fancy housing in the past decade or so. From what I've heard they want to have the speedway shut down because of the limited noise pollution. Even though it's only during the summer, only during certain hours, and ... the speedway was there first.

I can only think... well why did you move in next to a fucking racetrack then? That's like moving in next to an airport and then bitching about the sounds of airplanes landing.

[Jetfire]

My city has a race track and exhibition grounds right next to downtown. Those grounds have been there for a century or two now, and as cities are opt to do, a residential neighbourhood has grown up around them.

Said neighbourhood is one of the biggest NIMBY complainers in the city now. They can't do much about the FREX since that's grandfathered in big time, nor the stables and race track.

But 5 years or so ago, some people in the city decided to start a new annual summer concert (Fred Rock). The first year, it was on the FREX grounds and boy did they complain about it. The organizers made sure the permits and time limits were arranged, as well as traffic control (FREX grounds are already on one of the main streets in the city so it's fairly easy to get in/out), but the residents complained and complained.

Luckily, the next year the festival organizers found another location, on the other side of the river, and it's been growing ever since. (Last year's lineup was better than this years IMO, but this year they officially added a third night). For a small little city, to get Black Crows, AWOL Nation, OLP and a lot of other solid Canadian acts throuhg the years, it's been impressive. ( http://www.fredrockfest.com/ ). Personally, moving to the new location has been a boon IMO, but that doesn't change that they had to move.

In the end the NIMBYers will get their way eventually. The city is already looking for a new location for the Frex grounds, and it'll probably be rebuilt into a condo and duplex neighbourhood instead, thouhg there's no real ETA for when that will happen.

(These guys complained that the local grocery store had too big of a flag up, even thouhg the grocery store doesn't have any houses around it. And they complained about the FREX buying a new LED sign to replace the letter board they used to have for decades. Luckily no one listened to the LED complaints)

[KatherineB]

There is a town in Victoria called Clunes that runs an annual Book Weekend. The attempt is slowly being made to turn it into an official Book Town, but basically the place is all but dead for 51 weeks of the year and jam-packed for the Book Weekend. Booksellers come from across the state and it's fabulous. It probably gives the shop-owners a huge kick in their percentage profits.

...Which makes it all the more bizarre that one cafe staffer moaned to my Dad about 'these horrible book people' DURING BOOK WEEKEND in front of a huge queue of people wanting to, you know, give them money.

I really don't understand some people...