Creed Security Manhandles LMN Reporter at Concert
There I was reviewing the how, having a great time, thanks to Finger Eleven and Sevendust, and half way through Creed's set, a large security guard grabbed me at my seat in front of the entire audience. Mind you, I am in a shirt and tie, weighing in at a monstrous 130 pounds, standing a towering 5"6, and not posing a physical threat nor fighting back in the least. This "friendly" member of the Creed staff gets physical with me, dragging me through the crowd by my arm and shirt while I cling to my $1000 camera for dear life. He is yelling and screaming the entire time as he is removing me from the audience. There was no reason to get violent with me, and, in my opinion, he is lucky I did not file a police report. The last time I checked, it is illegal to bruise someone and throw them around like a rag doll for no reason. Needless to say, the situation could have been handled non-violently, but apparently, the security staffer was too busy with what he was doing to notice that he was engaging in what amounted to assault. Had it happened at a bar, he would have charged with assault, but since it happened at a Creed concert, he apparently felt that he ccoul do as he pleased.
In a nutshell, the band's security simply took my photo disks, claiming that they own the rights to pictures taken of Creed. Unfortunately, they also confiscated my personal picture disks that were included in the assortment of disks in my bag, even after I made them aware of the fact that only a third of the disks they took were actually of Creed? The others were in fact taken of Finger Eleven and Sevendust, as well as a few disks taken of my friends at a party at my house - a week prior to the show. Can anyone tell me how pictures of my friends are now the property of Creed?
I was simply giving them good publicity in our paper, because they gave an excellent performance. At least I think they gave a good show, I really wouldn't know, as I was too busy backstage defending myself against the Gestapo-esque behavior from the so-called security. Therefore, I missed half of their show due to that, as well as trying to meet with someone in the Freedom Hall offices who could find out what happened to my photo passes.
What am I getting at in all this? I feel that I was not only embarrassed by the Creed security, but physically abused and disrespected as a member of the press as well. If they want the pictures of themselves that badly, they can keep them, but I want my blank disks and pictures of my party back, damn it! I also would like the other two bands to be able to speak for themselves on their pictures. (I was supposed to have a photo pass for Finger Eleven.)
In turn, I would like to apologize to Sevendust and Finger Eleven for my lack of pictures for this article, for which you can thank Creed.
Speaking of Finger Eleven, they rocked. It was a much more enjoyable experience to watch them without being dragged around by their security. The band is most known for their hit "First Time," but they delivered an intense set throughout. One note I would like to make about them is the fact that their guitar player is the most entertaining thing to watch next to the Man Show. He does not have the big breasts and trampolines going for him, but he is a great guitarist who moves around in ways that make it unbelievable that he is actually playing. Overall, the sound is reminiscent of a combination of Staind and Tool, which I dig. Hopefully no one in the band was injured by the size of the Creed staff ego.
Sevendust also made the concert worthwhile. If it had not been for them and Finger Eleven, I would have rather been at home knitting a sweater. The band provided a powerful prerequisite to Creed with hits such as "Denial" and the recent tribute to the late Lynn Strait (lead singer of the band Snot) with "Angel's Son." During this emotional piece, the sincerity was obvious, since Lajon Witherspoon could not even make it through some of the lyrics without choking up a bit. It was a very moving tune, especially due tot he inspiration behind it. Sevendust absolutely moved the crowd in every way.
Now, to whomever has my discs and personal pictures, kindly send them to the Louisville Music News office at 3705 Fairway Ln. Louisville, KY 40207, attention Jason Koerner. If appropriate, I will gladly offer your side of the story and apologize for my presumptions. In print. Hopefully, the respect of your fans means enough to you to resolve this issue for them.