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H-Town Rock
Rock Talk, Vol. IX
We weren’t there, but situation sounded like a total mess. Police were called to Walter’s on Washington Friday night after receiving a noise complaint from a nearby resident . When the lone officer arrived onto the scene, an altercation took place on stage with the lead singer of Two Gallants. The crowd was stunned at what was going on, which you can see in the video above.
David Cobb has a great post about the incident at his site, Houston Calling. The police officer discharged his taser gun three times during the brawl. The concert-goers account seems to differ greatly from HPD’s account on what took place at the show.
Listening to Two Gallants’ music, it doesn’t seem like the type of show that would conjure up a noise complaint. However, with all of the new townhomes in the area, we could see why this would be a new problem for the venue. If you’re buying a home next to a concert venue, what would you expect?
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I'm all about a good show, but when a cop says Stop, you don't ask why, you Stop. You can work out if he is right or wrong later. I've been to big protests here in DC and the one thing everyone knows is, you don't touch the cop, if you do you are going to get your ass beat or tasered. It's just common sense.
DID THIS INSANITY HAPPEN BECAUSE:
(A) LONG TERM STEROID USE IS BAD FOR YOU (PSYCO COP) OR:
(B) THE CRAZY ROBOCOP WAS JEALOUS BECAUSE THE ALL COP BAND HE IS IN,"THE JOE CAMPOS TORRES' SWIM COACH"
NEVER MADE IT BIG.
Cuervo is right - sounds like irrational 'roid rage. The HPD should drug test that guy. Even if they DID turn the music up as he was walking out, what was the point of jumping up on stage? Is Houston such a peaceful, law-abiding city that noise complaints take precendence over everything else?
And the out of control tasering - he's lucky that no one really got hurt because of that (ie: had a heart attack).
I hope the HPD distances themselves from this anger out of control officer. He put himself in that situation. If he really needed to approach the stage, he should have called for backup first.
I'm telling you, it's roid rage.
It's not 'roid rage, it's a couple of morons not obeying an officer's orders. If you got pulled over for running a stop sign and then proceeded to refuse an officers orders to put your hands on the steering wheel or get out of the car, you'd have either a taser or a gun in your face real quick.
Bottom line: do what the cop says, hash out if he's wrong later.
The band members own account (published on pitchforkmedia) verifies that they were essentially snotty and refused to obey the officer's commands. They also verify that he was accosted by other bandmembers and individuals from the audience. I'd say the cop was justified in his reactions.
I agree, you do what the cop says; however, my biggest beef comes up with the way the whole situation was handled:
1) What are the guidelines for noise complaints near concert establishments? I would think the guidelines would be different than if your neighbor's dog was barking non-stop in your suburban neighborhood.
2) An officer without backup going onstage to make the band members stop playing doesn't sound like sound policy to me (actually, when you have a venue full of fans, it's a rather idiotic thing to do, IMHO). Wouldn't you deal with the manager the whole time, or sound board operator as a backup?
My concern is more for the Houston music scene in general. The report in this morning's Chronicle brings up some valid points on that subject. We're the largest city in Texas, but more bands already choose to play Dallas and Austin before Houston.
there is no excuse for slamming the guy down in front of his band and the entire crowd, that's just asking for the opportunity to use your taser... the cop knew exactly what he was doing... people from Walter's said that cop had been around numerous times in the past with "a chip on his shoulder" and this is very VERY believible; cops have a habit of using whatever means necessary to justify their ends... and they usually aren't questioned. and does anyone here really believe that ANYONE is stupid enough to attack a cop?? is that what is supposed to be assumed by "accosted"?? people did swarm on the cop but that was to get him off of the band member that he violently threw to the ground... gimme a break, it was a cop abusing his easily received power... it's not a new concept
YOU DON"T SWARM A COP. I didn't think ANYONE was that stupid.
You swarm a cop if he/she is out of line. It is our freedom to defend ourselves.