The person responsible for the sound design on the "Stadium Tour" should be brought up on criminal charges

The BBQ Pit
1

On Sunday, my wife and I attended “The Stadium Tour”, a show featuring Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Poison, Def Leppard, and Motley Crue. The show we saw was held at the Alamodome, an indoor stadium in San Antonio.

We really enjoyed the show. Each band played 60-90 minutes with around 30-40 minutes in between for intermission and set changes. All-in-all, it was a fun show of '80s nostalgia rock. (The stadium, itself, however, is a dump and it always has been. Toilets were inadequate for the size of the crowd and some were not even flushing. Lovely. The concourses are dingy caves that … well, they’re just awful. There are no escalators for the folks in the cheap seats and the elevators are inadequate for the number of people to be moved. But, I digress.)

Motley Crue (how do you type an umlaut?) was the last act. Of course, the finale featured lots of sound, lasers, flashing lights, fog, etc. That’s all fine – it’s a rock concert.

HOWEVER, the were five pyrotechnic explosions at the very end. They were off the stage to the audience’s left. These explosions were unlike anything else in the entire show. They sounded like rapid-fire cannon shots. Again, they were UNLIKE ANYTHING ELSE AT ANY OTHER TIME IN THE SHOW.

I know my wife and I immediately thought that there was a terror attack. We both froze and looked at the crowd for reactions. Had even one person screamed or acted in a terrified way, I fear that there could have been a huge stampede of terrified people. It’s not right, but this is the world we live in today. Intentionally having those explosions with the audience having no reason to expect them is highly irresponsible. People could have been killed.

The Alamodome is about ninety minutes from Uvalde.

If anyone had been hurt, the people responsible should have been held accountable.

2

That’s horrible. I’m glad you’re okay.

3

Except nothing actually happened because apparently everyone except you realized you were at a rock concert and that pyrotechnics happen at rock concerts.

So people should be arrested for… what exactly?

Is it though? Because that didn’t happen.

4

Yeah, I feel bad for the OP, but as soon as they started complaining about how horrible the venue was, I thought “How old are these people? And why would they put themselves through this?”

At the end, when it was pointed out that nobody else was shocked or thought it was a terrorist attack, I wondered if they had PTSD. A friend of mine does, and he never goes to indoor rock concerts.

Since covid, I’ve seen a lot of bands live, but all outdoor gigs or festivals (where I can ‘turn down the volume’ by wandering farther away from the stage). I just couldn’t subject myself to what the OP did.

eta:
Oh, re-reading, I see the OP mentioned that it was “a fun show”. I totally lost that in the midst of poop-filled toilets and “dingy caves”. So if it was fun despite all that, I guess I understand why they’d go.

5

The tour has played 27 dates before this one, and somehow they’ve managed to avoid any deadly stampedes caused by people assuming that pyrotechnics at a rock show were a “terror attack”.

https://www.motley.com/stadium-tour-2022

How is that relevant? I think you’d struggle to find a large concert venue in this country that isn’t about ninety minutes from the site of a mass shooting.

6

As a sample:

  • Joan Jett, 63
  • Bret Michaels, Poison, 59
  • Joe Elliot, Def Leppard, 63
  • Vince Neil, Motley Crue, 61

… oh, you meant Drum_God and wife.

7

If you go on a log flume ride and you get splashed with some kind of liquid, don’t panic! It’s probably just harmless water, not acid or human blood.

8

After sitting through that line-up, I’d be praying for a terrorist attack.

9

Me, I’d put another dime in the jukebox, baby.

.

Look, I still think Drum_God over-reacted, but living in this decade, and here’s where the Uvalde comment actually pertains, I think we all have a dose of PTSD. So I think this thread is more of a “Wow, I am still a little traumatized by what I went through, so I’m turning to the only safe place I know…”

…the Pit? Are we really less snarky than his friends?

10

Came for the comments and they didn’t disappoint! :rofl:

11

Before taking guests out for a day of pontooning, I always announce, “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a water ride. You will get wet”.

12

Did you read the back of the ticket stub? It may have warned about strobe lights and loud noises, which many do nowadays since they can trigger seizures in certain people.

Perhaps an announcement was warranted, but they wanted to surprise the audience. Don’t blame the sound designer. He did his job perfectly… you just didn’t appreciate his efforts.

13

Okay, so calling for the guy’ to be charged with a crime was over the top. Still, the explosions were inappropriate. Sure, it’s a rock concert and pyrotechnics and loud noises are part of the experience. We certainly were fine with that and enjoyed the show. These particular pyrotechnics were completely unlike anything else earlier in the show and were coming from a place somewhat off the stage.

Mass shootings continue in this country. In Aurora, CO, a mass shooting took place at a movie theater during an action movie. Some in the audience that the sound of the shooting was part of the movie. It was not. Confusion like this can be expected.

The proximity to Uvalde and describing the poor condition of the stadium were unnecessary asides on my part. Still, the Alamodome is a dump.

I am younger than all of the acts on the stage. That makes sense since these folks were all actively making music during my youth. (I graduated from high school in 1986.) We enjoyed the show, with the exception of the pyro at the end.

14

Back in college, I worked as a non-union stagehand at the Savannah Civic Center. My first job was as part of the local crew setting up Motley Crue’s show. One of their road staff was a real character, went by the name of Pyro Pete. He was in charge of the pyrotechnics, of which there were many. He had lots and lots of scar tissue on his face as a result of looking into the pots as they went off unexpectedly. At any rate, Motley Crue = lots of boom-booms.

PS opening act was an unknown (to Georgia) west-coast band: Guns N Roses. Great show.

15

You went to see “Pensioners of Rock” and it was too loud?

LOL

16

Peter Beitz 62 in October
Dolly Beitz 63

We saw this show in Milwaukee in July. Nothing about those effects startled anyone.

But the wussies have taken over the world and we’re expected to appease them. Don’t have overly loud booms at a hard rock concert. Don’t sing one of your own songs even though it has absolutely nothing to do with gun violence (Pat Benatar). Jebus Kripes.

17

And an extra “Fuck You” to the OP for trying to justify their pearl clutching bullshit by invoking dead kids.

18

Nice. I didn’t invoke dead kids. To be blunt, they’re not going to rock concerts ever again. However, some of the living community members – even teachers from that campus – may have been in attendance. That was my point in mentioning Uvalde.

My problem isn’t that a rock concert had pyrotechnics. My problem is that these explosions were unlike anything else in the show and came from an unexpected direction.

19

It’s a rock concert. There’s no such thing as an unexpected direction for pyro to come from, and grand finales do tend to be unlike anything else in the show - that’s what makes them grand and final.

Mow your damn lawn and sit the hell down, Kevin.

20

Uvalde = dead kids

Just as

Mötley Crüe live = lots of pyrotechnics

And

Drum_God = Karen

But please double down again. There might be someone left who might give you the benefit of the doubt.

Were there windows breaking? Did anything except your fragile ego get damaged? Then the firecrackers weren’t too loud, you dipshit.

You added “will someone think of the (dead) children” to lend more gravitas to your inane position; not because you are worried about their well-being- to pretend otherwise is bullshit.
You didn’t say “I looked around to see if there were people looking scared, because Uvalde”

You typed:

With “meaningful” spaces around it. You were using someone else’s misery to underline that you are an asshole.