Photos by Karson Brown
Editor’s Note: Upon hearing what our own Karson Brown experienced at this show, Mike Barsch, the owner of Soda Jerk Presents who runs The Marquis Theater reached out to us to personally apologize. He assured us that he and his staff have had several conversations already about how to prevent incidents like the ones described in this article from happening ever again. We commend him for his honesty and the fact that he reached out to us to talk about this. It is our position that this incident is not representative of how Soda Jerk runs their venues.
Barsch stated that Foxy Shazam had played his venues several times and that nothing like this had ever happened in the past. He prides himself on being able to anticipate crowd behavior and staff appropriately, and admitted that this one took him by surprise. In regards to the band stopping and helping to calm things down, he agreed that they should have and cited a Hatebreed show a few weeks ago when the band stopped their set several times and encouraged the crowd to settle down before pulling the plug entirely and walking off stage only seven songs into their set. What’s the moral of this story . . . well it’s that the crowd and band are as much to blame, if not more to blame, than the venue. We live in a society where human life has value and you can’t disregard that just because you are at a Rock show, or in a rock band. Let’s grow up people. Sure, these shows are about having fun and blowing off a little steam, but how much fun is it when there is blood gushing from someone’s face and girls are curled up on a dirty club floor crying and scared they are going to be crushed to death. Think about it next time you try to push to the front of a packed room or jump off a stage into a crowd of people.
The Scene: The Marquis Theater is an intimate venue with an unaccommodating stage for artists and crowd alike. I planned ahead and got there early to secure my place up front and make sure I would be able to see and photograph the band for this review. Once Foxy Shazam took the stage, the mob mentality from the gathering set in immediately and those of us in front would spend the rest of the show trying to figure out how to escape.
Foxy Shazam: A trumpet solo by Alex Nauth in the corner of the tiny stage started things off unassumingly. Seeming unimpressed by the crowd’s lackluster greeting, Nauth shrugged it off and stared blankly into the crowd and seemed to immediately disconnect. With Nauth in space, Mr. Eric Nally, the now blond bombshell front man for the Glam Rock band, took the stage and the group opened with the title track from Church of Rock and Roll and the waiting crowd responded with a roar. While Nally rolled around on the floor, jumped, gyrated, and did summersaults, the band’s loyal following was being overrun, trampled, and crushed by an out of control mob.
To put this review in context, I have photographed and reviewed Foxy Shazam several times over the past year and I consider myself a devout follower. As a result, I thought I knew what kind of crowd to expect: a high spirited dancing gang that transcended all ages. It turns out I was wrong. Once the music started, the crowd morphed, tightened, and the crush became too much to handle, the excitement of a high-energy Rock show turned to terror for all of us in the front row.
As I struggled to hold my ground and get some pictures of the antics on stage, the group of teenagers next to me were getting crushed, hit, and shoved by the drunken mob behind them. One young lady, who was decked out in a tribute to Nally’s old Willie Wonka pirate look with the dark sunglasses and an attached plastic mustache, was being smashed so hard against the stage wall and the monitors that she spent the majority of the show collapsed on the floor and crying because of her injuries. I tried to help create a human barricade for her and her friends and suggested to help get her out…but how? We were all completely trapped and there were no security personnel at the front of the stage to help get her out before the suffocating crowd gobbled her up.
Pushing, shoving, and the occasional crowd surfer or stage diver; all of these things are par for the course when going to a show like this, especially at such a small venue. Most concertgoers, music lovers, and industry professionals understand this and tolerate it if they aren’t mixed up in the fray themselves. I have been to countless concerts throughout my life, as a fan and on assignment, and I thought I had seen it all…but again, I was wrong.
Midway through the show, I looked over to see a friend and fellow veteran concert photographer covered in blood after being kicked in the face by a drunken stage diver. Her face was smeared with blood and her equipment destroyed. Completely stunned, where was she to go? Security personnel couldn’t get to us to help, and we were no longer just putting up with the mayhem we had become accustomed to enduring, now it was about protecting ourselves and those nearby from more serious injuries.
From my vantage point neck deep in a sea of sweaty irreverent humanity the only escape was to jump on stage, and I did just that. As I helped my bloodied friend and got her on stage and out of the crush, I wish I could say that the band stopped playing, that they addressed the crowd and us, or that they even acknowledge our presence on the tiny stage or the woman covered in blood merely a foot from them. But no, there was nothing. No help from the band, no words, no acknowledgment, no concern. I was appalled.
Foxy Shazam’s once unpredictable performances with boundless energy, clever crowd engaging stories, and the infamous eating of lit cigarettes at the end of the show, has turned into a bit of a gimmick. Was it the bands irreverent attitude towards the crowd, unappreciative attitude, and calculated stunts that tipped this crowd over the edge? This over the top brashness has detracted from their music. It is now more about the act than the fun-loving incredibly charged music from their past. They have unbelievable talent with a completely unique sound but on Sunday night they weren’t willing to break from character for one second, not even to help someone in need. Their lack of compassion this time spoke louder than their music, and I’m truly disappointed in them.
What a crazy story! Glad your OK! Thanks for sharing the experience, it was an interesting read.
This was the most poorly managed security situation I have ever encountered. I too am a big Foxy fan, I’ve seen them several times and I have always had a great time at their shows. I’ve also been to a number of shows at the Marquis. But I have never been to a concert with so much violence, especially male on female violence. Your account is spot on.
Hi, my name is Daisy. I play bass in this band you are reviewing, foxy shazam.
I take personal offense to your version of events, because, if I am correct in who you are (the two photographers at the foot of the stage), I personally stopped playing and tried to help you pull your friend out. So did several other people, including band and our crew, not the venue security. You certainly did not get her out alone, so it beyond offends me that you said we did nothing and are “lacking in compassion.” Our tour manager actually has your friend’s blood on his shirt, as I write this.
Our guitarist, Loren, actually did pull people out of the crowd who were getting hurt. I mouthed at several people “are you ok?” between songs and motioned for me to help them. Some who wanted to leave were helped out. some did not want to leave.
Also, that “disinterested” trumpet player you write of broke his foot the night before onstage. That’s why there were crutches, which you failed to mention. We played the show anyways, because he’s a badass and didn’t wanna bum out the fans you think we care so little about.
Those are the factual innacuracies I take issue with in your article. The rest is your opinion and you have a right to publish it. While i disagree on some other points, i respect your viewpoint, and if you would like to discuss further my email address is daisydaisy0000daisydaisy@gmail.com.
I hope your friend is okay.
Daisy
Daisy –
First of all thank you for taking the time to read this article and to comment on it in such depth. It was not our intention to personally offend anyone, but we did feel that this kind of event needed to be brought to light. As we all know from studies of eye witness testimony there are always several versions of the truth. If you did in fact stop to help, thank you. As you know, it was mayhem down there and the version printed above was our writers best effort at describing the scene and the events of the evening.
Again, thanks for reading and commenting, and we apologize for offending you. Next time you come to Denver, let’s all do everything we can to stop events like this from happening again!
Tim Dwenger
Editor – Listen Up Denver!
If you are going to write something like this you should probably get the facts at least kind of right. We love our fans and seeing them get hurt at our show was horrible. Which is why myself and other members of the band stopped playing to help yourself and your friend out of the crowd and off stage. And our tour manager is the one that helped you and your friend backstage, gave her water, and let the security know what was happening.
My band and crew ( all of us with no experience dealing with something like this) did the best we could. I understand it is easier to vilify us in this situation so you left out important details like our “unimpressed” trumpet player was actually hobbling on stage on crutches directly in front of you. And you couldn’t get your friend on the stage and to safety until some us stopped playing and helped. I spoke to everyone else after the show that was injured and hugged them and apologized for the situation.
I didn’t want to respond to this but it really bothered me how wrong of things you can feel okay passing off as what actually happened at that show. My band and crew were the only ones there trying to help our fans.
Take care
Love
Sky
Sky –
Again, thank you for taking the time to read this article and to comment on it in such depth. Respectfully, we feel we have our facts right with the understand that there are always several versions of the truth. It just sounds like our version of what happened simply differs from yours. Please remember that this was written from a fans point of view. She has seen you guys several times and feels horrible that anything like this happened and that you all are offended by her description of the events.
That said, these kinds of events happening at a show are disturbing to everyone involved and I do feel that more could have been done to calm the mayhem. It sounds like everyone, from the venue owner and staff, to the band, to the crowd, was surprised by the violent attitude in the air on Sunday but we all have a responsibility to do everything we can to keep people from getting hurt. While we are in no way blaming you, that mic up on stage has a lot of power and a few simple words can often help to calm a crowd.
Thanks again for reading and commenting. Next time you come to Denver, let’s all do everything we can to stop events like this from happening again!
Peace,
Tim Dwenger
Editor – Listen Up Denver!
I’m the other photographer who took a boot to the face half way through the set and spent the remainder of the evening in the emergency room getting my face stitched up. While the events that followed the incident are fuzzy for me, there’s one thing I know with absolute certainty: the aggression bubbling through that crowd was beyond anything I’ve seen. And this is coming from someone who has been shooting shows (big and small) for nearly four years.
The other thing I know is that Karson was the person who took the initiative to hop on stage and start pulling me out in the only direction we could go (for which I’m grateful). First and foremost, I think the venue has a responsibility to keep tabs on a crowd and provide a safe environment. Concerts are full of energy and mayhem. I knew that going in and wouldn’t have expected any less from this show. But things got out of hand, and opportunities were missed to intercede, remove the worst offenders, or at least dampen the chaos so that the fans (myself included) were not in explicit danger.
Like Karson, I have been a big Foxy fan for some time. And while I was there to do a job, I was also there to enjoy the show and promote a band I believed in. A face full of stitches and a damaged camera aside, I was disheartened by the night. Things could have gone differently.
Security was terrible and didn’t do their jobs. They stood in the back and talked through most of the show. I personally witnessed one person throwing ice (I mean winding up pitcher style) at people in front of him and one member of security laughed at one particular throw that really hurt some poor kid. I did see Sky White helping people up onto the stage but I agree with Tim that perhaps a quick message on the mic would have helped the situation. I guess I don’t necessarily blame Foxy, because that is the venues job. But when the Marquis wasn’t living up to their end, Foxy could have done more to help their fans. All in all, I have just decided I won’t attend shows at the Marquis anymore. What an awful concert venue. Foxy, please come back to Denver, I’d love to see you play the Ogden!