I saw this phrase used on a number of occasions here as well as other places.
I am quite curious about what this means...

It means getting into (the pit) or right by (the b stage) without having purchased a ticket to do so...

That’s what the drunks do at the show

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MisterDDDD
It means getting into (the pit) or right by (the b stage) without having purchased a ticket to do so...

Thanks, I thought so.
I guess that explains the influx of people into the pit well after the performance had started. Not very damn polite.
Is this something sort of spur of the moment or something that is orchestrated?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-09-19 05:15 by curt.

Pretty hard ta get in there without a wrist-band …
Not sayin' it hasn't been done but security is usually pretty tight ….



ROCKMAN

We have to make some distinctions.

To "crash" the restricted section means literally when the crowd pushes against the barriers until they crash (or put so many pressure on the stewards that either they let the crowd in or they get squashed). This was very common up to the 80s.

I think the Heysel tragedy in 1985 was a big turning point. From then onward, security in large venues became more and more a serious issue.

In the recent past, at a stones show the only "crash" in can remember of occurred in Rome Bigger Bang (and I was not there).

But if we extend the notion of "crashing a restricted area" to include also "sneaking in without a ticket", OK, OK, I plead guilty, I've done it a "few" times ...

C

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Rockman
Pretty hard ta get in there without a wrist-band …
Not sayin' it hasn't been done but security is usually pretty tight ….

Once in ZUrich (2006?) I was able to get in the FOS section making a wristband out of a coca cola cup ...

C

So What do you usually make them from ?

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Spud
So What do you usually make them from ?

Wristbands of other concerts!

C

Brilliant .

What we really need is one of those universal IDs that Doctor Who uses.

[...Now there's a thought!

That lucky beggar gets to see the best shows again as many times as he/she likes...

..Where do I buy an affordable used TARDIS ? ]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-09-19 12:05 by Spud.

My reason for asking is that in the number of times I have been in the pit over the last seven years, this only cropped up at the recent gigs I was at in Seattle and Santa Clara. It was totally different in Paris in '17 and Macao in '14. I bring those up because they were also SRO.

The best crash story I have is back in the wonderful old Earls Court days of the mid-70s. It seems unthinkable now but back then, a security company called Sturico hired students on the day to police the crowds inside the venue. On the day if numbers were short they would select people from the crowd and offer them a free 'in' but you'd have to do security in the arena. For that they gave you a Sturico t-shirt to wear.

I volunteered on two occasions and did a bit of work but as soon as the lights went down, I moved through the crowd to the front of the stage, took off my t-shirt and watched from more or less the front.

For two other night at the May 76 Earls Court run I had tickets and on the last and best night, me and a mate, broke open a side door, ran to the roof of the building and then heard the Stones rehearse for their final show. When the doors opened at 7pm, we slid in through one of the inner entrances when security weren't looking. Happy memories.

nothing worse than paying top dollar for your ticket with pain and then having @#$%& jamming in next to you and trying to push you fromyour spot.

@#$%& nonsense

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Rockman
Pretty hard ta get in there without a wrist-band …
Not sayin' it hasn't been done but security is usually pretty tight ….

They actually have trained and working security ?

It was certainly easier years ago...heck, we used to bum-rush an 8 foot fence at Great Woods to get into concerts for free (the fence is now a wall and it is like 20 ft)

watch the video "Paradise City" (Guns n' Roses)...the scenes from Giants Stadium show tons of people dropping from the seated section into the GA Floor.

here's a fun story about sneaking backstage at the Stones:

[www.nola.com]

Curt you can be damn sure there have been a bunch of people here that have done that and won't dare post they have. liddas, you are candid and honest.

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tumbled
nothing worse than paying top dollar for your ticket with pain and then having @#$%& jamming in next to you and trying to push you fromyour spot.

@#$%& nonsense

There's lots worse that happens in the pit or at concerts in general.
Having to defend your ground in the pit is par for the course and should be expected really.

Whether someone "crashes" the pit, or gets in with a LD () or pays "top dollar" you have to expect that there will be pushing, jostling, etc regardless of how they got there. While the pits were generally more crowded than usual this tour (than the UK leg), so were the stadiums, and there was generally still room in the pits if they had sold more.

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stickyfingers101


here's a fun story about sneaking backstage at the Stones:

[www.nola.com]

The 94 incident with Mick and Cholie is even better!

The Pits are money makers. Why lay down 35-40 seat rows when 35-40 people can cram into a space half the size or maybe even a third the size of a row and not having seats has a doubling effect. Max capacity at max price.

At the Santa Clara show people were just climbing over the fence to get into the pit.
The security guards just stood there and watched.

One woman went up and complained about the influx of those without arm bands and the security guy just walked away from her.

Another time the guy paid the security guy and even helped him over the fence into the pit.

So, I guess that is not "crashing" to get in but it is getting in without the proper ticket/ credentials.

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georgemcdonnell314
At the Santa Clara show people were just climbing over the fence to get into the pit.
The security guards just stood there and watched.

One woman went up and complained about the influx of those without arm bands and the security guy just walked away from her.

Another time the guy paid the security guy and even helped him over the fence into the pit.

So, I guess that is not "crashing" to get in but it is getting in without the proper ticket/ credentials.

Which pit? Or was it both?

A friend of mine "crashed the b stage" in 1999. Actually, he crashed the whole damn venue.

He snuck into the arena without a ticket, then through the curtains straight to the b-stage and slapped hands with the fellas as they made their way to the b-stage.

"No Security" indeed.

It started out with us scalping to get tickets. It was getting close to show time and, me being the bigger Stones fan, I caved and scalped an upper deck single ticket just so I wouldn't miss any of the show. My friend, not being as big a fan, said not to worry and told me just go in and that he'd just keep trying, or at worst, just hang out at the bar across the street until the show was over.

I found out after the show that he in fact "crashed the b stage". Of course I was jealous, but then I thought, if I'd only been less eager to get into the show I would have passed on the upper deck single and maybe snuck in too...although it might have been harder to do if it was both of us.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-09-19 23:53 by floodonthepage.

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curt

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georgemcdonnell314
At the Santa Clara show people were just climbing over the fence to get into the pit.
The security guards just stood there and watched.

One woman went up and complained about the influx of those without arm bands and the security guy just walked away from her.

Another time the guy paid the security guy and even helped him over the fence into the pit.

So, I guess that is not "crashing" to get in but it is getting in without the proper ticket/ credentials.

Which pit? Or was it both?

I didn't notice it on Keith's side, and I was back against the rail near the catwalk with a cool security dude right behind me.
Maybe on Ronnie's side...nobody cares what happens over there.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-09-20 00:45 by Hairball.

I admit I have done this on several occasions. 2014 was a good year regarding the Stones. I went to Berlin with the sincere intention of obtaining a ticket, but arrived last-minute and already heard the intro playing from outside. I decided to go up a tree which made it possible to drop off on the other side of the fence. During the show it was fairly easy to move into the bowl. I jumped down two barriers, which security must have seen but there was no hassle. In Düsseldorf I was with my dad and my sister and we managed to score two GA tickets outside. I talked to the guy in charge of entrance security if I could go in, make use of the ATM and go back outside. He allowed that, but when I was back, someone else already had procured the ticket. So I told my dad and sis "its ok, just go in" When the lady at the counter said "this ticket was already used" I told her to check with her boss. He looked at us and said "they can go, I talked to him earlier" and so all three of us just went without further check. My dad laughed like an idiot. At Roskilde Festival, I did something similar to liddas and facilitated a wristband out of a piece of orange tape. It was easy, everything there is the same shade of orange. What can I say, this habit is way too expensive and sometimes it really gets out of hand

Good stuff Nikkei, most of us have bent the rules a bit - I know I have on numerous occasions.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

Absolute funnest time crashing the b-stage was for me at MGM Vegas..


Had true nosebleeds...
There was a pretty young lady usher at the top of the stairs leading to the floor, and I told her that I had circled the whole arena looking for the easiest usher to get by (true) and she unfortunately was the one. She laughed, and told me I would never be able to get a seat down there even if I was able to get by her. Told her that she must never have worked a Stones show before, as I wouldn't need a seat where I was headed. She adamantly insisted there would be no way I was getting by her

Band hits the stage, me my buddy slide by her as she checks another groups tix.. and head straight for the B stage. With a couple songs left in the show, I went back up from the floor and tapped her on the shoulder. She didn't quite believe that I had spent the whole show on the floor, so I told her what the last couple songs were going to be and how I knew (from reading Charlie's plexiglass) when I was right on the first one we laughed and she danced the last couple songs with me in the aisle.. good times

Also.. as for people being upset with those of us who on occasion "crash" an area whether it be the pit or standing area in front of the b-stage or aisle etc., Every single area I have ever crashed had no reserved space attached to it.. open area in front of B stage, open floor space in the aisle, open floor space in the pit et al. I would never try to take someones space that was paid for, the point being once you have your space, that's it.. You don't get to have wide open space around you.. If it's a good spot, it will always fill up regardless.

At Anaheim Stadium in '02, just before the show started I found my way up to a nice 10th row floor seat w/plenty of empty seats in same row.
Was just getting comfy and stretching out when this huge Italian dude tapped me on the shoulder and said "excuse me these seats are taken" in a growling gruff mafioso tone reminiscent of Vito Corleone.
Flashes of the Godfather shot through my head as I smiled and quickly skidaddled out of there asap. Next thing I know actor Danny Devito, his wife Rhea Perlman, some of their kids,
along with a few other big and dangerous looking dudes made their way in while the Italian bodyguard dude continued to stare me down...if looks could kill.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

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Hairball
At Anaheim Stadium in '02, just before the show started I found my way up to a nice 10th row floor seat w/plenty of empty seats in same row.
Was just getting comfy and stretching out when this huge Italian dude tapped me on the shoulder and said "excuse me these seats are taken" in a growling gruff mafioso tone reminiscent of Vito Corleone.
Flashes of the Godfather shot through my head as I smiled and quickly skidaddled out of there asap. Next thing I know actor Danny Devito, his wife Rhea Perlman, some of their kids,
along with a few other big and dangerous looking dudes made their way in while the Italian bodyguard dude continued to stare me down...if looks could kill.

Even without the hired muscle, Rhea and Devito would scare me away.. tough characters

True Mister DDDD - Louie and Carla ....tough, tough, tough cookies!
They could have both kicked me in the shins and punched me in the nuts, or he could have stood on her shoulders and poked me in the eyes. lol

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

I cheated my way into the pit at the Miami show 3 weeks ago.
I had Lucky Dips but I didn't get very lucky and ended up with pretty bad seats.

A friend of mine paid full price for his pit ticket. I asked if I could make a copy of his pit printout and show it at the wristband distribution table, and see if I could get inside too. I figured it wouldn't work and I'd just end up sitting in my Lucky Dip nosebleeds. But let's see anyway.

I bring the duplicate pit printout to the table. The lady scans it and her scanner goes red. Which meant it had already been scanned. But I played dumb. And she just figured it was a scanner malfunction... and they gave me the pit wristbands anyway. So it worked.

Did I cheat the system? Yeah. Am I proud of it? No, not really. But I had the best time. I would never have been able to afford pit the full price way. And there was plenty of space. So my being there didn't make it overcrowded by any means. So whatever...