hmmm, maybe i shouldn't try to post anything sensible right now cause i'm still a bit bleary from the most FAB weekend i've had in a long time -
but - my opinion is:
in a way, i think the most important thing is the organization of a show beforehand. if they do everything all randomly and ass-backwards, without understanding the stones, the fans, etc. then it leaves a ALOT of room for unexpected things to happen. i wasn't even there for the big surge to FOS and didn't even know it happened until after the show, since i walked in amazingly to the first chords of START ME UP and by then, what was done was done as i tried in vain to find my seat. but i understood pretty quick that i was definitely not going to find any seat, much less mine, and i didn't really care either - to me it just looked like a chaos of estatic happy people jumping up and down and screamin their guts out and partying their asses off. i realized i wouldn't be exactly in the front as i thought, wouldn't be able to take any photos at all, but somehow it didn't matter so much. (probably helped that at other concerts in the past i was able to do exactly that, so perhaps i didn't feel so "desperate" about it).
so, having said that about the situation, what exactly do you think these low paid local security guys standing there smoking cigs at the stage should have done? start shootin ??! ;-) to me it sounded like a situation of a 1000+ people against maybe 25 guards - so in a way i think that the guards even did the smart thing by staying cool. plus, i doubt that they're total idiots, they've probably done security at 100s of football games, and i think by now they understand the "vibe" of a crowd, if it's ugly or violent or not. this crowd vibe just seemed like pure happiness, at least to me. i'm not saying that it wasn't probably a bit dangerous too - i mean, i'm sure i wouldn't have brought small children to any big rock show to cry and howl and be scared sh-itless - but who knows, maybe the people couldn't find a babysitter
anyway, i DO think that was pretty stupid. hey, i could have even fallen backwards off my chair, but mostly because of these stupid girls behind me who were trying to pull me down by my dress - seems like they were the only security in the place, ha ha) well not to mention standing up on a folding chair totally inebriated is not normally a good idea, but hey, there ya go. i was mostly being extremely friendly and considerate with others, but in a few instances of keith-ecstasy, just had to get up on that chair for a while, sorry about that ... but we all know that with sssoul told me do it, ha ha !!!!!!!!!!
anyway back to the point of the organization - along with all the other bizarre things they did, prices were very high, at least for rome. so i can see a lot of people buying the "cheap seats" and then getting there and starting to look around and think - hey ! che palle, we just spent euro 60-80 to be here way way far away, and it looks like there are even empty seats near the front - why not go "check it out". And then one thing led to another. Actually a friend of mine was part of the surge from the back sections. i saw him after the show and i asked him where he was, etc, and he said - wow i was right at the stage in the SECOND ROW !!! Benji you BRUTTO BASTARDO !:-))) well, he's one of the few friends i have here who love the stones, so i was pretty happy for him - just mad that i didn't end up going to the show with him
what i'm trying to say anyway is that the organization was bizarre and backwards, so lots of weird stuff happened....