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| - EDIT: I sure hope I don't get sued, like that girl who told her story about Beauty Bar a few months ago...
The bunkhouse is back, and in new shiny colors! Check out their snack bar and their tree with headphones hanging from it! Looks like pinterest exploded if you ask me... The bar staff is quick, and accommodating, but it's what's underneath that irks me.
Since it's reopening this summer, the management is changing hands, since this week it's been taken over by the people who are running Park at Fremont, and the all-time fan favorite, Commonwealth. So just who does this bastard child belong to? Tony Hseih's DTP? Or the new corporate hipster-vampires? All I know is it appears to be suffering from an identity crisis at this time.
Don't get me wrong I've spent a few enjoyable nights here, including the Washed Out concert a few months ago, and a few DJ sets during Life Is Beautiful festival, but what I saw tonight takes the cake.
I've been wanting to see Blonde Redhead for years, and finally get a chance to at what I'm already trusting is one of my new favorite venues, but after only spending an hour waiting outside with a drink and smoke in hand I'm seeing people getting yelled at by the bouncers as they're standing in line outside the bar room? Then one of the young bouncers, who dons a flat-billed ball cap yanks a guy from inside the doors and drags him down the little stairs, throwing him out the exit? Jeez, must be a capacity problem I'm guessing?
Nope, I get in line, flash my wristband after being barked at for it, and get right in. There's so much standing room for the opening act, it's almost absurd that what I just witnessed was real.
Not long after Blonde Redhead comes on, we may be two song in by this time, the same bouncer appears amidst this dense, passionate crowd, barking something at a guy in front of my, who I notice is toting a pretty nice dSLR-type camera, recording some clips. I gather the bouncer asks the guy to put away the cam, cause it's pretty common for venues to not allow that level of photographic equipment inside (though I don't know why they didn't check this guy's gear at the check-in/wristband stand at the entrance?). Well the guy appears to relent, siding his camera and continuing with the vibes of the show, but maybe said a thing or two to defend his dignity (I would do the same thing if I'm being single out and barked at in front of a band in the middle of a song), but this wasn't enough for that security person.
Next, all I saw was him being drug sideways and backwards by his collar and camera strap by this bouncer--as punk and disrespectful as I've ever seen, and I've been around enough to see people getting arrested in the big clubs for slinging.
So what's the deal with the hostility? I'm waiting on Bunkhouse to answer a few tweets. I feel like there should be someone turning people away from the get-go with cameras and allowing them to re-enter as long as they know professional recording isn't allowed. As a photographer, I don't appreciate seeing something like this being so man-handled, because I know how expensive his camera probably was and I'm hoping he isn't going to have to replace it from this event.
So the concert goes on, and let me tell you, Blonde Redhead puts on one HELL of a show, and leaves the stage. Of course we're cheering, clapping, and chanting at the tops of our lungs for their return, and sure enough, after what I feel like is the longest mid-set pause I've ever experienced, they return to blow our minds yet again with two more songs... but then something else is awry. I can see the change in their faces. Their demeanors trouble me... they can't hear themselves anymore. The monitors are off and they don't know why.
All the other equipment is working, and Blonde Redhead, who we've cheered in agony to return and bless us for just a little longer on stage, are all puzzled as can be... Someone said something was spilled on the monitors? Another said they weren't working? Then people started getting angry. Bunkhouse cut them off because it was 12:30 and they wanted to close...
So what am I left to think after such a night? Should I ever return? I've got tickets for RJD2 next weekend, but am I going to get jumped by that flat-billed shyster if I tell him I think he's rude? Why would the new management be overlooking such an un-accomadating and hostile environment?
I'm waiting for a few tweets to Bunkhouse to be answered, but actions speak louder than words, and I doubt I'll be such a loyal fan if antics such as these continues to be the norm...
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