Arguably every music scene has its troublesome elements, but some music scenes prove to be troublesome elements unto themselves, particularly for venue owners like the proprietor of Milwaukee’s DIY venue Borg Ward, who recently banned an entire genre of music from being performed.
As Metal Injection reports, Connor Patrick Norton, who owns the Borg Ward, has placed a ban on all future metalcore shows after experiencing trouble with fans of the genre. Apparently, metalcore punters just can’t keep themselves from destroying the surrounding venue.
“No more metalcore shows at the Borg Ward,” Norton wrote on Facebook. “I warned you assholes about kicking holes in my walls. Good luck finding another all ages venue that will put up with your destructive, childish fan base.”
“Between the amount of money we have to put into fixing the venue and the fact that we get tossed peanuts for these shows, it is no longer financially feasible.” Norton then elaborated on the behaviour displayed by fans of the popular metal sub-genre.
“We’re tired of losing our asses and wasting our time constantly fixing what every other scene who books here manages to not fuck up,” he wrote. “We’re sick of people not following simple directions, like not blocking exit doors with equipment and not loitering in the front.”
“We are not going to further stress ourselves out for your scene while you continuously demolish our building.” Indeed, Norton had previously posted several images of damaged walls marked with shoe prints alongside furious diatribes addressed to metalcore fans.
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“I have been very tolerant of your scene, though I don’t fully understand it, but I am getting mighty sick of this shit,” he wrote in one rant. “This is brand new drywall, and there is already a shoe print on it from metalcore/hardcore karate kids launching off of it.”
“You are going to take initiative and tell your peers to quit doing stupid shit to disrespect the venue, because if I catch someone doing this again, I am going to beat the fuck out of them in front of all of their friends and 86 them.”
“Then, the promoters are going to find another cheap all ages venue to book at. Grow the fuck up. If you think I’m being unreasonable, put in the amount of hours we have to slowly turn this place into something from the squalid shithole it was, then talk.”
While we certainly don’t condone violence, we also don’t condone damaging private property, particularly live music venues, who have it hard enough as it is. It’s not clear which band’s performance proved the final nail in the coffin, but this is why we can’t have nice things.
