Ben WesthoffYou're just trying to go to a concert. (That is, when you're trying not to sneak drugs inside.)
And club security personnel are just trying to doing their jobs. (That is, when they're not trying to make a little something extra.)
But nonetheless, the men and women blocking your way sometimes seem a little overzealous when it comes to confiscating your stuff.
Yeah, we can understand that they're going to snag your baggie of Vincent Vega-grade heroin. (So long as they can find it, heh heh.) But do they really need your essential, non-drug items? We talked to three West Coast Sound writers who have had beguiling encounters with bouncers; please share your own stories in the comments section.
From the Avicii show last year; Credit: Brittany Nelson
*Security at the Avicii show last summer at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium was intense. They were making people throw everything away — gum, chapstick, mints, unopened water bottles, etc.
I had Altoids, and the security woman was hell bent on confiscating them, which I thought was stupid and wasteful since I had just bought them. We argued for awhile, and she eventually let me keep them, but I had to eat a few first to prove they weren't acid or whatever.
See also: RIP Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
*My friend had to throw away a pack of cigarettes at EDC because it was opened. She had only smoked one or two.
*I once had to throw away a case of beer at Bonnaroo, because it was in glass bottles and no glass was allowed in. (I understand this rule because people would be cutting the shit out of their feet if there was glass allowed inside). There was a substantial pile of confiscated beer and liquor by the entrance gates.
*On my way into Hard two years back they made me throw away a tube of chapstick, which was a huge bummer, because I loved that chapstick. Hard security is probably the, uh, hardest, I've seen. They've got drug dogs right at the gates.
I had two packs of Orbit gum — one sealed and one open — at Hollywood Palladium last year, when I was seeing Rodrigo Y Gabriella. When I asked the security lady why she had to dispose of my gum, she said it was policy to take away gum form everyone to keep it from getting on the floor and in the carpets. Are we pre-schoolers? Perhaps. Nonetheless, I've been to the Palladium since then and have not had my gum taken away.
My roommate, however, had her chapstick taken away there, at a Porter Robinson show, ostensibly because she could hide drugs inside of it. Psshaw.
For Ink N Iron this year, at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, there were multiple lanes of metal detectors, and security staff behaving akin to TSA at an airport. Before walking through the metal detectors, I had to take off my small purse, and a female security guard took out a black, fine-point pen and told me I couldn't take it in with me.
After I protested — I'm a reporter! — she explained that there had been some tagging aboard the Queen Mary at recent festivals, and thus no pens were allowed. She proceeded to joke about keeping the pen for herself because it was so nice.
My friend Marie said she's had glow sticks confiscated at a rave in Chicago and her friend Matt had a Taco Bell grande meal (10 tacos) confiscated at a venue in Michigan after he stuffed them in his pants and tried to sneak them in. No dice, and no tacos.
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