Colombia despite its reputation as the world's largest producer of Heavy Metal (or at least Motley Crue) staples, coffee and cocaine is also home to some very zealous Metallica fans.
In Bogota, Colombia's capital city, fans of the long running metal band numbering in the hundreds that couldn't get tickets to Thursdays nights show rallied to "crash the gig". Some even went so far as to intentionally rally others to their cause via FaceBook.
Once riots broke out in the streets, Bogota police deployed 1500 officers and four tanks armed with water cannons to suppress what police are simply referring to as "misfits". Public vandalism took place including walls being stripped of stones so that rioters could throw them at police.
No deaths have been reported in the incident but according to sources, four officers and four "misfits" were injured, including a serious knife wound. In addition 160 arrests were made by the time the incident was over. The concert itself housing more than 30,000 was not disrupted whatsoever for the duration.
This is not the first riot Metallica has unintentionally incited. A band of this magnitude cannot help but create such devoted fans. Past incidents of note include 1989 in Sydney, 1992 in Montreal and most recently at another South American stop in Santiago, Chile just this past January.
Fans, and this includes me also, are often an understanding bunch. However, when the band you cannot live without only plays in your hometown every decade or so, and the older they get the more unsure you are they will ever return, sometimes fans do crazy things. The term "fan" says it all. It's short for FANATIC, and one should never be surprised when the fanatacism reaches this level. Most likely the mainstream media will blame this on the genre of music the band plays and the message it supposedly conveys in their eyes.
Fans of all shapes and forms and interests behave like this in one way or another when they are denied access to that which makes them a fan. The fans of heavy metal music are just as ardent and dedicated as any sports teams, pop idols, or movie stars.
While I do not believe these incidents will ever truly come to an end. I do believe (and I am not alone) that band's should make the rounds on tour far sooner than every ten years or every time a new album of theirs is released and when they do make a stop, perhaps do a double bill, back to back nights so that some of the overflow can have twice the opportunity to attend. Now, I know from agents, marketers, tour managers and bands that this tactic may not be the most cost effective, but to those people I pose the question...
Which would you prefer? A bit extra for your twenty pieces of silver or devoted albeit frustrated fans not being able to attend and getting hurt, arrested or worse because they are left out, excluded from the thing they love.
While you marinate on that, give the news footage courtesy of YouTube a look and keep those horns held high!
In Bogota, Colombia's capital city, fans of the long running metal band numbering in the hundreds that couldn't get tickets to Thursdays nights show rallied to "crash the gig". Some even went so far as to intentionally rally others to their cause via FaceBook.
Once riots broke out in the streets, Bogota police deployed 1500 officers and four tanks armed with water cannons to suppress what police are simply referring to as "misfits". Public vandalism took place including walls being stripped of stones so that rioters could throw them at police.
No deaths have been reported in the incident but according to sources, four officers and four "misfits" were injured, including a serious knife wound. In addition 160 arrests were made by the time the incident was over. The concert itself housing more than 30,000 was not disrupted whatsoever for the duration.
This is not the first riot Metallica has unintentionally incited. A band of this magnitude cannot help but create such devoted fans. Past incidents of note include 1989 in Sydney, 1992 in Montreal and most recently at another South American stop in Santiago, Chile just this past January.
Fans, and this includes me also, are often an understanding bunch. However, when the band you cannot live without only plays in your hometown every decade or so, and the older they get the more unsure you are they will ever return, sometimes fans do crazy things. The term "fan" says it all. It's short for FANATIC, and one should never be surprised when the fanatacism reaches this level. Most likely the mainstream media will blame this on the genre of music the band plays and the message it supposedly conveys in their eyes.
Fans of all shapes and forms and interests behave like this in one way or another when they are denied access to that which makes them a fan. The fans of heavy metal music are just as ardent and dedicated as any sports teams, pop idols, or movie stars.
While I do not believe these incidents will ever truly come to an end. I do believe (and I am not alone) that band's should make the rounds on tour far sooner than every ten years or every time a new album of theirs is released and when they do make a stop, perhaps do a double bill, back to back nights so that some of the overflow can have twice the opportunity to attend. Now, I know from agents, marketers, tour managers and bands that this tactic may not be the most cost effective, but to those people I pose the question...
Which would you prefer? A bit extra for your twenty pieces of silver or devoted albeit frustrated fans not being able to attend and getting hurt, arrested or worse because they are left out, excluded from the thing they love.
While you marinate on that, give the news footage courtesy of YouTube a look and keep those horns held high!
Welcome back to yet another installment of Funny HAHA? or HELLYEAH! Here on the Forge of Heavy Metal. So, without further adieu, strap yourselves in for some Metal inspired videos that should inflict a healthy dose of that oh so painful happiness you know you're into.
