Concert Venues-The Good, The Bad and The Really Bad

How it Began

Even if you have not read some of my other tales, the backstory is that I used to sell bootleg concert t-shirts. Thinking back to the 150+ shows that I did, I can easily say that there was never a dull moment. I mean, never. Completely and utterly unpredictable experiences one hundred percent of the time. Whether it was the constant threat of being arrested by uniformed cops, or getting chased by undercover cops, or cops on horses, or cops with guns, or cops in golf carts-the threat was always there in various degrees.

The flip-side of being always on the lookout for the heat or “Mel” as we used to call them was being approached to “do a balloon of nitrous oxide” for only $5, or the constant offers of “kind veggie burritos,” beers, shots, weed or getting laid in exchange for a shirt; every show brought with it, it’s own inherent dangers and risks but it always had ridiculous possibilities, if you wanted them. Each show, each tour and each city had its own vibe. I’m here to re-tell some of those instances.

For example, we loved working in Detroit, always a great shirt sale. The people attending were usually looking for us, and the Detroit cops were cool about the arrangement. They generally were moonlighting to earn extra cash and that meant being directly hired by the facility to work the T-shirt detail. It was easy money for them and they liked it. If they were hard asses and arrested people, then no shirt sellers would ever go there and that would mean no…