Wow. Good riddance!!
Soooo… If you’re groped in the pit it’s offensive, if they say to protect you in the pit it’s offensive…
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They take any opportunity to roast people even if it’s not appropriate and talk shit about the jam band fans that are part of the Gizz crowd now.
Even now that The Lizard Wizard (not mentioned often enough) became a jam band itself? So they talk shit about themselves? Tells you everything about their intelligence you need to know.
I don’t want to dig into any distressing details, but I’ve seen mentions from Groovesafe and and others online that there were some SA incidents at Forest Hills, which was not good to hear. Maybe shows (not just Gizzard shows) need to have more announcements and screen displays about this?
I agree that men need to push back on other men who do this crap, but abusers tend to be sneaky and take advantage of situations where there’s nobody around to call them out. It’s a really insidious problem, but I hope we can make progress. I hate the idea of abused people dropping out of going to shows (and living with the after-effects) while the jerks don’t feel any consequences.
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It’s a big problem for sure. I’ve seen multiple stories over the past two weeks about both Field of Vision and New York. It’s not a bad apple situation and seems to be something larger. I’ve seen more stories in the past two weeks than I have seen in entire years. I don’t think there’s one root cause of it like “the band is bigger” or “its rave guys” but it’s clear there has to be some sort of answer to it. Bare minimum is the return of the band’s announcement about boundaries. On a larger scale there needs to be way more vigilance about it. People (especially men) need to be more aware of what’s going on and need to start speaking up when they see or hear of it.
The disheartening part is the reaction to these stories being told. A non-insignificant amount of fans have tried to discredit them because they’re “negative” and are going all in on “the community sucks, we used to be positive back in 2019.” Beyond the fact that I was there in 2019 and it wasn’t some utopia the concept that we need to be ignorant of accounts of assault because they’re not “positive” is a such a selfish, toxic positivity. I cannot empathize with those who read these harrowing accounts and use that as a way to get angry at a subreddit or “annoying fans” or whatever. Just an absolutely disgusting concept. Seems like that problem might only worsen considering one accusation about the K Bridge show was proven to be wrong, which just gave the greenlight for some to say more, if not everything, is fake (which is such a statistically small possibility given how many accounts there are that its not even worth entertaining). Some have gone as far as to call coming forward “virtue signalling” which is just bullshit. Full stop.
The really frustrating part is the underlying assumption that we can’t do anything about it. We absolutely can. There are so many different roads to go down here from both a band and community perspective. I read these comments and all I can think is that there’s an argument to be complacent. I don’t think any community can afford that, especially when its a community the band has repeatedly said is for all. Is this an easy conversation to have? No. Is it an easy thing to tackle? No. Does that mean we should just allow it and get made at those who call it out? Fuck no what are we thinking!
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If you see something, say something.
Is there anything else a bystander can do if you see behavior like this?
I generally stay more on the fray at shows (stands at FH, balcony when available), but when I have been close to the front (K Bridge, Euro Rave shows) it was so crazy with people moshing and crowd surfing that if anything untoward was happening I was totally oblivious. It’s really depressing to hear this is happening because the vast majority of us are there for the music and to escape so nobody wants to be on guard… but maybe we need to be.
I see lots of other bands of all genres, but I’m not as dialed into those communities as I am this one, I wonder if this is a problem that’s recently popping up just for Gizz or if it’s a wider problem? I wonder if the whole “manosphere” and all the fucking bullshit from the big orange is making people feel like this type of shit behavior is ok? I guess I’d like to imagine out fanbase is a bit more welcoming and enlightened but clearly it’s not universal…
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Thinking that any scene is immune from social ills just because of some utopian innocence by association fallacy is myopic. Especially with the growth and influx of people looking strictly for a party where they can do drugs while music plays in the back ground, or be main characters for social media.
Expecting that a large group of people automatically has a common cause and a shared set of values is not a solution. As many have stated, it takes vigilance and action to make sure that it is clearly communicated what is and is not tolerated
But when you have a lot of people more concerned with getting fucked up at a concert and coming in from scenes that do not self police, it is going to get increasingly difficult. People are going to have to get outside of their comfort zone, put aside their high, and actually confront people in real life when shit goes down.
Whenever this is happening, there are friends and associates of the perpetrators who are uncomfortable with the situation but stay quiet for the good of the party. It is bullshit cowardice. Call these people out and cut them off.
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