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badkaraoke
05.15.09, 05:11 AM
Chickenfoot’s Rowdy Tour Launch Draws Visit From Fire Department
5/15/09, 7:56 am EST

The launch of new rock supergroup Chickenfoot’s short spring tour at Seattle’s El Corazon last night (May 14th) pleased the rowdy crowd despite a number of logistical issues. Nine songs into the band’s main set, a visit from the local fire department to the crowded club prompted a halt on movement from the venue’s bar to its stage room.

Chickenfoot were nine songs and 40 minutes into their set and presumably ready to continue when the group’s singer, Sammy Hagar, told the audience, “The fire department’s going to shut us down in 10 minutes … This is the end of the regular set.” He also promised a 45-minute encore to make up for the delay.

For 20 minutes, the music was halted while the crowd began to trickle out (some with help from the club’s security staff); eventually, Hagar and bandmates Michael Anthony (like Hagar, a former Van Halen member), cult shredder Joe Satriani on guitar, and drummer Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) made good on Hagar’s promise, playing through six more tunes, including set-ending jams on “Bad Motor Scooter” (which Hagar first performed with his former group, Montrose) and Deep Purple’s “Highway Star.”

The rest of the set was made up of tunes from the band’s debut album, due in June and also titled Chickenfoot. The tracks are as driving as you’d expect given the group’s lineup, and the fans ate up songs such as the bluesy “Sexy Little Thing” (”She can drive and not get wasted/Stoner’s dream on a Friday night”), the rocking “Oh Yeah” (”When I was a young man I slept around/When I turned 30, I settled down”), and the grungy “Bipolar.”

All four musicians seemed to be having a blast, perhaps because El Corazon — capacity 807 — is smaller than the rooms they’re used to playing. (They brought a good deal of their own arena-ready gear for the show, which sounded huge.) Both sets seemed well rehearsed, something Hagar hopes not to repeat too much, as he put it during the encore: “It feels like we’ve been together a long time,” he said. “We don’t like to rehearse &8212; well, Joe does … But there’ll come a time when Chickenfoot doesn’t have to rehearse. We’ll just come on and play.”

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/05/15/chickenfoots-rowdy-tour-launch-draws-visit-from-fire-department/

hagarfn
05.15.09, 05:22 AM
Yea, that's the drama I was referring to.

I wonder if they had to thin the herd before the show went on?!

Re- read it. People were lead out. Ouch.

ChrisTheEdHead
05.15.09, 06:03 AM
WTF?? They oversold the show and had to kick people out? Nice promoter. I hope those unlucky ones who got the boot at least got a free t-shirt or something.

chain
05.15.09, 06:50 AM
Good publicity for the boys. Anyone attend the show? Give us the skinny....

scottfletcher
05.15.09, 09:32 AM
Yeah I did ! Bad ass show ! I am doing a review in the other thread. Let me tell you that club was NOT prepared for that show. A lot of the staff when asked questions did not know there ass from a hole in the ground. That is the first time I have been there. I was chatting with someone before the show and told me that they get a lot of newer and lower grad acts in there. A bunch of metal no name bands etc..... anyway it is a hole in the ground place ! In a way that is what made it memorable. It was like walking down the street in your local city neighborhood bar to check out a "no name band " ! But it was 4 bad ass well oiled musicians who IMHO crushed any naysayers out there that is for sure !! But I will say, I could not even get to the bathroom, people were being turned away. This was even before the Chickenfoot set started .Looked like there was a few scuffles too. People were getting pissed off in the back corners and back aisle because everybody wanted through back in forth and that is when the fire department had enough. In all seriousness, it is grounds for suing for a refund or something of that nature because let me tell you that part was the clubs and promoters fault. A couple of security guys just kept bugging people over and over about keeping a path, cutting in front of me and others about 100 times during the show. I was ready to go off on these guys a couple of times. People payed good money to go to this show and it is not the band or the consumers problems to work that shit out. I am considering calling both the promoter and the club and working them over big time. The band should of played elswhere, but since this was a last minute mini tour they might not have been able to get anything else, who knows !

OnTheInside1985
05.15.09, 10:57 AM
so the would it be true to say that the set list in it's entirety consisted of the whole album plus 2 covers?

knuck
05.15.09, 08:55 PM
Yeah I did ! Bad ass show ! I am doing a review in the other thread. Let me tell you that club was NOT prepared for that show. A lot of the staff when asked questions did not know there ass from a hole in the ground. That is the first time I have been there. I was chatting with someone before the show and told me that they get a lot of newer and lower grad acts in there. A bunch of metal no name bands etc..... anyway it is a hole in the ground place ! In a way that is what made it memorable. It was like walking down the street in your local city neighborhood bar to check out a "no name band " ! But it was 4 bad ass well oiled musicians who IMHO crushed any naysayers out there that is for sure !! But I will say, I could not even get to the bathroom, people were being turned away. This was even before the Chickenfoot set started .Looked like there was a few scuffles too. People were getting pissed off in the back corners and back aisle because everybody wanted through back in forth and that is when the fire department had enough. In all seriousness, it is grounds for suing for a refund or something of that nature because let me tell you that part was the clubs and promoters fault. A couple of security guys just kept bugging people over and over about keeping a path, cutting in front of me and others about 100 times during the show. I was ready to go off on these guys a couple of times. People payed good money to go to this show and it is not the band or the consumers problems to work that shit out. I am considering calling both the promoter and the club and working them over big time. The band should of played elswhere, but since this was a last minute mini tour they might not have been able to get anything else, who knows !

It's actually an A-list club in town (though a bit of a dive, it's a clean dive) and they get plenty of big acts there. They just have a habit of over-booking the place. Hank III was just as bad there, and in the past some other shows were pretty brutal too.

The band wanted a venue this size and that is why this venue was chosen. I know that from speaking to the owner. The Talent Buyer for the club is the owner. The number of tickets allotted are decided between the tour/booking mgr on the band's side and the talent buyer at the venue. Many shows are oversold at many venues, just not to this extreme. (FYI: Hotels and airlines always over-sell their capacity as well). I'll agree it was way too much. I'll also say that the pussy in the other thread that bragged it was he that called the fire dept. should go clean his vagina and stop fucking up shows for other people. I was able to get from one side of the bar to the other by simply pushing through and saying excuse me and sorry. I didn't wait around to hear whether someone liked it or not. :)

No I don't work at the venue. Yes I've played the venue and know the folks there.