A Terror show at the Ridglea Theater in Forth Worth, TX made the rounds over the weekend after security stopped anyone from getting on stage to stage dive or even taking the microphone to sing alone. Even worse, the security guard then took the microphone from Terror vocalist Scott Vogel to address the crowd mid-song. Shortly after the incident, a show featuring No Cure and Mychildren Mybride was moved from the venue due to what No Cure cited as "their shitty transphobic staff and the security you saw in the Terror video."
Then things got weirder. The venue then DM'ed Lambgoat after an Instagram post, saying they have zero tolerance for anything that happens at a hardcore show including "stage diving, kicking, punching, and windmilling," and that "the people in the crowd were attempting to jump the barricades to get on the stage, only one ejection for kicking a minor in the front row. Our security did a great job and exhibited a lot of restraint after being hit, punched by a very rowdy crowd."
This seems like a very odd policy to have if you're booking a Terror and The Black Dahlia Murder show – maybe look 'em up on Spotify beforehand to get a sense of how the show might go?
Ridglea Theater President Gerald "Jerry" Shults then commented on the thread, confirming that the venue is considering banning all hardcore. "Yes we are banning terror, and maybe all hardcore. Don't know of a venue in dfw that will allow stage diving, punching, kicking and crowd killing, all the while bitching about everything." I mean, come on dude – really? Not a single venue in the entire nearly 1,750 square miles of the Dallas–Fort Worth area will allow hardcore shows?
Shults also kept it very professional by adding "Terror worst excuse for a band I have seen in 20 years, lead singer sucks"
As for why Terror got booked, Shults said Basically I didn't know a hardcore band was on the bill when third string booked the theater, thought it was all death metal. Btw we just rent space and depend on the people booking to tell the bands and tour manager our policies. I told them right before the show and the tour manager dropped the ball" Which again – weird because death metal absolutely has moshing and stage diving." He later reasoned "Basically mixing metal and hardcore on the same lineup just invites disaster. Metal wants to mosh, core wants to kick, punch, stage dive and crowd kill. They don't mix."
The blowback has been pretty much what you'd expect. Frozen Soul has since called out the venue, while Terminal Nation stated that shit like this doesn't happen around them. The Black Dahlia Murder also got in on the fun by goofing on a typo in their name made by Shults.
And yes, Terror got a zinger in there too.
