Plenty of people tear up during the holidays; haven’t you people listened to Burl Ives tell the story of Rudolph?
Unfortunately for the crowd at Sons of Bill’s December 23 gig at Fry’s Spring Beach Club, the tears were a little less "holly jolly." A few songs into Sons of Bill’s headlining set, security personnel from Fry’s Spring used pepper spray to subdue a crowd member. And, since trying to hit a single target with pepper spray is like trying to eat a single Pringle—"Once you pop, the fun don’t stop"—audience members and the band had to clear the room to let the pepper settle before taking the stage again. More after the picture.
Sons of Bill: I’m a pepper, you’re a pepper, he’s a pepper, she’s a pepper…
The rest of the concert seems to’ve gone off without a hitch. "Besides," one fan commented on Sons of Bill’s MySpace page, "it’s just not Christmas without tasers and pepper spray ;)."
But the incident does prompt questions about what security measures are appropriate for venues around town. How soon does one pull out the Mace? Any SOB fans catch the incident?
Additionally, Fry’s Spring stood a decent chance of being a stellar-if-occasional venue for local music until spots like the Jefferson Theater open. Would any musicians out there think twice about playing the space after the pepper spray incident? Would any audience members hesitate before seeing a gig there again?