Quote:
Originally Posted by OccultHawk
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/12/m...host-ship.html
This is a long read but imo really interesting.
In my twenties I spent a fair amount of time in punk spaces and we never thought twice about fire safety. Band practice spaces turned into makeshift live venues.
When you go into an underground setting or “club” isn’t it understood that there’s an element of danger? That you’re shedding some of the sheltering and safety of suburbia for something more wild and free? I feel like everyone who went to that show was looking for something wild and authentic. Danger is part of the attraction. I don’t think anyone should be punished for their deaths because they knew the place was an underground art collective space in Oakland and if you mess with bull sometimes you get the horns. If they wanted an experience that was up to code they should’ve gone to Olive Garden.
Secondly, and this a totally non sequitur observation, but does the art jock alpha personalities of the people who live in these collectives bother anyone? They don’t seem equalitarian and alternative; they seem like competitive fashion bitches simply doing the society thing on a different scale. Maybe that’s an unavoidable byproduct of how high the rent has risen in the big cities.
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I kinda agree but I also think that it's insanely unethical to not keep your exits cleared and conspicuous as opposed to being a sign of how "wild and authentic" a venue is. This wasn't as intentional as something like Station, but I'd say that the owners have a hand in this. Leave the authenticity to the artists, nobody's going to an underground show for the slight risk of dying in a fire, they're going to be a part of something exclusive and fresh.
Legal venues aren't exactly great with this either. The Echoplex has a few fakeout exits that get me every time and I bet that could create a ****ed situation, especially if the main exit was blocked.