All Time Low: Anti-Mace and Banned in Texas

All Time Low fans are CRAZY.

That’s just a statement of fact. And it’s generally in a good way, they get rowdy and excited to see their favorite band. That’s hardly a crime.

Unless, of course, you’re in Texas, apparently.

During the show at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, ATL fans got a little rowdy, no shock there. And when a band member took off a shirt and threw it into the crowd, a couple of girls apparently began to argue over it.

So they got maced.

Seriously? You sprayed a bunch of teenage girls with mace? You’re telling me the only way to break up a fight between these girls was to spray them in the face with pepper spray? Yeah, call me crazy, but I’m thinking that may have been just a TINY BIT EXCESSIVE.

All Time Low frontman Alex Gaskarth found out about the macings that occurred after the band had left the stage. He came back on stage after Boys Like Girls’ set (where they asked fans to rush the stage during the last song) and he and Martin Johnson of BLG openly criticized security for their actions.

Alex also talked about it on his Twitter (in seperate tweets, condensed here in paragraph form):

I don’t care how rowdy a crowd of kids are, there is absolutely no excuse for the police at SIX FLAGS to spray mace in our fans faces. That kind of protocol is insane for an all ages show at a theme park. A girl who looked to be about 15 walked up to me and said she was removed from the crowd after being maced. Are you fucking kidding me? That being said, you were an absolutely incredible crowd, and that may have been one of the best shows we’ve ever had the chance to play.

After this, Martin Twittered (and Alex Retweeted) the following:

bands locked on their busses for defending helpless fans getting MACED for having a great time at a rock show.

In the words of Hellboy: “Awww…Crap.”

Then, news broke the following day that All Time Low wouldn’t be playing the date in San Antonio. According to the venue, ATL had “dropped off” the date.

Problem is? Yeah, that’s NOT what happened. Once again, Alex twitters, and I condense:

All Time Low won’t be performing tonight. We showed up– Banned because I stood up for our fans who were victimized by security last night. And now they’re telling the public that -WE- dropped off the show? Unbelievable. We were told that we “aren’t allowed to perform.” So to all the folks coming to see us tonight, I’m deeply, deeply sorry; This was not our call. Its disgusting to see that a family oriented theme park covers up their flubs by shifting the blame and hiding behind shoddy excuses.

…And as a result, you guys are suffering for it.

Big thanks to the park for not only condoning the macing of kids at an all ages show, but also for fabricating stories in order to ban us. I sincerely hope that kharma catches up to these degenerate liars.

Apparently, though, this wasn’t the last word. During the San Antonio show fans chanted “All Time Low!” And Boys Like Girls covered All Time Low’s hit “Weightless” in support of the band. But…no one in the other bands was allowed to mention the “incident.” All Time Low wasn’t allowed to set up merch, and their name was covered up on tour posters around the park.

And now? It looks like All Time Low will not be allowed to play any further Bamboozle Roadshow dates taking place at a Six Flags Theme Park.

Now, look. It’s no secret that I’m hardly a huge All Time Low fan, and I’ve had some really bad experiences at their concerts. But at the same time, I am VERY not okay with a band being censored because they spoke out about something. And especially something like this. Excessive use of force against anyone pisses me off. And security guards doing shit like this doesn’t help other security guards. What have these kids learned? If you have fun, security will punish you. How does that help security at other venues who’s priority is PROTECTING THE FUCKING FANS?

No matter what you think about fans rushing a stage, macing them was an excessive use of force. And I genuinely feel bad for all of the fans who purchased tickets hoping to see ATL who now won’t get to…because the band stood up for their fans. If the park didn’t expect All Time Low to do something like this, well…they obviously don’t know much about the band. ATL, and especially Gaskarth, are not known for keeping their mouths shut about things like this.

But honestly, I don’t think this is the last we’ll hear about this situation. Stay tuned.