Image courtesy Sam Rosenblatt

Now that my review of Death Cab for Cutie’s concert at Brooklyn’s McCarren Park Pool is up on Bullz-Eye, I can give an account of the upsetting events that happened afterward. You’ll want to read the piece on Bullz-Eye first, so pop on over there and read it. Don’t worry, this will still be here when you come back – and you’d better come back.

Got it? Ok.

As perfectly captured in the picture above – and in my review – the concert was forced to end early due to an impending thunderstorm. This was, naturally, a disappointment because the band usually plays very long sets. But it certainly could’ve been worse: the thunderstorm could have arrived sooner.

More disappointing was how incredibly unprepared McCarren Park Pool was for this kind of weather. One would think that a venue like McCarren Park Pool, a successful outdoor venue that has already been around for a year, would have incurred this kind of weather in the past and know how to handle it. But as some friends and I discovered, they did not.

From the stage, someone who worked there announced that there were exits in the back of the venue in addition to the main, front entrance. They were obviously trying to clear us out as fast as they could, and that’s a positive. But as my friends and I dashed to one of the back entrances, some security guard who either didn’t hear the announcement or was high on some kind of power trip told us that we couldn’t exit that way – even though the man on stage had mentioned we could. Apparently, the exit led to their “backstage area” or some such thing and he suspected that three petite women in their 20s could do a lot of damage to four men in their 30s. After we exchanged a few words about wanting to get out, he snarkily told us that we’d still be outside once we exited the venue.

As we turned to walk back towards the main exit, one of the tents that they use to cover the merch, beer and food stands came flying at us, completely out of control. We attempted to dodge it, and were only somewhat successful – one of the metal poles knocked me in the foot and hit my friend in the back. We were lucky in some regard, though, as even more people were victims of the flying tent and were knocked on the ground afterwards. We were at least able to leave the scene of the crime (through that back door we couldn’t exit through before – too little, too late).

I give McCarren Park Pool some credit for having medical attention on-hand soon thereafter for the people who were seriously injured. Still, this kind of thing shouldn’t have room to happen in the first place. The venue could have told the vendors to take the tents down back when the lightening started, well before there was any wind. Conversely, if they were worried about them flying away in a full venue, they should have kept them anchored down until the venue was completely clear.

I may end up returning to McCarren Park Pool for free shows, but I certainly don’t plan on giving them any more money or going there under anything less than perfect weather. I attempted to look for someone to contact at the venue to talk about this experience but, suspiciously, their website doesn’t have any information…

And for that rude security guard’s information: we jumped in a cab almost immediately upon exiting. So much for your “you’ll still be outside” theory.

Death Cab for Cutie: “Here Comes the Rain Again (Eurythmics Cover, Live)” (download)
Death Cab for Cutie: “Your Bruise” (download)
Death Cab for Cutie: “For What Reason (Alternate)” (download)
Death Cab for Cutie: “Bad Reputation (Freedy Johnson Cover)” (download)