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Let's hear the "cops shut us down" stories

Bob-I

Bob-I

Sep 12, 2014
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258
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#1
i'll start...

Maybe 1980 I was playing a weekly Wednesday night gig at a small neighborhood bar. Every week like clockwork at 11:00 PM the same cop came by and asked us to turn down. We'd take a break and play a quiet short set and start packing up by about midnight.

One week there was a fair in town and the owner told us to come on in, they might get overflow. They didn't so we decided to use the time for rehearsal. At 10:45 we took a break from rehearsal, and like clockwork the cop came in at 11. It was just the 4 of us, bartender and 3 in the band. The bartender, thinking fast said " we're being harassed, not by you sir, you're doing your job, by the neighbors, it's been like this all night". the cop never came in again.

Another one, I was playing a backyard wedding, second marriage for both. Around 8 they put out a buffet and asked us to play some quiet background music. I pulled out the acoustic and played some nice easy listening stuff solo while the rest of the guys ate. The plan was for someone to relieve me in 15 minutes so I could eat.

Just then a cop came in saying they had noise complaints from as far away as 1/2 mile away, followed by him saying, "I don't know why though, this seems like a nice party, have fun" and he left.

Now let's hear yours
 
#2
Was in a band around 97 and didn't have a name yet. The Atlanta police would always stop by to tell us the neighbors were complaining. Well one day the cop that was called out asked us what the name of our band was and we said we didn't have a name.

That's when he said we should call ourselves 57 On Green. 57 being the code for disturbing the peace and green for the street which we rehearsed on. That's what the dispatcher would send out on the horn "57 on green"

We ran with it but shortened it to Signal 57. Was up in Ashville NC for a New Years gig months later and when we arrived at the bar there were some posters advertising the show calling us "Car 54". Haha
 
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#5
been shut down a few times over the years. the most memorable was in the early '90's when i lived in houston. our 3-piece was practicing in the afternoon in my garage with the door closed and it was loud and hot as hell. suddenly the door from the garage into the kitchen opened, and there stood my (now ex-) wife with two of houston's finest behind her. they came in and quite nicely stated they had received neighborhood complaints and that we had to turn down. they also stated they were sitting in the driveway listening to us for about 15 minutes before stopping us as they thought we were quite good (and we were).
 
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#7
Big private biker party is a suburban neighborhood in the late 80's. As night started to fall I guess things began to get a little too rowdy. The band was set up way in the back of the property, on a flat bed trailer, with a lot of people between us and the house. Mid set I notice a cop or two, mixed in with the party goers grooving to the band in the back yard. No big deal, we were a southern rock band used to biker crowds and cops....looked from the stage like everything was cool and everyone was having a good time.

Next thing I know, a cop in full riot gear is at the front of the stage grabbing my leg. I bend down to see what he wants while the band played on and he shouts in my face.

"Tear gas does not do good things to band equipment.... shut it down or else"

As the band came to a screeching halt, about 10 more cops in riot gear appear in front of the stage, they line up and start walking towards the house, clearing the back yard.

End of party. We packed up alone.
 
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#8
robd said:
Big private biker party is a suburban neighborhood in the late 80's. As night started to fall I guess things began to get a little too rowdy. The band was set up way in the back of the property, on a flat bed trailer, with a lot of people between us and the house. Mid set I notice a cop or two, mixed in with the party goers grooving to the band in the back yard. No big deal, we were a southern rock band used to biker crowds and cops....looked from the stage like everything was cool and everyone was having a good time.

Next thing I know, a cop in full riot gear is at the front of the stage grabbing my leg. I bend down to see what he wants while the band played on and he shouts in my face.

"Tear gas does not do good things to band equipment.... shut it down or else"

As the band came to a screeching halt, about 10 more cops in riot gear appear in front of the stage, they line up and start walking towards the house, clearing the back yard.

End of party. We packed up alone.
Click to expand...

Kudos for ignoring the instinct to kick at the hand grabbing you by the leg. It probably would've been bad to see the riot gear after the fact.
 
#10
Back in the 80's, playing a beach-themed bar set in a strip mall, we were halfway through the night and taking a break in between sets. The bartender let us open an exit door that lead directly to the back of the strip mall. Our lead guitarist was standing in the open doorway drinking a beer, when a gaggle of cops burst out of the back of a semi trailer that was parked behind the building. They slapped the cuffs on him and hauled him off to jail for having an open beer in public. Tried to carry on without him, but ended up leaving early and having to use the gig money to bail him out. He said he was put on a bench and cuffed to a pipe attached to the wall. The worst part was he worked for a company that had links to NASA, and he had a level of security clearance. So on Monday he had to inform his boss, and was terrified that he might lose his job. In the end, the case was dismissed because no officers bothered to show up in court.

Another time, another band, we were playing a house party (in the living room) when the cops showed up. Not because the band was too loud, but because the homeowner was setting off dynamite in the front yard.
 
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#12
I was in a relatively new band and we played a couple house shows before our first gig trying to build up some hype and get a little practice playing out. Naturally with myself putting 350 watts through my 410-210 setup and the guitar playing doing a Marshall stack and the drummer was well, a drummer we were pretty dang loud. So we play about an hour at deafening level and the cops show up and raise a stink about all the people there and whether there minors drinking blah blah blah and it boils down to we're too loud. So we tear down and on the way out this wasted blonde stops us and says "where are you guys going with the bands equipment? We say we are the band and we're loading out so we can party too. Long story short this bimbo holds us up till the host of the party shows up and says yeah these guys are the band who the hell are you? College chicks am I right?
 
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#16
Both times ended veggie we even started.

First time: I was in a joke straight edge band called bloody hoodie back in my college years. We would get all x'ed up and drink on stage while telling the audience not to drink. As we were drinking too get ready for the show, the police storm the basement show we were playing during the last song of the punk band before us, who then went into a song that could only be titled "shag the police". Add you can imagine, they decided to not let the last band go on.

Second time: I was in this band that was booked to play at a protest concert at Rutgers University. The priest lasted a week and we were due to hit the stage on the last day. The police decided on the 5th day that the protest went long enough and they were going to evict everyone before we even arrived at the gig. But the booking said it was still a go. I told the band that we ate playing the gig until the promoter tells me it's off, which they ended up doing Friday morning.
 
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#17
cops were called to a party for 200 we were playing, as soon as someone spotted them pull up,we all turned down a lot, and started a new song. Cops came in, said we didn't sound too loud to them, radioed in to base to ignore any more complaints, and left.

Then we turned UP again for the rest of the night haha
 
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#18
Back around 86 or 87 I was in high school and playing in a cover band in New Jersey. We used to get invited to play teenage parties like the one in Wierd Science, somehow 17-year-olds never had problems getting a keg. One night we were playing in some kids back yard loud as hell when sure enough the cops rolled up and shut down the party, making everyone dump out cups, etc. The 80s were fun, if you got caught drinking under age the cops would usually let you go and steal the remaining beer.

Recently I've played two gigs with two different bands at a wierd place in Tacoma Park, MD, called "The Electric Maid". Both times the cops showed up at 10 PM sharp to shut it down; apparently some lady next door calls the cops every night like you can set a watch to it, like some kind of nightly ritual. The cops were not jerks about it, it's just routine LOL.
 
#20
friendlybass said:
I was in a relatively new band and we played a couple house shows before our first gig trying to build up some hype and get a little practice playing out. Naturally with myself putting 350 watts through my 410-210 setup and the guitar playing doing a Marshall stack and the drummer was well, a drummer we were pretty dang loud. So we play about an hour at deafening level and the cops show up and raise a stink about all the people there and whether there minors drinking blah blah blah and it boils down to we're too loud. So we tear down and on the way out this wasted blonde stops us and says "where are you guys going with the bands equipment? We say we are the band and we're loading out so we can party too. Long story short this bimbo holds us up till the host of the party shows up and says yeah these guys are the band who the hell are you? College chicks am I right?
Click to expand...
We had that one night at a club downtown. We we tearing down so the next band could load in, and some drunk girl is grabbing us, telling us not to take the band's equipment. Nothing could convince her that it was our gear, so we just kind of had to bull our way through her.
 
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