Arena Managers Recount Concert Nightmares

Written by Don Muret

SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Glenn Walinski said he's "still catching hell" for not having alternative rockers Nine Inch Nails arrested on site after the band destroyed the dressing room following its recent performance at the LaCrosse (Wis,) Center.

But Walinski, the facility's manager, doesn't regret his decision, as he described his worst nightmare during a panel discussion on "Chasing the Concert/Convention Business" here at the International Assn. of Auditorium Managers District III meeting. His gut instinct could have been to chase the band to the cop shop, but Walinski displayed admirable restraint.

"By law, I could have had them arrested for destruction of city property. It was no problem. I knew where they were. They went from my place to the local bar to have a few beers and then back to the Radisson Hotel," said Walinski. They destroyed the room over there but they handed them $1,400 cash and said `Thank you for the nice time, we're going to Sioux Falls.'"

The "nice time" had by Nine Inch Nails at LaCrosse Center amounted to the tune of some $8,000, according to Walinski. Torn ceiling and fixtures, broken furniture, obliterated countertops, broken glass everywhere. "I wanted to cry, but there was no place to sit down," he said.

There had been no indication during the concert that the band would conduct such destructive behavior. "Nine Inch Nails did nothing to embarrass themselves on stage," added Walinski. It was only after a ruckus could be heard in the parking lot that LaCrosse Center officials figured something was wrong.

Walinski surveyed the wreckage, and instead of letting his blood pressure boil, itemized damages, took photographs and told the promoter (Cellar Door Productions) that he was withholding concert receipts until repair costs were official. He sent Cellar Door what was left over.

"I made that decision because I'm not in this business long enough to understand all the rights and wrongs. I did not want to have Nine Inch Nails arrested because I figured I had enough bad publicity as it was," Walinski said. "And I did not want Lacrosse to get in the papers because I arrested the band. I did not want to send that message to promoters and the industry.

"Yet there's a part of my community that said `Listen, we're taxpayers, we built that building, we're proud of it. You let somebody come into our town, walk into our building and destroy it.' So I've had to live with that and I'm still employed. Whether I handled it correctly, I do not know. I do know I had this sports show promoter out side the door who had his people moving in. My job was to make sure there was something available for him that next morning."

Walinski reflected upon the incident with good-natured humor. It won't stop him from booking more alternative shows. Focus group surveys indicated these are the bands that teenagers and young adults will pay money to see.

"I thought about it after a while and said, `I've been trying to get new furniture in there for 10 years. I could never get it done.' If I would have known that these guys were that rambunctious, I'd have helped them. I'd have handed them another chair," he said. "I'm going to have a plaque made and put on the wall that says `This dressing room is furnished courtesy of Nine Inch Nails, Feb. 5, 1995.'"

Amusement Business
March 1995