1990-03-20 Wherehouse record store incident: Difference between revisions

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By 10:15 p.m., the Los Angeles police department decided the situation had become unsafe for the band as well as the fans, promptly relocating the members of the group to a back room before escorting them out of the building. An announcement was made that the band would not be able to continue signing autographs, causing an angry reaction by those in the crowd, who began banging on the windows. Outside the venue, several drunk individuals began to throw rocks and beer bottles from the top of the parking structure directly above the store. Fans were perched in nearby trees, while others scaled and began jumping on the tops of news vans and power boxes, breaking car windows, and destroying city property. Attendee Art Cortez, 16, reported to a local newspaper that some people in the crowd were "getting stepped on and one girl fainted. It was like a riot." A linked-arm barricade estimated to have been comprised of at least 100 police in riot gear equipped with shields and billy clubs began to barricade the affected streets. Mounted officers on horseback monitored the scene from street level, while police helicopters surveilled the scene from above.
By 10:15 p.m., the Los Angeles police department decided the situation had become unsafe for the band as well as the fans, promptly relocating the members of the group to a back room before escorting them out of the building. An announcement was made that the band would not be able to continue signing autographs, causing an angry reaction by those in the crowd, who began banging on the windows. Outside the venue, several drunk individuals began to throw rocks and beer bottles from the top of the parking structure directly above the store. Fans were perched in nearby trees, while others scaled and began jumping on the tops of news vans and power boxes, breaking car windows, and destroying city property. Attendee Art Cortez, 16, reported to a local newspaper that some people in the crowd were "getting stepped on and one girl fainted. It was like a riot." A linked-arm barricade estimated to have been comprised of at least 100 police in riot gear equipped with shields and billy clubs began to barricade the affected streets. Mounted officers on horseback monitored the scene from street level, while police helicopters surveilled the scene from above.


The crowd was finally quelled when Los Angeles police department cordoned off the nearby streets for two hours, reportedly making no arrests. The members of Depeche Mode returned to their hotel and watched national news outlets reporting on the incident.<ref name="KROQFMFEB97">Source: KROQ FM, L.A., February 1997, DJs: Kevin and Bean</ref>
The crowd was finally quelled when Los Angeles police department cordoned off the nearby streets for two hours, reportedly making no arrests. Seven attendees reportedly suffered minor injuries. The members of Depeche Mode returned to their hotel and watched national news outlets reporting on the incident.<ref name="KROQFMFEB97">Source: KROQ FM, L.A., February 1997, DJs: Kevin and Bean</ref>


== Aftermath ==
== Aftermath ==

Revision as of 14:57, 23 November 2019

The Wherehouse record store incident was an incident in which Depeche Mode were infamously forced by the Los Angeles police department to evacuate a record signing event to promote their newly-released album Violator due to an unexpectedly high turnout of approximately 20,000 people, with an in-store capacity of only 150[1]. The fans' collective disappointment at the group's early departure resulted in near-riot conditions. Seven attendees reportedly suffered minor injuries due to being pressed up against store windows, and a mass of fans spanning six blocks outside the store created a major traffic hazard, necessitating a police presence the Los Angeles police chief described as the "biggest police operation since the Presidential visit."[2] The incident is considered a major historical event for Depeche Mode, cementing their newly-established dominance over America and heralding a new decade of commercial success and prosperity for the British group.

Background

The Wherehouse in-store record signing event was organized jointly by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM, Mute Records, and The Wherehouse, a record and video store chain. It was decided between the three businesses to organize an in-store signing event at the Wherehouse record store location on La Cienega Boulevard the day following the March 19th release of 1990 album Violator. The event was to include all four members of Depeche Mode (Dave Gahan, Alan Wilder, Martin Gore, and Andrew Fletcher), and was scheduled to run from 9 p.m. to midnight. Fans were to queue in line with copies of the album or other memorabilia they wished to have autographed before being allowed controlled entry to the store in small groups at a time. A small crew of security guards were hired to escort the band from their limousine and supervise while the band interacted with attendees.

The promotion was heavily promoted by KROQ-FM during the week leading up to the event. Several days prior to the event, Martin Gore called in to the live music television programme Request Video (hosted by former KROQ DJ Jim "The Poorman" Trenton) and commented that, despite rumours to the contrary and his hope that there might be "a bit of mayhem", any callers who believed that 10,000 people might show up to the event may be in for a disappointing turnout.[1].

Incident

Many KROQ-FM jocks and personalities were in attendance on the day of the promotion, including the then-new morning show team Kevin and Bean as well as Jed The Fish. The late Spacin' Scott Mason performed engineering duties, while KROQ-FM DJ Richard Blade was to interview the band for a live broadcast throughout the evening from inside the venue. Jim "The Poorman" Trenton was to film the event with the Request Video camera crew.

By 8 p.m., a large crowd of several thousand spanning La Cienega to Fairfax had already begun to develop.[1] Some fans had begun camping out near the venue as early as the night before.

Depeche Mode arrived in a limousine at 9 p.m. as scheduled, and were escorted into the venue by half a dozen security guards amidst a throng of screaming fans. Notably, in stark contrast with the chaos outside the venue, the atmosphere inside the Wherehouse location was initially reported to be calm and quiet.[1] The band were sat at a long table supplied with Rolling Rock beer as they autographed fan memorabilia and answered interview questions. Dave Gahan responded when asked if he had heard the crowd estimate from the LAPD: "Yeah, 17,000. [...] It's not even something planned. We were asked to do an in-store. It seemed like a good idea, since we weren't doing any gigs at the moment. We never expected this kind of turnout."[1].

The live remote KROQ broadcast, combined with increasing news coverage on all major Los Angeles news stations acted as catalysts for the swelling crowd, compounding its size and fueling the excitement amongst fans outside the venue waiting in line for autographs. Noting the unwieldy size of the crowd and the decreasing odds that the band will be able to provide autographs for everyone, some fans became hysterical and began to force their way in to the store. Hundreds of fans outside the venue pressed up against the plate grass windows of the store, while a group of fans bum-rushed the glass doors, requiring the intervention of ten security guards and Wherehouse employees to keep the doors closed.

By 10:15 p.m., the Los Angeles police department decided the situation had become unsafe for the band as well as the fans, promptly relocating the members of the group to a back room before escorting them out of the building. An announcement was made that the band would not be able to continue signing autographs, causing an angry reaction by those in the crowd, who began banging on the windows. Outside the venue, several drunk individuals began to throw rocks and beer bottles from the top of the parking structure directly above the store. Fans were perched in nearby trees, while others scaled and began jumping on the tops of news vans and power boxes, breaking car windows, and destroying city property. Attendee Art Cortez, 16, reported to a local newspaper that some people in the crowd were "getting stepped on and one girl fainted. It was like a riot." A linked-arm barricade estimated to have been comprised of at least 100 police in riot gear equipped with shields and billy clubs began to barricade the affected streets. Mounted officers on horseback monitored the scene from street level, while police helicopters surveilled the scene from above.

The crowd was finally quelled when Los Angeles police department cordoned off the nearby streets for two hours, reportedly making no arrests. Seven attendees reportedly suffered minor injuries. The members of Depeche Mode returned to their hotel and watched national news outlets reporting on the incident.[3]

Aftermath

As an apology to fans who were inconvenienced or suffered minor injuries as a result of the incident, approximately 25,000 copies of a promotional cassette were reported by Spin to have been produced at Daniel Miller's direction.[4] The cassette included a selection of interviews recorded at the time of and following the event, as well as the Metal Mix of 'Something To Do', which had not previously been available on any official release in the United States. Depeche Mode fans in the Los Angeles area were instructed by local radio station KROQ to mail in a stamped self-addressed envelope in order to receive the cassette.[4]

See more: Sire/Reprise PRO-C-4329

Media coverage

Main article: Articles relating to the 1990-03-20 Wherehouse record store incident

After Hours - June 1990

Footage of the in-store event recorded prior to the band's evacuation was included in a feature on American entertainment news show After Hours in June 1990.[5]

Quotes

Dave Gahan: "It actually got quite scary. The whole thing got a little bit out of control. There was no way we could have known that there was going to be so many people turn up. They have these huge glass windows and fans were pushing up against the window. You could feel the atmosphere in the place building up. We just all kind of looked at each other and said, 'We gotta get out of here!'"

Martin Gore: "Eventually it got so out of hand that the police told us to leave. So we went back to the hotel, switched on the TV and there we were all over the nationwide news."[6]

Dave Gahan: "[We] all sat down together and we flicked through all the news channels and it was like, 'English rock band Dee-Pesh Mode tonight stopped the traffic!'" [laughs] "It was really funny watching it all."[3]

Music journalist Ted Mico described the chaos in the August 18th issue of Melody Maker:

[...] Modettes were spread over six square blocks and literally ground the entire city to a standstill. Nothing like this had happened in L.A. for years - even when U2 shot their video for 'Where The Streets Have No Name' on a Downtown roof. Depeche Mode bigger than Jesus? Not quite, but they'd give Bono a run for his money and are taken as seriously and followed as fanatically here as The Cure or New Order are in Britain.[7]

Once we were outside, things really got scary. Directly above The Wherehouse was a four floor parking structure. [...] When it was announced that the band wasn’t signing any more autographs, people were pissed and angry. They were in line for hours and hours. It sucked! The crowd began banging and shaking the windows. Thousands of crazy, drunk people were throwing bottles from the top of the parking structure. [My wife and I] immediately were dodging a rain of flying whiskey and beer bottles. It was insane! It got even dicier once we ran onto La Cienega Boulevard. Thousands and thousands of DM fans were going crazy everywhere, running through the streets like a mad mob. [...] Numerous people were perched in trees while others were jumping up and down on news vans and electrical power boxes. They were breaking car windows and destroying property everywhere. La Cienega was barricaded by a combination of at least 100 riot police who were holding shields and billy clubs and linking arms. There were also cops on horseback and police helicopters circling overhead. Despite their presence, they allowed the crowd to get crazy. It was a nightmare for us to find a safe exit to get back to my car parked a few blocks away. Amazingly, there were very few arrests. It was a miracle there weren’t any deaths and few serious injuries.[1]

— KROQ-FM DJ Jim "The Poorman" Trenton - OC Weekly, September 2019

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Source: OC Weekly - "POORMAN’S RADIO DAYS: RECOUNTING THE DEPECHE MODE RIOT OF 1990" - September 2019
  2. Source: Source: SHUNT ARCHIVES EDITORIAL : 1998 ARCHIVES : DM Singles 86-98 : VIOLATOR
  3. 3.0 3.1 Source: KROQ FM, L.A., February 1997, DJs: Kevin and Bean
  4. 4.0 4.1 Source: Spin magazine, July 1990 issue
  5. Source: Footage courtesy of Instagram user vhschunks. Retrieved via Facebook group “Depeche Mode Classic Photos And Videos”.
  6. Source: User's Guide: Depeche Mode, Kingsize, May 2001.
  7. Source: Melody Maker, 18th August 1990 via SacredDM (now defunct).