Longtime OffBeat contributor Geraldine Wyckoff was on hand in Armstrong Park when trumpeter Shamarr Allen had a confrontation with Jazz in the Park security staff.
Shamarr Allen at the 2009 Best of The Beat Awards.
Allen was arrested and charged with battery against a peace officer after the scuffle, which Wyckoff said could have been easily avoided had cooler heads been allowed to prevail.
“Common sense was not used,” she said. “That’s the big issue. This is a serious charge.”
In contrast to larger festivals like Jazz Fest or French Quarter Fest, the Jazz in the Park Concert Series is a much more informal affair, with a single line of police barricades separating the crowd from the stage area.
The altercation began when Allen was not allowed to bring his mother and sister through a small opening in the barricades and into the backstage area, which consists of a small cement patch between the back of the stage and the Municipal Auditorium, Wyckoff said.
As Allen insisted that his family members be allowed through the barricade, things quickly escalated.
“There was yelling and screaming and arms going around,” Wyckoff said. “There were at least two officers from the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s department right there at the opening in the barricade with Shamarr on one side, and he’s yelling, and people’s arms are flying, and they’re trying to not let them in.”
Allen’s mother was pushed to the ground at one point, and in a seemingly nonsensical turn of events, the police officers and security staff prevented Allen from leaving the backstage area, blocking his way so he could not go out into the crowd.
“It should never have gotten anywhere near as bad as it did,” she said.
Wyckoff did not see Allen being handcuffed, and his sister and mother were accompanied by a police officer until long after the situation had unfolded.
Allen has a hearing scheduled for this afternoon stemming from the arrest.
We thought we would let you read Wyckoff’s own commentary on the Allen incident, published this morning in the Louisiana Weekly:
A Commentary – Power’s Dangers
By OffBeat contributor Geraldine Wyckoff (used by permission of Wyckoff and the Louisiana Weekly).
What is the proper response when an artist who is headlining a show asks that his mother and sister be admitted backstage? One would hope it might be something like, “Oh, I’m so glad you could come. Can I get you a chair? Is there anything else you might need? You must be so proud of your son/your brother.”
That was not the case when trumpeter Shamarr Allen made such a request prior to taking the stage for his Thursday, September 18 performance at the Jazz in the Park concert series. Instead, this simple request was rudely rejected with the decision enforced by a New Orleans Sheriff Department deputy.
Okay, first of all when we speak of the series’ backstage facilities, we’re not talking about some swank suite at, say, the Superdome. It’s simply a rather bleak, cement locale beneath the overhang of the Municipal Auditorium that’s surrounded by police barricades. The dispute between Allen and the deputy turned into a ruckus and then a melée that escalated when Allen wasn’t even allowed out (!) of the backstage area. His mother ended up on the ground, his sister seemingly in handcuffs – later seen with no restraint – and eventually Allen was arrested and charged with battery against a law enforcement officer. His bail was set at $3,000 at a hearing on Friday (more details yet to come).
The duties of a doorman or security guard at clubs and events anywhere – but perhaps especially in New Orleans where the sense of community is so vital – are particularly sensitive. It’s important that those in these positions know enough about who’s who – especially when it comes to relatives – to welcome guests graciously at the door. Many people remember such intuitive and sensitive doormen such as Stanley John, a Jamaican native whose post was at the front entrance of Tipitina’s. A photo of him – an immensely strong and gentle man who loved reggae music – showed him lifting an entire engine block, and hung in the club for years. Gospel singer Jo “Cool” Davis knowingly let the right people slide in the back door at Tip’s aware of their stature in the music world. Sylvester Francis, now the curator of the Backstreet Cultural Museum, could easily detect a huckster and certainly would swing open the door at Donna’s Bar & Grill for any relative of one of the musicians performing or for their good friends who might want to sit in.
It’s all about respect, common sense and common courtesy. Those are factors often sorely lacking in the relationships between those in authority and the common or uncommon man. Power in the hands of people devoid of a sense of humanity, a sense of kindness and understanding is a dangerous thing.
