when 'skinheads' attack (during Integrity @ Fun Fun Fun Fest)

November 12, 2008

Gelatin’s dad, bottom left of the picture

gelatin posted this on November 9th, 2008 @ 2:12:06 pm

So, I met up with my dad at the Dirty Dog Saloon [in Austin, TX] before the [fun fun fun] fest. I didn’t get a chance to eat anything, and we decided we’d have a couple of drinks and then go get some food. Well, about 8 pints later and I still hadn’t eaten and it was time to go to the fest.

My dad didn’t buy a ticket, so he hopped the fence and somehow didn’t get busted. I almost immediately lost him in the crowd. And many hours later when I eventually found him, he was totally wasted and missing a shoe. Apparently, a “skinhead” had pushed him into the mosh pit. My dad didn’t take kindly to that so he poured his beer over the dude’s head and they got into a fist fight. I guess the cops pulled my dad off the dude and that’s when he lost his shoe.

Somehow the cops decided my dad was an innocent victim in all of it and they let him back into the fest, even though he didn’t have a wristband. After the fest we couldn’t remember where he parked so we walked to my friend’s car which was really really far away, and I guess the walk really fucked up my dad’s foot.

We finally found his car, but for some reason he had brought a gas-powered generator with him, and it had tipped over in the car (which was a rental). So the car just overwhelmingly reeks of gasoline. However, he insisted he’d be fine and was just gonna sleep in the car for a while. And I left with my friends.

He called me this morning and somehow made it home. Still with only one shoe.

While searching for my dad I ran into Teebro, and The Dead Milkmen were every bit as terrific as I hoped they’d be. I think I’ve had enough my dad for a while. [gelatin]

I never thought I would find out who the man I saw almost die in the pit during Integrity‘s set at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin on Saturday was. I also never thought I would find out how the fight started. Somehow, not only did I find a message board with a description of the incident (see above), the whole thread is amazingly dedicated to this man who “gelatin” claims is her/his dad.

I noticed the fight when, all a sudden, all of the scariest members of the pit acknowledged knowing each other by packing together with their eyes locked on this guy (gelatin’s dad), and with their faces clearly reading “kill”. I was really scared for their target. Now I understand why they were so pissed off.

On a related note, when I saw gelatin’s dad (I realize stereotyping is not good), my first thought was, “this guy paid to come to this festival?”. I now know the answer to that question. And speaking of sterotyping, it is unconfirmed whether these guys actually consider themselves “skinheads” (You’ll notice gelatin also put “skinheads” in quotes), but it worked for the title, and I’m sure they’re very nice guys normally….. More pictures of the attack below…

you should really think twice before spilling beer on someone’s head

dad wondering if anyone is going to save his life

someone pushing dad to his death

security? saving dad’s life

At the time I had no idea what was going on at this point. The security/cops were in plain clothes I guess. There was just a mass splitting of the crowd with people grabbing in every direction. I wasn’t sure if dad was being dragged out to an alley to be killed or if he was being saved…