Liverpool club night inquiry into ‘violent’ bouncers claim

Nov 6 2007 by David Higgerson, Liverpool Daily Post

Chibuku Shake Shake (158)

THE organisers of one of Liverpool’s best-known club nights have pledged to investigate after footage emerged on the internet of a band being pushed off stage by bouncers.

Popular city night Chibuku was hosting an event at Nation nightclub, in Wolstenholme Square, on Friday night, when trouble broke out.

Footage posted on the website YouTube appears to show bouncers going on stage and forcibly removing the live act, Soulwax, off stage.

It is not clear what prompted the bouncers to take that action, but it led to a negative reaction from the crowd, and complaints flooding on to the official Chibuku online forum. Most made the point they felt the bouncers hired for the event, rather than the organisers, were to blame.

One eyewitness wrote on the official Chibuku forum: “I was at the front when it all kicked off.

“There were bouncers standing at the front of the stage making people stand about a metre back Because someone got manhandled, the lead singer stopped the music and asked the bouncers to let the people come forward.

“One bouncer saw red and jumped on to the stage and waved another couple of bouncers on to the stage, at which point they muscled in and the drummer was pushed over.”

Another said: “It would be totally unreasonable to blame any of the fight on Soulwax, as a passionate, talented, well respected band. The crowd were not at all rough and it was simply a few people having a good time dancing around. The band certainly weren't bothered and the bouncers clearly wanted it all to kick off.

“After what happened, it is lucky the crowd didn’t turn on the staff and things get much worse. It was a waste of £20 on a night.”

A formal statement into what happened is expected by the organisers of Chibuku today.

Writing in response to the comments on their website, Chibuku organiser Richard McGinnis said he had been overwhelmed with support from regulars. He said: “I’m currently, along with others, (including) the band, in the middle of a huge investigation as to what went on. If anyone has any information they want to pass on to me, they should send it to rich@chibuku.com

“I think everyone knows what we are about and knows that not only will we resolve this situation, but we will make it up to everyone, even though a lot of you already think it was a situation that wasn’t largely our fault.”

Police are not thought to be investigating.

Chibuku normally takes place at Barfly but switches to bigger venues, such as Nation, for events which have a popular headline act.

TO SEE footage of the incident, visit www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk

davidhiggerson