Dropkick amps shut off due to overcrowded stage

Dropkick Murphys kicked down the doors of UNH’s Field House on Friday, April 25, to rock out Irish-style to a crowd of hardcore Dropkick, Red Sox and Celtics fans, and everyone in between. According to fans, the show was high on energy until UNH officials shut off the sound system.

At approximately 10:30 p.m., a slew of about 50 girls were called on to rush the stage for a performance and sing-along of “Kiss Me, I’m Shitfaced”—a staple move, according to Dropkick fans.

Due to the large number of people onstage, UNH officials cut off the power to the amps. The band continued to play the last song without any sound reaching the audience. The band’s console was still running, allowing them to hear their own music but not what was being projected, according to Rob Beck, SCOPE security director.

“Officials believed it was an unsafe situation. More people were on the stage than it could hold, so they cut the speakers and turned on the lights so people could exit in a safe manner,” said Beck.

Despite this, Dropkick continued to perform for at least another 10 minutes after the amps were shut off. The show did not end early.

Dropkick’s Web site said the band’s “goal is to play music that creates an all for one, one for all environment. We view the band and the audience as one in the same; in other words our stage and our microphone are yours.”
And fans agree, especially when it comes to getting onstage.

“I love it,” said junior Alyssa Skene. “I’ve seen Dropkick at least 10 times and I’ve been onstage about six times. It’s chill of them to let crazy fans up and it’s so much fun to see all the fans on one stage and to be able to see through Dropkick’s eyes to the crowd.” 

movie rentals hit hard times

Say goodbye to Hollywood. Four thousand square feet of space has opened for lease at the North Hampton Town Plaza, where Hollywood Video, the town’s only video rental store, said goodbye and closed its doors for good earlier this month. Another 1,000 feet of space may soon become available in the Durham Town Plaza, as well.

Large corporatoins are not the only video retailers being hurt by online rentals. Local “mom and pop” shops around the country are watching their businesses become obsolete in an increasingly digital world. “How any of the mom and pop shops stay in business is beyond me,” said Patrick Murphy, former manager of North Hampton Hollywood Video. “From what I can gather, most of them have begun shutting their doors over the past few years.”

Indeed, local store operators in Durham are feeling the squeeze. In fact, both the Durham and Newmarket Movie Stops, owned and operated by Moreen and Joe Paquette, are currently on the market.

“We’ve been in this location for roughly two years,” said Paquette. “Right now, times are tough, but the businesses have only been on the market for a couple months. Hopefully we can find a buyer.”

If they cannot, Paquette said they would have a total liquidation of the stores’ inventories and attempt to lease the space. Paquette indicated that the tanning booths they offer at both locations are keeping them afloat right now.

“Believe it or not, our Newmarket location is doing better than here on campus,” said Paquette. “Tanning has been making us our money.”

Paquette also indicated that she believes the movie rental business could very well be headed down the tubes.
“I’ve been in this type of business since the Beta systems of the ’80s. That was even before VHS,” said Paquette. “Over the past 15 years, I have watched the steady downhill slide of this business as a whole. We can’t compete with the large corporations. They may not charge late fees, but we have no choice but to do so.”

With Movie Gallery Inc. filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year, Blockbuster is the only remaining large chain retail video rental corporation. It, too, is on the rocks. Over the past few years, Blockbuster has experienced negative cash flows and the closure of over 300 stores across the country. In just four years, Blockbuster has gone from a $4 billion market cap to just over $640 million today.

With so many new options being offered digitally by Netflix and on-demand services, the idea of going to the video store is becoming increasingly outdated.

“It has most definitely affected the business we’re in,” said Paquette. “It’s a new technology.”