CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Fans who attended the Billy Strings show in Charleston Tuesday night expressed frustration at the slow pace of security checks to get into the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center. Some on social media complained it took well past the show time of 7:30 to get to their seats. Others gave up and went home.
Coliseum General Manager Patrick Leahy said there were a number of reasons for the slow pace, but added everybody was able to clear security and be in their seats by 8:10 p.m. when Strings and his band took the stage.
According to Leahy, it typically takes 90 minutes to process a crowd from the time the doors open to showtime. However, promoters of the Strings event wanted to make it a 60 minute announced window with doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. But, Leahy said all along the plan was for an 8:00 p.m. showtime because they knew it would be a late arriving crowd with no opening act.
“It’s advertised as 7:30, they know there’s no opening act so they’re not bothering to come in until closer to showtime. You have a whole host of people who will stay out at bars and tailgates and all the other things they’re doing out there, so you get too many people arriving at the same time to process,” Leahy explained.
The Coliseum had a full staff on hand for the sell-out event and despite claims to the contrary on social media, both entrances were open and operating. Leahy said most new venues will have multiple entrances, but that’s not a luxury they enjoy in Charleston where there are only two sets of doors for people to pass through, which again delays the screening process.
Beyond the limited entry and late arriving crowd, there was another complication. According to Leahy, paraphernalia checks were an essential for this particular crowd and a lot of contraband was confiscated, but having to do more thorough searches takes more time and slows the process. The other issue was over empty water bottles. The Charleston policy is water bottles must be clear, but the promoter specifically requested fans be allowed to bring any empty water bottle into the arena.
“Their water bottles are important to them and when you have a water bottle you can’t see through, we have to open it up. I can’t allow alcohol to be brought in, that’s a violation of our liquor license. It just slows everything down,” he said.
Leahy said this isn’t an unusual situation with Billy Strings shows around the country and Charleston isn’t the first to endure the slowdown.
“The combination of nobody wanting to come early because there’s no opening act, having to check through everybody’s pockets and bags and water bottles you couldn’t see through it just slows everything down, there’s just nothing we could do about it,” said Leahy.