Milwaukee Venue Bans Metalcore

Milwaukee's metalcore acts now have one fewer place to play, following the decision by local venue the Borg Ward to stop booking any and all artists in the genre.

Metal Injection reports that the news first surfaced through Connor Patrick Norton, one of the co-owners involved in the collective that operates the Borg Ward. Reminding readers that "I warned you a---holes about kicking holes in my walls," Norton's Facebook post calls metalcore fans "destructive" and "childish" and insists, "Between the amount of money we have to put into fixing the venue and the fact that we get tossed peanuts for these shows, it is no longer financially feasible."

Norton's post, which included a shot of a footprint in a wall he said he'd just repaired a few days before it was kicked in again, triggered enough online commentary that the Borg Ward's own Facebook account was soon moved to respond — and though the Borg's post argues that the situation is "not really suited for the global attention it is receiving," it goes on to note that "the damage that took place just served as the final straw" leading to the metalcore ban.

"Multiple other venues in Milwaukee that have served to this crowd in the past have discontinued booking the same shows for similar reasons," concludes the post, which calls for "a serious dialogue among the metalcore scene about respecting the venues and the surrounding areas of the venues they have their shows at" while offering a bit of hope for the future: "If people of the aforementioned scene are interested and willing to help out with fixing up the place while learning to appreciate the work that goes into it, then we may be open to hosting these types of shows again."

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