This past Wednesday night, after playing a show at the Summit Music Hall, Filter made its way over to Brothers Bar & Grill to grab some food and drinks. Drummer Jeff Fabb, who has a rather large tattoo adorning his neck, was denied entry, which irked frontman Richard Patrick, who had reportedly stopped by Brothers earlier that day -- with Fabb. Incensed after hearing about the incident from Fabb, Patrick went back and whipped out his cell phone and filmed the drummer trying to get in again.
See also: The twenty best tattoos at Riot Fest Denver
"Hi, how are you?" says Patrick walking up to the bar. "This is my friend with a neck tattoo. Is he allowed to come in?" No, the door guy says, politely. "Really? You're not going to let my drummer, the drummer from Filter, come in and eat at your establishment?"
Nope, the unassuming attendant confirms.
With that, Patrick utters a "Wow, okay," and turns the camera and makes his way to the sidewalk, where he offers up a brief aside to fans and tells Brothers (not to be confused with My Brother's Bar on 15th Street) exactly what he thinks. "Hey, all my Filter fans, in Denver, this place fucking place," he says, pointing to Brothers' signage, "sucks dick -- and not in a good way," he clarifies. "In a shitty fucking way, because they won't let anybody in like my friend having a neck tattoo. So fuck you, Brothers! Fuck you very much!"
See also: The 20 bands that inspire tattoos like no other
The band uploaded the video to YouTube and then posted it to its Facebook page later that night, calling for a boycott of Brothers. The post has received more than 800 comments. According to the band's post, the clip was somewhat staged: "Jeff was by himself and got denied. He came back to the bus and told Richard. Richard got pissed went back with him and filmed Jeff being denied for a second time. Richard knew what was going to happen and he filmed it to RAISE AWARENESS!"
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Someone tipped off the Hollywood Reporter, which posted a piece on the incident last night. According to that story, an unsuccessful attempt was made to reach out to Brothers' management. The Reporter also reached out to other Brothers locations throughout the country (there are seventeen), and the tattoo prohibition seems isolated to the Denver location.
A response from Brothers was reportedly posted on the bar's Denver Facebook page, according to the Reporter (although it's apparently since been scrubbed, as we don't see it anywhere): "We are NOT against tattoos. We are NOT against visible tattoos. Our employees have and display tattoos. Our guests have and display tattoos. That has always been the case. What the tattoo represents or symbolizes and where the tattoo is located is a criteria to entering our location."
We're also attempting to reach out to the Brothers management for comment, and we'll update the post when/if we hear back from them. As for the Filter guys, while they may have felt singled out because of their tattoos, it may be of some consolation to know that as insulting as the rule may seem, it wasn't directed at the band in particular (in the video, the doorman didn't seem to even know who Filter is). And it's certainly not exemplary of Denver itself -- although the rule also isn't exclusive to Brothers.
There are a number of bars on Market Street where visible neck tattoos are prohibited (see a trio of signs clearly spelling out the dress code below). While there are obvious inferences that can be made as to why tattoos and other accessories such as hats (a particular gripe of ours) are prohibited in the first place, we'll be following up with other establishments to learn the impetus for implementing such seemingly draconian dress code rules in the first place.
Meantime, continue on to see more dress code signs from Market Street.
See also: - Photos: Filter at Summit Music Hall, 11/14/10 - The twenty best tattoos at Riot Fest Denver - The twenty bands that inspire tattoos like no other
See also: - Photos: Filter at Summit Music Hall, 11/14/10 - The twenty best tattoos at Riot Fest Denver - The twenty bands that inspire tattoos like no other
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