Security Guards for Concerts and Festivals
A team at the gates, the barricade and the backstage doors that works the promoter's plan and the venue's rules, from doors to load-out.
Request a proposalThe situation
What a concert or festival deals with
The gate
Thousands of people through a few gates in an hour, with tickets to scan and bags to check under the promoter's policy. The line is where the night's mood is set and where the first fights start.
The barricade and the crowd
The front of the stage is where people are crushed, faint, climb and throw things. Officers at the barricade watch the crowd, not the show, and pull people out before it becomes a medical call.
Backstage, vendors and cash
Artists, crew, guests with wristbands of every color, merchandise tables with cash and vendors with their own staff. Every door needs someone who knows which wristband opens it.
The lot and the end
The lot fills before doors and empties in a rush after the encore, with intoxicated fans, cars that were broken into during the show and a crowd walking to the street in the dark.
The promoter’s plan, the venue’s rules
A concert is the promoter’s event in the venue’s building, and the security plan belongs to both. Price Protection’s lead officer builds the team from a walk of the site with the production manager: gates and the bag policy, the barricade and the pit, the wristband colors and the doors they open, the merchandise tables and the cash, the medical tent, the lots and the load-out. Officers are briefed by post, take positions before doors and work the production radio with the promoter’s and the venue’s security leads.
Gates and bags
The gate sets the night’s mood. Lines that move, bag checks done as the posted policy states and no more, items surrendered without argument and refusals logged by gate. Officers check bags as a condition of entry; they do not search persons, and the police handle anything found that is a matter for them. Gate officers are briefed on the artist’s rider and the venue’s list of prohibited items so the answer at every gate is the same, and a supervisor walks the lines while they are longest to move people to the shortest queue.
The barricade
Officers at the barricade face the crowd and watch for crushing, fainting, climbing and thrown objects. People are pulled over the rail to medical before it becomes a call, climbers are talked down and ejected, and the barricade team is relieved on a schedule because the work is physical and the attention has to be fresh.
Backstage, cash and the lot
Every backstage, VIP and production door has someone who knows which wristband opens it. Merchandise cash is escorted to the promoter’s office. The lots are patrolled during the set, when they are worked, and the exits and the walk to the street are covered at the end. Multi-day festivals get overnight coverage of the site, the stages and the vendor compound between days.
Booking
Dispatch, or a call to the office, begins with the promoter or the production manager: the venue, the date, the capacity, the gates and the bag policy, the barricade, the backstage plan, the lots and the load-out. The lead officer walks the site, proposes the team by post with the reasoning and the officers are booked for the show.
How we cover it
Every service, applied to this post.
- Unarmed security guards
A team of unarmed officers posted by the promoter's plan: gates and bag checks, the barricade and stage front, the floor and the bowl, backstage doors, merchandise and vendor rows, the lot, with a lead officer on the production radio.
- Access control
Ticket scanning and bag checks at the gates under the promoter's policy, wristband and credential checks at every backstage, VIP and production door, and vendor and crew check-in at the service gates.
- Armed security guards
Where the promoter or the venue has assessed a specific concern, commissioned officers hold positions agreed in the plan, with observe-and-report the default and the police informed.
- Vehicle patrol
Vehicles in the lots through the show, walking the rows during the set, and working the exits and the walk to the street at the end.
- Incident reporting
A report to the promoter and the venue after the show: gate counts and refusals by gate, barricade extractions and medical calls with times, ejections and the reason, backstage access issues, vendor and cash matters, lot incidents and load-out.
A typical post
What a shift looks like here.
The lead officer walks the site with the production manager before doors: the gates and the bag policy, the barricade and the pit, the wristband colors and the doors they open, the merch tables, the medical tent, the lots, the load-out plan. Officers are briefed by post and take their positions. At doors the gates open and the lines move, with bags checked and a knife found and surrendered.
During the headliner the barricade officers pull two fans over the rail who have fainted and hand them to medical; a man climbing a truss is talked down and ejected; a woman without the right wristband at the backstage door is turned around. The floor officers break up one fight and eject both. The lot officers log a car with a broken window and its plate.
After the encore the exits are worked, the crowd walked to the street, the lots cleared, the merch cash escorted to the promoter's office and the backstage doors held through load-out. The lead writes the report by post for the promoter and the venue.
Reporting
What the daily report covers here
Every client receives a written report each day, and officer performance is reviewed and documented daily. This is what the report records on this kind of post.
- Gate coverage: counts, bag check refusals and surrendered items by gate
- Barricade extractions and medical hand-offs with times
- Ejections with the reason, location and time
- Backstage and VIP door refusals
- Merchandise and vendor cash escorts
- Lot incidents and vehicles of interest with plates
- Load-out: doors held, crew and vendors out, site confirmed
How many officers does a concert need?
It depends on the capacity, the gates, the artist, the barricade length, the backstage and the lots. The walk-through with the production manager settles the positions and the proposal states the team by post with the reasoning.
Do officers search bags?
Under the promoter's posted policy and as a condition of entry a patron may decline by not entering. Officers check bags as the policy states and do not search persons.
What about the barricade?
Barricade officers face the crowd, watch for crushing, fainting and climbing, pull people over the rail to medical and are relieved on a schedule. They do not watch the show.
Do you work with the venue's security and the police?
Yes. The lead officer works the production radio with the promoter's and the venue's security leads, and the police handle arrests and the street. Officers eject and hand off; they do not detain beyond what the law and the post orders allow.
Can you cover a multi-day festival?
Yes, including overnight coverage of the site, the stages, the vendor compound and the equipment between days, with the same team across the run.
Related pages
Industries we serve
Insights
Request a proposal
Request a proposal for concerts and festivals.
Two short steps. Dispatch reviews every request and calls you back about coverage. For urgent unarmed coverage we can typically staff most sites within hours.
24-hour dispatch
(281) 326-9189