Fan made lines have been in existence for ages. In the beginning, people would show up early and pass a sharpie around to number their hands and keep track of who had been waiting longest. As the fan base grew and competition for a good spot got tougher, the lineups naturally started happening earlier and earlier. This is nothing unique to the Greta fandom, and it was the natural progression of things as the fan base grew exponentially.
At some point, certain "fans" decided that they weren't going to participate in the normal way we did things because they weren't able or willing to devote that much time to earning front row. But regardless of their inability or unwillingness to put in the time, they still felt entitled to be at the front of the pack and decided to bring their own sharpies and write whatever number they wanted to on their hands. This caused confusion and sabotaged the accepted fandom norms so that, in the chaos, they could run and shove their way to the front.
When they broke the fandom's trust in the Sharpie system with their dishonesty, a new custom was created. Fans showing up early started bringing sequentially numbered wristbands and added them to their wrists along with a sharpie number so that it would be harder for people to game their system. Regardless of what tokens fans went with -- wristbands, sharpies, or both -- they all accomplished the same thing: Keeping a record of who had been waiting the longest.
Before Travis came onto the scene, these fan-made numbers were helpful, but never a guarantee of a good spot on the floor. Without Greta's security actively involved in the lineup, all fans were ultimately at the mercy of the venue security who were often disorganized and unhelpful and barely cared about our safety, much less any sense of fair play. Sometimes fan wristbands were honored, but more often than not, all the doors of the venue would be thrown open at once and people were left to race and push to the front. Your chances were usually better if you were part of the fan line since, having gotten there early, you would be close to the doors, but just as often as not, latecomers would find a side entrance and cut you off. This was just the luck of the draw, and it caused a lot of chaos and injury as people were rushed down the stairs to the floor or tripped on the way to the rail.
In the early days, Greta's security didn't get much involved with doors, and when they were still relatively unknown, the crowds were small enough that venue security was typically adequate. But after their SNL performance went viral on TikTok and the fandom suddenly exploded overnight, things got chaotic enough that, apparently, the Greta team decided it was time to beef up their private security force and take control of the situation.
Greta has always seemed to support the people waiting hours or days to get into the show. They've delivered pizza and hot chocolate to the line, and even catered an ice cream truck to provide free treats to people waiting. It's been revealed that they often lurk in the upper levels to peek down at us as we make our way onto the floor. They have even been known to watch security footage of the people camping out overnight when something entertaining is happening. For example, in Boise, some girls were camping, and, late in the night, they chased off a raccoon with a taser, unaware of the security cameras they were sleeping under. Security saw them the next day and told them the guys had laughed hysterically at the footage of them fighting for their lives!
So, it should come as no surprise that, when they decided to take on more security, they would hire Travis Davis, a man well-known in the 21 Pilots fandom for supporting and protecting fans who show up early and camp for good spots in the pit. Anyone who attacks Travis' methods and tries to argue that Greta "would be ashamed" of him for enforcing fan led lines can't have been paying attention at all. Travis has never hidden his way of doing things, and Greta would have been well aware of this when they brought him on. Given their history of supporting campers in line, I would argue it probably was one of the factors that led to him being hired.
Travis' arrival didn't actually change much about how the fandom did things. People were still showing up extremely early, lining up and organizing themselves in numerical order according to their arrival time, and waiting overnight for doors in hopes of having a better chance at the rail. Travis changed nothing about that.
What he DID change was the mad dash chaos at doors. Rather than allowing the venue to mix everyone up and throw open all the doors and watch us push each other down the stairs, Travis started wrist banding the 300 fans who had been waiting the longest and then taking them into the venue a few minutes early and walking them to the floor single file, preventing stampedes and injury. He didn't play favorites. He didn't care if you had been on the rail 10 times or if it was your first Greta show ever. Whoever had been sitting outside waiting the longest got the first band. End of story.
I was lucky enough to be at three of the shows he took charge of, and they were the most incredible concert experiences of my life. In addition to making sure the rush to the rail was safe and low stress, Travis arranged for cases of water bottles to be available at every show and would personally pass them at the rail to reduce the number of people passing out in the pit. My friends and I never saw him be anything other than kind, friendly, and enthusiastic to everyone around us.
During shows, he would walk the rail singing along to all the songs, constantly scanning the crowd for trouble, reaching out to people he recognized from line to fist bump and ask if we were okay, checking in to see if the people around us needed anything. In Bangor, when the venue was treating us terribly, he stormed out and had shouting match with their venue security on our behalf, insisting that they do their jobs and keep us safe.
When aggressive crowds wouldn't part to let someone get the medical help they needed, he climbed the barricade and jumped into the mob, carrying people out of danger with reckless disregard for his own safety.
When a tambourine incident resulted in me getting covered in a stranger's blood, it was Travis who came running, real concern in his eyes as he started searching my arms for open wounds and getting me clean and finding alcohol swabs for me to disinfect myself with.
Travis doesn't HAVE to do all that. He could do the bare minimum of his job and let us fend for ourselves. He doesn't have to go above and beyond the way he does. He doesn't have to take our tokens and put them on stage for the guys. He certainly didn't HAVE to ask us for a copy of Hopie's memorial poster and personally bring it to the boys to show them our tribute to our fallen sister, resulting in that beautiful moment when Josh dedicated Light my Love to her memory.
But he did. He did those things because that's the kind of guy he is - a guy who visibly beams at other people’s joy. Like I said: There's a reason Greta chose him. He matches their energy in a way that's so clear to see for anyone who actually believes in Greta’s message.
I’ve been going to shows since I was 13 years old and have interacted with more security guys than I can count. I have never had the pleasure of meeting a more competent, kind, and passionate person in this role. When Travis steps onto the scene, you can literally feel the collective sigh of relief from the crowd, because those who know him feel safer in his presence. When he pulls all the security guys in for their quick pre-show huddle before Greta comes on, you can see the respect and admiration in the venue guys’ eyes, and the pride in the other Greta security guards.
And speaking of pride, you can tell he takes it in his work. When he’s up on the rail and things are going well, he stands there with crossed arms looking out over the crowd just beaming a smile and nodding his head, radiating pure happiness. It’s beautiful to watch, and his energy adds another layer of love and excitement to the room.
I can’t believe the amount of people supporting the attacks on him and blaming him for the problems at barricade. He is not responsible for our shitty behavior, and it IS our shitty behavior that causes this hate and discontent. He has gone so far above and beyond for us, and this is the thanks he gets? Accusations of pedophilia? I’d say, “You have to be joking,” except, jokes are supposed to be funny.
This fandom has been showing its dark and ugly side for a while now, hence my long hiatus. It seems like it’s always something with the so-called “Peaceful Army.” But this is too much. Too far. When Greta gives us someone like Travis, and he goes so far beyond his call of duty on our behalf only to be blamed for our aggression and have his very character attacked by strangers on the internet, how can we call ourselves "Peaceful” with a straight face?
People love to say, “Oh the boys would think this, and the boys would say that...” when they don’t agree with something happening in the fandom. But much like when this mob tries to attack Danny, I think they would be absolutely disgusted with the Travis hate. I’ll never understand how this fandom can attack the people Greta loves and sleep at night calling themselves their “biggest fans.”
Travis Davis, Vice President of Ship Operations Battleship Texas Foundation, with Coast Guard Inspectors in Battleship Texas's boiler room.
"One of our Coast Guard inspections teams at work here in the area of responsibility (AOR). They are inspecting the dewatering equipment that was installed in the event the ship started taking on water."
Posted to U.S. Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston Facebook page on August 30, 2022: link
Tears of laughter TD! Was this the best Broncos-blasting Super Bowl tweet?
Tears of laughter TD! Was this the best Broncos-blasting Super Bowl tweet?
http://twitter.com/#!/TravDav_/status/430152552219291650 Ask and ye shall receive! http://twitter.com/#!/RobinMcCauley/status/430134383958183936 Giggling madly. With snorts! Was that early entry the best Broncos-blasting Super Bowl tweet of the night? You decide! The tweet was retweeted over 400 times and counting. Some other contenders: Gov. Jindal scored big with an excellent Super Bowl zinger…
