Security Talks About Jason Aldean & Luke Bryan Drunk Fan

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By now you’ve heard the story about the drunk fan that Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan tried to help out at their concert in Champaign, Illinois last Saturday (2/4/12). We talked to the security guard involved to get that side of the incident.

As one of the concert fans in the audience, I thought that security handled the situation as well as anybody could have hoped for. While Jason and Luke were trying to keep the fan from being thrown out, it appeared that security was going to grant their wish. That was until the drunk fan just wouldn’t cooperate or listen to reason.

photo courtesy of Levi Miller

I managed to contact the security guard that was the main person involved with trying to control the man before he hurt himself or anybody else. The security guard’s name is Levi. The 28-year-old works for the University of Illinois as security as a part-time job and has done so for six months now. His full-time job is as a recruiter for the Illinois Army National Guard out of Champaign. Levi has been a recruiter for six years and a member of our Nation’s military for twelve years.

If you’ve seen the video, you saw that the drunk fan walked around the Assembly Hall on a very narrow ledge to get in front of Jason and Luke. Levi said: “When I caught up with the young gentleman, my first concern was to secure him so he wasn’t going to fall over.” He said that his first interaction with the drunken man was to, “let him know that I was there for his safety and was gonna try to then get him back into the seating section at that point.”

Fans security is a serious concern for security at U of I Assembly Hall. This fan had put himself in a very dangerous situation with a 12 to 15 foot drop to the concrete floor. Levi also knew he was at risk as well: “I was actually putting myself in a kind of hairy situation because I could fell or he could have pushed me. Honestly, I was more concerned with him and his well-being to get him back in his seat.”

Levi says he heard what Jason and Luke were saying to him and agreed: “Initially they said ‘Hey, don’t hurt him’, I think they were talking to me at that point. [They said] ‘Don’t take him out, he’s just in the spirit,’ and I totally agree.” He continued, “These are two great, down to earth guys. You can tell they were having a good time with it.”

Situations like this do come to a point where enough is enough though. “At some point these two great guys were like let’s just get on with the show, get back in your seat,” Levi explains, “Honestly, at that point if he would have went back to his seat, we would have had no more issues.”

In the video you will see that the fan once again stepped back over the rail onto the ledge, that’s when Levi knew he had to take action, “That’s when I grabbed him. I saw out of the corner of my eye that the aisle was only maybe two seats away.” He explains, “I was able to pick him up and set him the aisle to make sure that none of the other innocent bystanders were hurt by this individual.” It’s also at this point that Jason and Luke realized that their attempt to help out the drunk fan had failed and led the crowd in a “good-bye song” to the fan.

Again, as a fan at the show, I feel that Levi and all of the security that dealt with the situation acted in a very professional and considerate manner and deserve our thanks for their efforts to keep all safe. Levi gives this advice to fans who go to concerts: “Go, enjoy yourself. However, keep in mind that you want to stay safe. Watch your alcohol intake. Overall, have a good time but, you know, don’t get out of control.”

If you haven’t seen the video of the incident at U of I Assembly Hall where Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan tried to help a drunk fan, you can see it HERE.

Here the complete interview with Levi below.

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