Huntington Center General Manager Steve Miller understands why some people may question security at the venue after an incident involving country music singer Kacey Musgraves Saturday night.

He just doesn’t think the concerns are valid.

“We monitor all of our events and we schedule staffing according to the size and type of show,” Mr. Miller said. “We had more than 60 private security officers and Lucas County sheriff’s deputies [at the concert]. I feel comfortable with our security levels.”

Ms. Musgraves posted a video to Twitter early Sunday morning of an encounter with an overzealous fan, who grabbed her hand as she walked from a secondary stage back to the main stage during her 45-minute set. In the video, Ms. Musgraves can be heard saying, “Ow. Stop.” And a nearby man can be heard saying, “He grabbed her.”

In the posting, Ms. Musgraves made light of the situation, joking that she was going to have to start carrying a rolled up newspaper. 

Ms. Musgraves’ publicist, Benny Tarantini, when reached by The Blade, said Ms. Musgraves’ team would have no comment on the incident or Twitter post.

One man who responded to Ms. Musgraves’ initial post, Edward Schaechterle, 32, of Norwalk, was at the concert and was near the incident. In a later conversation with The Blade, Mr. Schaechterle blamed poor security.

“People were obnoxiously drunk [Saturday] night and security wasn’t doing anything about it,” Mr. Schaechterle said.

He said that during Ms. Musgraves’ set, he was standing and cheering and a drunken fan confronted and threatened him if he didn’t sit down. When he told a nearby security guard, Mr. Schaechterle said he was told to sit down. In a separate incident, during Ms. Musgraves’ preshow meet-and-greet event, Mr. Schaechterle said two intoxicated fans fell through a dividing curtain. 

Mr. Schaechterle said he averages a concert every other week, at many different venues, and he questioned the staffing levels and quality of the Huntington Center security: “People have no idea what they are doing. I feel like they are just hiring bodies to fill a spot.”

The event Saturday night, which featured headliner Little Big Town, was a sellout. There were about 7,400 people in the building. Doors were opened at 6:30 p.m., and the show ended at around 11:10 p.m. Beer continued to be sold until about 10:30, Mr. Miller said.

The challenge for any venue hosting and securing a concert is that drinking is often a big part of the night. On Saturday night, there were lines outside of several downtown bars hours before the event, with many of the customers pregaming before the concert.

“All of our servers go through alcohol training. If the servers see that someone has reached their limit, they should not be served anymore,” Mr. Miller said. “If we feel that too many people are getting out of control, we may close off beer sales early. We typically close up 30 minutes before the show ends,” which is what happened Saturday.

Mr. Miller said that one person Saturday was ejected from the concert because of being overly intoxicated. Lucas County Sheriff John Tharp said no serious incidents were reported to him and he could not recall any at the venue since becoming sheriff in January, 2013.

“People can be removed if they are causing an issue,” Mr. Miller said. “But, we try to work with them first. And we also make sure that they have a ride or a designated driver. No one should be drinking and driving.”

Regarding the incident between Ms. Musgraves and the fan, he said that security officials would be reviewing the video clip and that the private security guards guiding her through the crowd would be offered retraining if deemed necessary. He said that if fans are harassed or threatened at a concert that they should go to guest services behind Section 116.

“We’ll get a security officer there, and if need be we can get a sheriff’s deputy involved,” Mr. Miller said. “We want everyone to have a great experience. If they don’t, that reflects poorly on the whole facility.”

Contact Brian Dugger at bdugger@theblade.com or on Twitter @DuggerBlade.

First Published February 19, 2018, 10:43 p.m.