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Public commission will discuss ban on raves @ L.A. Coliseum
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| mattW |
http://www.latimes.com/news/health/...0,2922663.story
Public commission will discuss ban on raves
A decision to keep a moratorium on new rave contracts, which was imposed after a suspected drug overdose death at the Electric Daisy Carnival, could be costly to the L.A. Coliseum and Sports Arena.
Finance
Revenue from events such as the Electric Daisy Carnival is a significant part of the L.A. Coliseum and Sports Arena budget, an official says.
By Rong-Gong Lin II, Los Angeles Times
July 16, 2010
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and Sports Arena could stand to lose significant amounts of money if the public commission that oversees the venues continues a moratorium on rave concerts.
Whether raves will continue at the venues will be a question considered Friday by a joint city, county and state commission that oversees the Coliseum management, which was ordered to impose a moratorium on new contracts with rave producers following the suspected drug overdose death three weeks ago of a 15-year-old girl after she attended the Electric Daisy Carnival.
In response to a public records act request from the Los Angeles Times, the Coliseum management declined to disclose how much it was making from each rave, saying that maintaining confidentiality is critical to keeping the Coliseum competitive in seeking event bookings.
It is clear, however, that raves are big business. The number of attendees has increased dramatically in recent years. In 2009, the Electric Daisy Carnival attracted about 135,000 people over two days; this year, 185,000 attended — the highest number any such rave has attracted since the Coliseum and Sports Arena began hosting the events in the 1990s.
The cost to attend the Electric Daisy Carnival on Friday, June 25, was $75, while the cost June 26 was $85; a ticket for both days was $149.
It's a "very significant piece of the annual budget," Pat Lynch, the Coliseum's general manager, said of such events.
The Coliseum and Sports Arena, which are on state land, operate on event revenues and receive no taxpayer subsidy. Raves — electronic music events that can last 12 hours and feature nonstop dancing — are highly profitable, and the Coliseum or Sports Arena has held four each year since 2008: the Electric Daisy Carnival in June, the Love Festival in August, Monster Massive around Halloween and Together as One on New Year's Eve.
Emergency room physicians in recent weeks have called for a ban on raves at the two venues, saying that use of the illegal drug Ecstasy is widespread at raves and that those who overdose flood nearby hospitals, putting them at risk for critical illness and death.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, a Coliseum commissioner who called for a moratorium on raves after Sasha Rodriguez's death last month, said Thursday that he would prefer to see the Love Festival — produced by West Hills-based Go Ventures and scheduled for Aug. 21 — be put on hold until officials can review the findings of a county task force set up to study safety at raves.
But a cancellation of the Love Festival could put the Coliseum at risk of a lawsuit if it violates the contract with the rave producer. Yaroslavsky expects that there will be discussion of increased safety measures to be implemented for the event if it is held.
"If the commission determines it has to go forward … it will give us an opportunity, if the new conditions are meaningful … to see if it makes a difference," Yaroslavsky said. "That would be a guidepost for how we're going to proceed forward next year and beyond."
Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, another commissioner, said last week that he wanted to see a way to safely continue holding the events.
"There are ways to meet the test of public safety … and make them viable economically," Ridley-Thomas said, while adding: "In the final analysis — safety first."
Insomniac Events, the Los Angeles-based producer of the Electric Daisy Carnival, released a statement that said it will temporarily ban anyone under the age of 18 from attending its dance music festivals. The company has hired a consulting firm to review its safety and security protocols, and create new procedures "adapted to the new challenges involved in music festivals," the statement said.
"Insomniac remains committed to providing a place for our guests to celebrate safely," company founder Pasquale Rotella said in a statement.
[email protected]
Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times |
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| Nerologic |
| Sometimes all you need is one death and a congressmen with something to prove to make change. |
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| manu.el |
| Bas, ban 'rave' threads, imo. |
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| mattW |
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lan...raves.html#more
L.A. Coliseum board extends ban on new raves, bans minors from scheduled raves
July 16, 2010 | 5:33 pm
The panel overseeing the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and Sports Arena voted Friday to continue a moratorium on new raves at the venues.
The board said several previously scheduled raves will be allowed to continue later this year. But those raves will face new restrictions, including banning minors from attending them.
[Updated, 8:55 p.m.: In front of a packed meeting room, members of the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission told rave producers that the three upcoming events, on Aug. 21, in October and on New Year's Eve, offered them one last chance to clean up their act. The safety of the two-day dance parties came under question after the suspected drug overdose death of a 15-year-old girl on June 29 after attending the Electric Daisy Carnival at the Coliseum, which had an age limit of 16.
“You’re on probation,” Coliseum Commissioner David Israel told Pasquale Rotella, the founder of Insomniac Events, which produced the Electric Daisy Carnival where Sasha Rodriguez apparently overdosed. “The question is whether you wind up gone or back in society.”
The commission – the joint state, county and city board that oversees the venue and whose meetings rarely draw more than a handful of people -- also ordered that future raves enforce a strict age limit of 18 by checking identification; hire a team of emergency room doctors to work on-site; and warn rave-goers about the dangers of the illegal drug Ecstasy, which is seen by some rave attendees as an integral part of the experience.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said he would have liked to go further, and postpone all future raves immediately, but has been told by the Coliseum’s lawyers that the venue is contractually bound to host them.
Yaroslavsky challenged Rotella and other rave-producers to move the culture of raves away from celebrating the use of Ecstasy, the illegal stimulant and hallucinogen suspected of causing Sasha Rodriguez’s death.
“You know you’ve got an Ecstasy and other drug problems at these concerts. … You have influence over what your acts are saying. Can’t you put your thinking cap on and create a new dynamic in the arena?” Yaroslavsky asked. “Do something proactive … that keeps your patrons alive.”
Rotella declined to respond. His lawyer, Simon Rust Lamb, said Rotella’s company has hired a consulting firm to review its safety and security protocols.
Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard Parks defended the events, saying he believes only about 5% of attendees engage in illegal acts.
“There are no perfect events,” he said. “I don’t think we should leave here thinking that we will have things in the future with no incidents.”
Rotella subsequently read a prepared statement that said Insomnaic’s fans “deserve only the best, whether it be the world-class artists we bring to Los Angeles or the industry-leading security measures we have implemented to make sure they safely enjoy themselves.”
Some members of the audience applauded the decision to give raves another chance.
Tess Fish, 20, a UC Davis student back in Los Angeles for the summer, called these raves “our generation’s Woodstock.”
A ban “would be really sad. It would be a huge impact to the SoCal raver scene,” Fish said.
On the other side, Aisha Armer, 19, of Laguna Niguel, said the Coliseum needs a ban to protect young people.
Armer said she attended the Electric Daisy Carnival in 2009, and took Ecstasy because all of her friends were doing it.
She later had a massive convulsion and wound up at Good Samaritan Hospital, where she suffered multiorgan failure, four strokes, and fell into a two-month coma, her mother, Debbie Macaluso, said.
Only recently did Armer relearn how to walk and talk.
“Everyone knows you take drugs at this rave,” Armer said, her slowed speech showing the effects of the strokes. ”I want to prevent this from happening to other people. As long as these go on, people are going to get hurt.” ]
Emergency room physicians in recent weeks have called for a ban on raves at the two venues, saying that use of the illegal drug Ecstasy is widespread at raves and that those who overdose flood nearby hospitals, putting them at risk for critical illness and death.
The Coliseum and Sports Arena, which are on state land, operate on event revenues and receive no taxpayer subsidy. Raves — electronic music events that can last 12 hours and feature nonstop dancing — are highly profitable, and the Coliseum or Sports Arena has held four each year since 2008: the Electric Daisy Carnival in June, the Love Festival in August, Monster Massive around Halloween and Together as One on New Year's Eve.
In response to a public records act request from the Los Angeles Times, the Coliseum management declined to disclose how much it was making from each rave, saying that maintaining confidentiality is critical to keeping the Coliseum competitive in seeking event bookings.
It is clear, however, that raves are big business. The number of attendees has increased dramatically in recent years. In 2009, the Electric Daisy Carnival attracted about 135,000 people over two days; this year, 185,000 attended — the highest number any such rave has attracted since the Coliseum and Sports Arena began hosting the events in the 1990s.
The cost to attend the Electric Daisy Carnival on June 25 was $75 while the cost June 26 was $85; a ticket for both days was $149.
--Rong-Gong Lin II reporting from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Photo: Revenue from events such as the Electric Daisy Carnival is a significant part of the L.A. Coliseum and Sports Arena budget, an official says.
Credit: John W. Adkisson / Los Angeles Times |
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| mattW |
"Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard Parks defended the events, saying he believes only about 5% of attendees engage in illegal acts."
;) |
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| 72hrpartyanimal |
| quote: | Originally posted by mattW
"Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard Parks defended the events, saying he believes only about 5% of attendees engage in illegal acts."
;) |
I like this guy already. |
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| Nerologic |
| quote: | Originally posted by mattW
"Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard Parks defended the events, saying he believes only about 5% of attendees engage in illegal acts."
;) |
To bad he's in the minority.
Ron Paul supported this kind of stuff too, but look where it got him lol |
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| Quazar |
| quote: | On the other side, Aisha Armer, 19, of Laguna Niguel, said the Coliseum needs a ban to protect young people.
Armer said she attended the Electric Daisy Carnival in 2009, and took Ecstasy because all of her friends were doing it.
She later had a massive convulsion and wound up at Good Samaritan Hospital, where she suffered multiorgan failure, four strokes, and fell into a two-month coma, her mother, Debbie Macaluso, said. |
What happened to her is terrible, but... "took Ecstasy because all of her friends were doing it" doesn't really sound like the fault of the event...
"There should be a ban on raves because I can't think for myself", basically. |
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| josbalstr |
| quote: | | What happened to her is terrible, but... "took Ecstasy because all of her friends were doing it" doesn't really sound like the fault of the event... "There should be a ban on raves because I can't think for myself", basically. |
+1
couldn't have said it any better... |
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| Nerologic |
| quote: | Originally posted by Quazar
"There should be a ban on raves because I can't think for myself", basically. |
This is the exact same ing reason kids should not be driving until the age of 18.
I was a ing buffoon when I was 16-18. I am amazed at the that I have done in life and yet I am still alive and out of jail.
I know I am not in the minority here. I am sure there are a handful of people that were responsible at that age, but not many. |
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| neogaia |
| quote: | Originally posted by Nerologic
This is the exact same ing reason kids should not be driving until the age of 18.
I was a ing buffoon when I was 16-18. I am amazed at the that I have done in life and yet I am still alive and out of jail.
I know I am not in the minority here. I am sure there are a handful of people that were responsible at that age, but not many. |
Yes. I was one of those handful. Was a sober raver from 16-18 but I constantly amazed by hearing friend's stories of how irresponsible they were at that age, I was just lucky to have been focused on my studies and deciding that it was best to research stuff thoroughly before I tried it.
Well the good thing coming out of this is Insomniac is going to make all its parties 18+, so that should cut down on 14-16 yo on drugs and naked problems. |
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| LAdazeNYnights |
| quote: | Originally posted by Nerologic
This is the exact same ing reason kids should not be driving until the age of 18.
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i'm from jersey and didn't really get my license till i was 18---it's funny i think back to that first year driving, the way some of my friends drove and the stupid stuff they did with their cars (myself included), when i first heard kids drove out here when they were 16 i was flabbergasted. sounds like a terrrrible idea. |
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