Amy Poehler check it out...
Council looks to concert changes after rowdy crowd by Eric Michael Stitt (Updated: Thursday, July 30, 2009 9:31 AM PDT)
Troubling issues with the last weekend’s Sunset Concert on the beach has caused the city to increase security and make other improvements for the third and final live music show on the beach this Sunday.
Hermosa Beach’s City Council spent the majority of its July 28 meeting discussing problems with last Sunday’s event.
At the show, the reggae-style band Rebelution brought in a crowd that was younger and rowdier than the usual Sunset Concert goers. The series is geared toward a relaxed atmosphere that usually brings in families with beach chairs and blankets rather than like last Sunday’s event, which produced a standing-room-only party crowd that was more similar to a rock concert.
Police estimated 7,000 people attended, which flooded the downtown area with people, causing more parking problems than usual and creating a wild atmosphere at the beach.
The concert was not on the council’s agenda for the meeting, but it was added with a 5-0 approval at the last minute because council members wanted to make sure the same mistake never happens again.
“Quite frankly, we screwed up,” said Councilman J.R. Reviczky. “It brought in the wrong demographic.”
Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Watch leader and Volunteers In Policing member Kelly Kovac-Reedy said this particular concert brought in an audience that was something children should not be introduced to. She spoke of illegal drinking on the beach, marijuana smoking, fights and other PG-13 action that made several families turn around and head home shortly after the concert started.
“I think it sent a very bad message to the children of Hermosa Beach,” Kovac-Reedy said. “I don’t understand what’s happening and the message you are sending. We try and promote security and safety, and this is the opposite.”
Resident Jeff Duclos, also a VIP member, said the scene was “absolutely frightening” as he waged a losing battle against law-breaking concertgoers.
“This was Woodstock gone mad,” Duclos said of the scene. “Even containment was an issue. It was a frightening situation down there … anything could have happened.”
Former councilman George Barks said the city should take the concert series off the beach and move it to Valley Park to ensure family-friendly evenings.
Councilman Peter Tucker said, “It was like we had 10 Fiestas down there.” However, he said usually there is a “wagon train” of families heading down The Strand to the midsummer concert series and there’s never been any trouble like this before.
“This is one strike against us,” Tucker said. “Most of the time it’s family events.”
Councilman Michael Keegan said he’s been to at least 40 concerts in Hermosa Beach and this was the first time he had seen a troublesome crowd. He recommended just making sure future bands have a following that brings in a more mature audience instead of a college-age party crowd.
Police Chief Greg Savelli said they had four officers working the beach event, but he had to call in six more after checking in after 7 p.m.
To make sure this doesn’t happen again, the city is hiring 20 security guards with donated money for the concerts that will help maintain orderly conduct and keep attendees from drinking and smoking on the beach. Lawbreakers who don’t abide by security’s demands will be ticketed and removed from the event, Savelli said.
Also, this Sunday’s concert will start an hour earlier at 5 p.m. and the city is confident the two performers, Shari Puorto and ALO, will not bring in the demographic that took over the beach Sunday.
The City Council then voted 4-1 to ask the Parks and Recreation Commission to look at the Sunset Concerts Series to make sure this mistake never happens again and to also create ideas that make the concerts more inviting to families. Mayor Pro Tem Michael DiVirgilio voted no and instead wanted to cancel Sunday’s concert.
