Electric Daisy Carnival Rave Wants to Return to L.A: After Hollywood Near-Riot 'Los Angeles Times' Says Hell No
We here at the Weekly have gotten some shit for affiliating the premier of a documentary about the controversial Electric Daisy Carnival rave with the chaos that ensued outside the theater last week.
Dennis Romero Cops vs. ravers on Hollywood Boulevard.
EDC organizers say a DJ's free performance on Hollywood Boulevard Wednesday had nothing to do with the nearby screening that day of Electric Daisy Carnival Experience (even though that DJ features prominently in the film, and a permit service for the red-carpet event that was originally marketed as being hosted by EDC's promoters told us the spinner featured prominently in the event's planning).
Well, over the weekend the Los Angeles Times minced no words: EDC should never return to L.A. following the near-riot in Hollywood, the paper editorialized:
... Even if Wednesday's incident wasn't Insomniac's fault (and if it was, it should reimburse the city), controversy and conflict seem to follow the company like a bad smell.
The paper notes that two deaths were affiliated with EDC's Dallas party this year and that a 15-year-old died of an ecstasy overdose after she attended EDC at the L.A. Coliseum last year.
That sparked some outrage: The Coliseum is a publicly run venue. EDC saw 60 mostly drug-related arrests, 226 medical emergencies, and 114 hospitalizations.
As part of its effort to lobby the Coliseum Commission to allow EDC to continue there, EDC argued through experts and officials on its side that the 160,000-attendance, two-day festival was no different in terms of arrests and medical emergencies than any other kind of concert.
It was an argument made by commissioner and City Councilman Bernard Parks. Some even suggested that electronic music shows at the Hollywood Bowl were fairly similar.
But ... a concert called L.A. Rising featuring Rage Against the Machine Saturday at the Coliseum reported drew 60,000 people and, according to what Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Cecil Manresa told the Weekly, only 16 medical emergencies were reported.
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[Added]: LAPD Deputy Chief Patrick Gannon tells the Weekly there were four arrests at L.A. Rising, which actually saw about 53,000 people by his count.
The arrests were for fighting and included one assault with a deadly weapon collar because the suspect allegedly used his feet, he said.
"We didn'tsee the level of drugs present here that we saw at the raves," Gannon said.
Meanwhile Insomniac's Audiotistic rave at the National Orange Show Event Center on Saturday drew about 19,000 people and saw only three transports to hospitals, San Bernardino County emergency medical services coordinator Bernie Horak told the Weekly.
We're trying to get arrest numbers, if any, from the San Bernardino Police Department.
[Added No. 2]: San Bernardino police Lt. Eric McBride says there were 43 arrests, including 35 for alleged sales or possession of narcotics, 5 for suspected vandalism, 2 for public intoxication and 1 for trespassing.
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An LAPD sergeant told us there were "several" arrests, and we have a call in to a commander to find out exactly how many.
Following the EDC 2010 controversy, which included Times reports that a Coliseum official was working for EDC's promoter, Insomniac Events, on the side, the party moved to Las Vegas in June. But Insomniac chief Pasquale Rotella says he wants to come back to the rave's hometown.
The Times says hell no:
We couldn't be happier that Insomniac has taken its act there [to Sin City]. This is definitely a situation in which we hope that what goes to Vegas stays in Vegas.
[@dennisjromero/djromero@laweekly.com]
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