Concert Attendees Claim There Was No “Widespread Panic” In Williamsburg Last Saturday

One attendee who admittedly doesn’t really like the band, but was there sober and with her husband, told us: “Drug nightmare? I didn’t see any of that at the concert (only the green stuff — and I wouldn’t call it a nightmare). On the contrary, I’ve never been to such a large gathering [with so much alcohol] without there being fights or mayhem. The crowd wasn’t too big, and everybody was just grooving and having a good time. I love those damn WP hippies.”

Pretty much my experience too. What happened on North 7th Street sucked. The question is, was it the norm or the exception?

Drug Orgies on the Northside

09/21/2011 | 1 Comment

It would be hard to do, but in case you missed it, a resident of North 7th Street has posted videos of people huffing nitrous on North 7th Street after last Saturday’s Widespread Panic concert. I’d heard about these videos last night, but hadn’t seen them until just now. While I wouldn’t call this a drug orgy or any of the other hyperbole being thrown around, it is an inexcusable mess.

So – a few thoughts on this:

One, it sucks that this happened. Sucks for the resident(s), sucks for OSA, sucks for the NYPD and sucks for the concerts.

Two, this was exactly the opposite of my experience only one block to the north. I was at the concert that night – the first time I’d been to an OSA waterfront concert – and was generally impressed by the efficiency and professionalism of the security inside, the number of cops outside and the comportment of the crowd. I happened to leave via North 8th Street, where it was relatively quiet and there was a large police presence. The crowd was orderly and by no means out of hand (I left about half an hour after the show, so the throngs had moved on by that point), and the cops kept people moving out of the area. There were a lot of concertgoers in the bar I went to after, and all were well behaved. More or less more or less, the crowd behavior that evening was what I would expect from a post-Dead, post-hippie jam band’s followers (of which I am not one).

Three, I remember this coming up earlier in the year – residents complaining about people selling hits of nitrous out of the trunk of their cars after last year’s concerts – and thinking “Who the hell does that?”. Unfortunately, now I know.

And in case you did miss it, there is a lot more on this at various sites already (with plenty of comments):

From The New York Shitty Inbox: Saturday Night [NYShitty was there first]
These Widespread Panic Fans Aren’t Sucking On Balloons Because They’re Feeling Festive [Voice]
Video: People Casually Doing Nitrous On the Street in Williamsburg After Jam Band Show [Voice]
Video: Nitrous Oxide-Fueled Fans Terrorize Williamsburg Locals [Gothamist]
“POST-CONCERT DRUG ORGY MOB NIGHTMARE” AT WILLIAMSBURG WATERFRONT [Free Williamsburg]
Jam Band Show Turned Williamsburg Into Druggy Whippet Wonderland [NY Mag]
Post-concert open-air drug market in Williamsburg! [Brooklyn Paper]
Widespread Panic Concert Causes ‘Mayhem’ In Williamsburg (VIDEO) [yes, even HuffPo has reaggregated it]

CB1 Supports OSA Concerts

05/10/2011 | Comment

CB1 voted tonight to partially overturn the recommendation of the Parks Committee and not recommend a reduction in the number of OSA concerts or the number of concert attendees.

This came after OSA Secretary Adam Perlmutter made the case for OSA and it’s concert series. Perlmutter pointed out that last year’s promoter was out and that OSA would be running quieter and shorter shows this year. Long before the community spoke out on the issue, OSA had already decided to cut the number of shows from 22 to 15, the number of attendees from 7,500 to 6,500 and the number of bands per show from 5 to 2. And of the 15 shows, two will be children’s concerts, one will be a comedy show and one will be a philharmonic show, so there will be only 11 rock concerts (the Parks Committee recommended 10).

These changes seemed to be acceptable to some of the park’s neighbors, and since they brought the concerts more in line with what the committee had recommended anyhow, it was agreed to drop the numerical requirements and give OSA a chance to run a more neighborhood-friendly concert series.

Williamsburg Community Board Approves Parks Concert Series

05/04/2011 | Comment

The waterfront concerts were not the only concert series on the agenda of last nights CB1 Parks Committee meeting. I hear that at the end of the meeting the committee recommended that the full board support the L Magazine’s Northside Festival concerts in McCarren Park (I think on the asphalt baseball fields across from the Turkey’s Nest). The concerts (which will, in part, benefit OSA, and which will have a capacity of 5,000, but I guess the similarities end there) include Beirut on June 17th and the Wavves opening for Guided by Voices on the 18th.

(The rest of the Northside Fesitival lineup feature The Hold Steady, Titus, the Fiery Furnaces and a whole bunch more in a series of venues spread around the neighborhood.

The Day the Music Was Turned Down (But Not Really)

05/04/2011 | 2 Comments

Apparently last night’s CB1 Parks Committee was a bit of a doozy (Aaron Short went so I didn’t have to!). In an advisory vote, the committee recommended that the number of concerts be cut by a third and that attendance at each concert be cut by about 25% (from 6,500 to 5,000 people). Since the Open Space Alliance has already booked 15 shows for the summer, and since the concerts are held on State park land (which the local CB1 has no jurisdiction over), this vote won’t change anything. It may be a symbolic gesture, but it’s pretty clear that some people are not too happy with the concerts or with OSA.

Let There Be Music

04/13/2011 | 6 Comments

Brooklyn Vegan has a statement from OSA on the summer concert park series, basically saying that the show will go on. (Not that there was really any doubt about that – the concerts are popular, profitable and well beyond the jurisdiction of the local community board.) And Brooklyn365 has a similar statement from Assemblyman Joe Lentol, with similar sentiments. Like everyone else (myself included), Lentol is unclear as to exactly what the board said last night, but this is his interpretation:

I believe that there were complaints about the noise and drunkenness of some concert goers afterwards on the neighborhood streets. There were also some requests for information about how much money has been raised and where those funds go.

That last bit is pretty important. Four (?) years in, and the community isn’t seeing the benefits of these concerts. Not that they aren’t there – OSA does tremendous work on behalf of the community. But clearly they can do a better job of publicizing that work.

Williamsburg Bans Music?

04/12/2011 | 13 Comments

So, apparently threatening to cut off the hootch is a good way to pack a community board meeting. Tonight’s CB1 was certainly packed, and the press was out in full force to see what went down. NY1 was there, as was the Huffington Post and all the local press (even local press alums came out).

People spoke passionately about liquor licenses, generally and specifically. CB1 Chairman Chris Olechowski presented his case – which is a very good one. Our community has seen a massive increase in the number of bars and restaurants, and nightlife is becoming the single biggest quality of life issue in the area. In response to this issue, the board leadership has called for a moratorium on new liquor licenses. Which, of course, is what led to the all the video cameras and all the people at tonight’s meeting.

And then … nothing happened.

The board took no official position. The committee responsible for overseeing liquor licenses will take the matter under advisement. The board itself approved four new liquor licenses and renewals for a dozen or more establishments. The cameras moved out into the hallway, and a lot of people went home.

And then … something actually did happen.

A number of local residents got up during the public session (which usually happens after most of the public has left) and complained about the concerts at East River State Park (the “OSA” concerts). Basically, their complaint was that all the things that Greenpoint residents were afraid would happen if the Brooklyn Night Bazaar went down were already happening to them. Loud music (very loud music if you happen to live right there). Crowds of people walking to and from concerts (and much less steadily on the from side). ~~In other words, a regular shitshow 10 or 15 times each summer.~~

So, the Community Board voted (unanimously) to ban the waterfront concert series from East River State Park.

It happened before an empty house – I guess the press left before the news happened.

UPDATE 1:So now there is confusion about what the Board’s actual resolution was. I was there, and I think the resolution was against the concerts. Nothing was written – there was a vocal and passionate plea “do something” about the problem, a very strong sentiment from the Board members there (which was very few) that the collateral damage from the concerts was a problem, and a call for a resolution. But to be clear, there is no application before the CB or any other item that they can take direct action on.

UPDATE 2:And I’ve deleted the “shitshow” comment above – that was certainly the sentiment of the people who spoke out about this issue, but it is not my opinion, even though it read that way.