Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Links and Articles on promoter Melvin Benn and other festivals

Below is a list of some articles found on the web and their links so that you may read and pass along to others information regarding Promoter Melvin Benn and other festivals that he organizes (Leeds and Reading Festivals in England, Austin City Limits Music Festival held in Texas, etc) along with information on other similar style festivals organized by other promoters. If you have other websites to add, please let us know.

Melvin Benn’s Refusal to pay for costs incurred following 2003 Leeds Festival Rioting:
http://www.virtualfestivals.com/latest/news/2644

Melvin Benn’s first statement that the Vineland Festival will have “an expected audience of 10,000 to 20,000 people”: http://www.thedailyjournal.com/apps/pbcs/dll/article?AID=/20071206/NEWS01/71206011

Contradictory statement by partner of Melvin Benn’s: “Over three days, a crowd of 150,000 or more is expected . . . at the camping festival”.
www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/11863722.html

Leeds Rock Festival 2005 Aftermath and related videos, Leeds Festival Riots:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqO0n6bGXA8

Leeds Rock Festival ends in ‘sustained, mindless violence’ – Published: 08/27/02:
“They burnt two toilet blocks, attacked police with missiles . . . pulled down electric cables before 200 officers, many in riot gear, managed to stop them . . . the violence involved several hundred people.” At the Leeds Festival with 50,000 attendees there were 200 crimes recorded, 20 people arrested, 51 drug offenses. At Reading with 80,000 attendees “50 people were arrested and about 500 crimes reported, ranging from theft to public order offenses. There were 234 drug seizures . . .
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article174750.ece

The night one of the world’s great rock festivals turned to tragedy – Published: 07/02/2000, “where eight fans were crushed and trampled to death and scores injured . . . “
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article268094.ece

TDOT and THP Gear Up for Manchester’s 2007 Bonnaroo Music Festival, June 8, 2007. At least 80,000 expected. “State Troopers on the job 24 hours a day . . . both on the ground and in the air, using helicopters . . . “During Bonnaroo 2006, Troopers logged over 6,400 man-hours” (If Vineland Festival is permitted, we local taxpayers will ultimately have to pay for all these extra expenses.)
http://www.tennessee.gov/safety/newsreleases/2007/070611BonnarooGearUp.htm

Bonnaroo Festival – City Details: Manchester, TN has a population of 7,000 people with INTERSTATE HIGHWAY 24 access to the 700-acre plantation. The City of Vineland has 65,000+ people with NO Interstate Highway access to the proposed site. We have only rural roads that in no way can accommodate the
traffic. http://www.melodytrip.com/MTFestival/Default.aspx?FestivalID=760

Live Review by Jason Crock (06/29/06) of the 2006 Bonnaroo Festival. “You will pay four dollars for a limp slice of pizza . . . And you will be solicited for any illicit substance you can think of by merely standing around. . . . “,but getting f*cked up seemed like job one to the fans, and seeing music was second. Take that into account, and hangovers, 90-degree heat, inevitable detours . . . “
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/37077-live-bonnaroo-festival

Crowd Management Strategies: Eleventh Rock Concert Safety Survey for 2002.
Quick View: 20 deaths due to crowd safety – this does not include deaths for unknown causes or causes not proven to be related to event safety 4,567+ injuries, 2,683+ arrests/citations, $542,000+ Property Damage at (31) Concerts/Festivals
“Please note: Each Rock Concert Safety Survey lists only a sampling of the most dangerous events of the previous year. If data on all known deaths, injuries, property damage costs and arrests were made public, the statistics for these categories would be higher.” ht
http://www.crowdsafe.com/rcss11nr.pdf

The New York Times: ’69 or ’99, a Rock Festival Is a Combustible Mix: 08/08/99: “burning, looting and youth-gone-wild marauding”:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F07EEDB1F31F93BA3575BC0A96F958260

16 Year Old Raped in her tent at the Reading Music Festival
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1511159.sm