The Haunted Coliseum with Sebastian Ingrosso, Alesso, Otto Knows took place at the Nassau Coliseum on October 27, 2012. It would have been the first time an electronic dance music event took place at the venue, but multiple factors lead to the event being cancelled and shut down shortly after it’s scheduled start time of 9:30 PM. According to multiple sources over 100 teenagers had to be hospitalized and one 44 year old man was arrested for landing his helicopter in a public location.
The intoxicated youths are hardly a rare occurence, what did you expect throwing an all ages party on Halloween weekend? The issue here lies with the promoter Louis Branchinelli and venue Nassau Coliseum for not having the proper security in place to handle the crowd. Poorly managed events have the potential to bring the entire scene down.
EDMSNOB has received comments from Louis B. on the event;
“I’m a promoter. What am I supposed to do, promote less? I don’t even know how to do that…I love dance music. I love throwing dance music events. It’s what I do.”
In the full article posted on dubstep.net Louis mentions that he cannot control the amount of alcohol individuals choose to drink and this is no fault of the event planners. There was no mention as to whether refunds would be issued or not.
Promoters Need to Put Safety First
Unfortunately mainstream media will automatically label an party with electronic dance music as a rave. The Haunted Coliseum was not a rave, it was a party setup to rake in the most amount of money possible. The facebook page even says, “Halloween Costume Party @ Pier Nassau Colliseum.” You make your event all-ages or 17+ to promote to the maximum audience possible. You cannot claim ignorance that drunk high schoolers are going to show up to your underage show.
This can be done properly, but it takes an additional investment to properly train security and ensure that the event is safe for everyone. If your top priority isn’t ensuring individuals have a safe and fun experience, then problems are going to occur. Electric Zoo was all ages and over 110,000 people attended over the three days, but at no point in time was anything out of control.
Dance music is spreading to every demographic. It’s important that we share our knowledge with the younger generation so that they can enjoy the same music and experience we love without hurting themselves or someone else. At this time, there have been no fatalities reported from The Haunted Coliseum and we can only hope that this does not change.
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