First Pico-Rivera canceled a rave event, and Friday afternoon, the city of Industry joined in.
It was a very sudden turnaround at Rancho Farallon in Industry Friday. The owner of the venue, who is also one of the concert promoters, said he was bombarded by so many calls from the city that he decided to pull the plug on the event. The city is telling a different story.
It was billed on a website as an event for all ages.
The Fresh Squeezed Music Festival 2010 was set to take place at the Pico Rivera Sports Center on Saturday night.
That is, until another concert involving a different promoter went crazy. Dozens of people were sent to the hospital, and a 15-year-old girl died following a rave at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Saturday, June 26.
City leaders in Pico Rivera decided to play it safe and pulled the contract.
"There's nothing more important, from the position of a municipality, than looking after the health and safety of our people, particularly our youth," said Pico Rivera Asst. City Manager Jeffrey Prang. "The city understands that, the operator of the sports arena understands that, as well as, in particular, the sheriff and fire department."
So up the road went the promoter, to a private equestrian center in the city of Industry. The owner told Eyewitness News they expected anywhere from 2,500 to 4,000 people at the new location. Extra security was called and deputies were contracted.
"We've never had a major problem there in the past," said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lt. Dennis Sotello. "So we were pretty comfortable that this would have gone without much problems."
The party was set, until Friday morning. The location of the event was so remote the city of Industry was not even aware of it.
The promoter had not obtained any of the necessary permits.
"In this case we were understanding that they had all the permits they needed from the city for this event," said Sotello.
It may be a summer of similar cancellations. This week, L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky called for a special task force to educate the public on the dangers of drugs, especially Ecstasy. Some kids take it on purpose, others may unknowingly have their drinks spiked.
"It is an epidemic and it is a problem," said Yaroslavsky. Everybody who attends these concerts understands it and knows it. I'm not sure all the parents understand it. Some of them do. We need to leave no stone unturned."
The pressure is on all concert promoters. Next week, the L.A. Coliseum Board will meet to discuss safety measures at all future Coliseum events.