The police try to control the crowd at the finals of the 2005 Rising Star Show on Friday, September 23, 2005, at Emancipation Park, New Kingston. Crowd trouble brought an early end to the show. - WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
NO ONE WOULD like the violent break-outs and upheavals at stage show to become the norm, but they are becoming an all too frequent occurrence at the bigger events.
After the celebrations were touted as incident free, the 2006 Jamaica Carnival's 'The Last Hurrah' ended in a hurry.
There, Christopher Martin's performance with Byron Lee and the Dragonaires was brought to a premature end due to the unrest caused by the sound of gunshots at Independence Park.
One man was
hospitalised for a bullet wound and others were injured.
Another incident took place last December at the Goodyear Oval, Springfield, St. Thomas, when some of those in attendance at East Fest 2005 tossed bottles at the stage when it was announced that the well anticipated Bounty Killer would not be performing.
OTHER OCCURRENCES
Last year's grand finale of the popular Rising Stars competition, held at Emancipation Park, New Kingston, was also called off because of the uncontrollable, unexpected number of persons in attendance. Restless patrons tried to get closer to the stage, but went away not seeing the main event. "From a business perspective we did suffer some loss, but nothing significant," said Leslie O'Brien, one of this year's competition's organisers. O'Brien said that while they haven't finalised plans for this year, measures will be taken to ensure a smoother season.
Other crowd trouble casualties include FAME FM 21st anniversary road party in Portmore.
WHAT CAN BE DONE
So will the same fate befall many events as did the now defunct Border Clash? What measures can be taken to protect the shows?
Gramps of Morgan Heritage says he believes that bottle throwing would be lessened if beverage companies would customise bottles for these events. "They should develop plastic bottles for concerts," he said. The same would apply to drinks being served from cups instead of bottles. "People are frustrated and music helps them to deal with it," Gramps said of stage shows.
But according to Howard McIntosh, director of Sunsplash and Sting, the problem often is as a result of wrong location. "We are slowly maturing in large events... There is an issue as to proper location," he said. "There is a significant amount of co-operation that has to take place between the organisers and the police," he said.
He noted, however, that most people come out to enjoy themselves, with only a few causing trouble. He was also optimistic that these interferences are likely to decrease while maturity in planning increases.
- A. J.
