Dennis RomeroWhile raves have essentially been shut out of two public venues in Exposition Park, including the Coliseum and Sports Arena, San Bernardino County officials are welcoming electronic dance music events to Glen Helen Regional Park.
The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors yesterday voted 3-2 to approve four-times-a-year electronic concerts at San Manuel Amphitheater, which is in the Devore park.
The events will be put on by …
… mega concert promoter Live Nation, which last year bought the L.A. electronic festival brand called Hard.
The supervisors said Live Nation could add four electronic events to its San Manuel Amphitheater (formerly Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion) calender and even extend the hours of the happenings until 2 a.m. instead of the previous closing time of 11 p.m.
Bret Gallagher, president of Live Nation for Southern California and Las Vegas, told the Riverside Press-Enterprise the vote was a good move for the concert business:
It's a huge growth opportunity for Live Nation on a global basis.
Hard L.A. girls.; Credit: Timothy Norris for LA Weekly
Live Nation will pay the county $5,000 up front and $6,000 a year to put on the extra shows.
It's not immediately clear if the concerts will be branded as Hard events. Those parties, often held at the Los Angeles State Park in Chinatown, have a reputation of being less ravey, more hipster.
After 2010's Electric Daisy Carnival at the L.A. Coliseum drew criticism from public officials (a 15-year-old who had sneaked in died of an ecstasy overdose) and ultimately helped to lock raves out of the venue, San Bernardino County decided to ban raves.
But the ban doesn't appear to apply to more corporate-style electronic concerts … which Electric Daisy Carnival is (irony?).
Interestingly, EDC's promoter, Insomniac Events, is behind controversial events at the National Orange Show Events Center in the city of San Bernardino, where officials have vowed to crack down after repeated complaints from neighbors, mostly about the noise.
Is Live Nation elbowing in on Insomniac's turf? We'll see …
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