Bass Park head rejects ‘rave’ event Promoter set to appeal decision to City Council

BANGOR – Dorian Gates doesn’t like to call them “raves.”

The 20-year-old University of Maine sophomore from Kennebunkport said Saturday that the all-night dances have gained an exaggerated reputation for drug use – a reputation that recently prompted city officials to reject a local promoter’s request to hold a “techno dance” at the Bangor Auditorium.

“It sucks that older people have pinpointed raves and can only focus on the [drug] ecstasy and what they’ve been told on ’20/20,'” said Gates, an amateur disc jockey and “raver” who prefers to simply call them “parties.”

“It’s sad because it’s so not true. It’s just a great time to come together with friends and dance to beautiful music.”

At 5 p.m. Tuesday, the City Council’s business and economic development committee will hear an appeal of a decision by Bass Park Director Mike Dyer to turn away the all-night event whose promoter, John “Cuppy” Cummings of Holden, estimated will bring 3,000 people to the auditorium at $30 a head.

Dyer on Friday, citing a spate of drug arrests at similar events in Lewiston, defended his decision – the first time the facility’s administration has outright refused to host an event, he said.

“It promotes that whole drug aura, and I didn’t feel [it] was in keeping with the community standards and an appropriate use of the Bangor Auditorium,” said Dyer, who acknowledged that the one-night event was likely to bring in a respectable $9,000 in rent alone. “I’m not at all sure it would be worth it when the dust settled.”

When the dust settled on “Scream 3,” an October rave held at the Central Maine Civic Center in Lewiston last month, police had arrested 17 people, mostly on drug charges including aggravated trafficking of the hallucinogens ecstasy and ketamine.

The so-called “club drugs” have been responsible for 83 of the 85 arrests at the 10 raves held thus far at the privately owned Lewiston arena, according to police there.

And while the pounding music, wild fashions and laser light shows are popular – more than 3,500 young people, including Gates, paid $35 each to attend “Scream 3,” – the good time comes with a price, according to Deputy Chief Andy D’Eramo of the Lewiston Police Department.

“We were making multiple drug arrests, and our presence didn’t seem to be much of a deterrent,” said D’Eramo, adding that the vast majority of those arrested were from out of town, and in many cases, as far away as Massachusetts and New York.

In response to police concerns, the Central Maine Civic Center’s owner, Roger Theriault, agreed to temporarily stop hosting the lucrative events, canceling a Dec. 28 date, he said.

“If we could eliminate the drugs, the party would be great,” said Theriault, who estimated that between 20 and 30 percent of the young crowd looked to be involved with drugs. “But the kids are pretty mellow and have fun.

“The biggest problem is that the police were out in force to get the ecstasy drug, and they did.”

Rather than deal with the headaches, some other publicly owned establishments, including Portland’s Cumberland County Civic Center and the Augusta Civic Center, have adopted restrictions on how late events can run as a means of discouraging the all-night parties.

But Bangor has no such limits on the books other than a vague reference to having events at the auditorium be “consistent with community standards,” Dyer said, and Cummings’ attorney contends that it’s not enough to prevent his client from holding what is technically a chemical-free dance at the public facility, especially when his client is “more than willing” to pay for the required additional police coverage for the large event.

“No one is condoning drug use,” said Lewiston attorney Charles Williams III, most notably known for his fiery, ongoing defense of Diva’s bikini bar against the city’s attempts to close the downtown club. “The Bangor fathers point to community standards, but they can’t articulate what they are. Once again, they’re shooting from the hip without doing their research about this art form.”

On the contrary, city officials say it’s precisely that research that led to the decision, wholeheartedly supported by local police.

City councilors, who thus far appear to be cool to the idea of hosting the event, said they would listen to all sides before making a final decision.

“I’ll keep an open mind,” said City Councilor Gerry Palmer, a member of the committee. “But at first blush, it doesn’t seem like it’s very community friendly.”

But instead of “punishing everyone,” disc jockey and rave-goer Jefferson Hobbs, 20, of Bar Harbor said the police should be vigilant in keeping drugs out of the event.

“As a DJ, the last thing I want is tons of people messed up on drugs,” said Hobbs, a college junior who like his friend, Gates, acknowledged there is some drug use at the events, but said he does not use the designer drugs so commonly associated with the raves they attend. “Real ravers hate that.”