Bangor business committee rejects rave

BANGOR – Before this week, some on the City Council weren’t entirely clear about exactly what a rave was.

On Tuesday, however, most decided they knew enough about the all-night techno dance parties to know they didn’t like them.

“Even if it was a square dance, I don’t think I’d support it if it went past 1 [a.m.],” City Councilor Dan Tremble said during Tuesday’s meeting of the council’s Business and Economic Development Committee, which unanimously rejected a local promoter’s plan to hold an all-night rave at the Bangor Auditorium.

The event’s promoter, John “Cuppy” Cummings of Holden, had asked the committee to overturn the decision of Bass Park director Mike Dyer to turn away the event, estimated to bring in at least $9,000 in rent alone to the city.

The all-night dances, known for their pounding music, laser light shows – and more disturbingly for city officials, widespread drug use and mass arrests – have gained national attention in the past decade as an integral part of the rave subculture.

On Tuesday, Cummings told the committee that claims of drug abuse – most notably that of the psychedelic drugs Ecstasy and ketamine – at what are technically chemical-free events were exaggerated.

“Our society has a drug culture … and it’s not going to go away,” said Cummings, who didn’t win any friends among the ravers in attendance when he said their music “sucked.”

“[Police] are faulting most of the people who aren’t using drugs but are getting blamed for the bad apples,” he said.

Brendan Schauffler, 25, of Orono told the committee that he has been part of the rave scene for about eight years, and while he didn’t know enough about the promoter to support the event planned for that auditorium, asked the panel not to rule out being host to a rave altogether.

“I would just say please don’t close your mind to an all-night event for all eternity,” said Schauffler. He maintained that well-run and policed raves can be positive experiences. “People can really enjoy themselves and they can do so just with the music and dance … and drugs don’t have to be a part of the experience.”

But local police and state prosecutors rattled off arrest statistics from recent raves held at Lewiston’s Central Maine Civic Center, which has been host to a number of the dances in recent years, police said.

“You can literally buy drugs all night long,” said Assistant Attorney General James Cameron, the state’s top drug prosecutor, estimating that one-third of those in attendance were using drugs at a rave he attended last month in Lewiston.

At the event, Lewiston police arrested 17 people, mostly on drug charges including aggravated trafficking of 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.

In response to police concerns, the Lewiston arena’s owner, Roger Theriault, agreed to temporarily stop holding the lucrative events, canceling a Dec. 28 date, he said.

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.

While Bangor has no such restriction, the council likely will consider one at a future meeting, city officials said.