CLUBGOERS SAY EVENT CANNOT BE CALLED RAVE

[Alfa]

CLUBGOERS SAY EVENT CANNOT BE CALLED A RAVE


FLINT - What started as a night of fun ended with handcuffs and strip searches for Flint resident Nathan Boisclair and 129 other music fans.


Boisclair, who works as a disc jockey in clubs and at parties using the name Halluci-Nate, was one of 130 people arrested Sunday morning when local police raided Club What's Next, 2511 W. Pasadena Ave.


Boisclair was on the bill to DJ at the Saturday night party, billed as "Getting Lucky," but police stormed into the club at 1:40 a.m. Sunday before he had a chance to perform.


"I saw two police come in and didn't think much of it, but more and more just kept coming in until there was a crowd of them in the place yelling, 'Get against the wall! No one ... move!' " he said. "I had just had a couple drinks, and here me and all these other people are getting arrested for not doing anything but being in a club."


Police and news reports have referred to the club event as a "rave"


because it was mostly advertised on the Internet and featured disc jockeys playing electronic music in shifts throughout the night. It was scheduled to end at 4 a.m. Sunday.


Whether that label actually applies - the event was held in a nightclub that has a liquor license instead of the usual rave locations such as abandoned buildings or public spaces - Boisclair and others ticketed think the raid was made to provide a high-profile bust to boost local drug enforcement efforts.


"I know they're doing their job and following orders, but you could go to any place where there are people and music and find drugs if you look hard enough," said Josh Camp, 24, of Burton, who was arrested and received a misdemeanor ticket for frequenting a known drug establishment.


"I didn't see anyone doing anything wrong, but I was just there to socialize with the DJs who I know and am friends with. ... You can't assume that everyone in a place is guilty just because of what a couple people are doing."


Camp and Boisclair said they were lined up against the club's wall, handcuffed for more than an hour, taken in groups into the club's bathrooms and strip searched by police who were looking for drugs.


Neither was among the 17 arrested on felony drug charges.


Camp, who owns the Modlife Records label that includes some electronic music artists, said he has thrown club nights similar to Getting Lucky in the past, but he tells police in advance and has never had legal problems.


Dezi Magby of Fenton, who performs as DJ Psycho but wasn't at Saturday's event, said the organizer of Getting Lucky is a former Genesee County resident who moved to West Virginia and came back for the weekend to organize it as a birthday party for a friend.


"I think he's a genuine guy, and he's a good friend of my family who came back here to do this night as a favor to someone," Magby said.


"It was like the second party he's ever thrown, and my first thought when I heard about what had happened was that it was screwy. ... It's kind of a blow to the perception of electronic music in the Flint area."


Police said the event's organizer, who goes by the name Jell-Oh and had not been charged Monday, is suspected of selling Ecstasy and the animal tranquilizer Ketamine.


Anthony Carter of Flint, known as DJ Hype, said he declined an invitation to spin hip-hop music at the event but made a brief stop at the club just after midnight.


"It was wild in there with a large amount of people inside, so many that it was too crowded for me to stick around," Carter said. "I didn't see anything going on as far as people dealing drugs in the time I was there, but there was one girl who looked like she was power walking through the club.


"You could tell she was in another place."

[hogg]

Im a dj too... and in my town the laws are in place so that no venue can play anytype of amplified music past 1:30am until 7am. Furthermore in order to have people dance at your event here.... you must have a permit to allow actual dancing...Yes like in the movie "footloose" But we keep on doing what we do... finding private residences in which the downtown laws don't apply... If they want us to take it underground we will, and we do. They can't expect us to just forget about what we love...?!!!

[adzket]

thank god the alcohol music and dance laws have been changed in the uk. for years now we have had 24 hr music and dance license so clubs could open and play music and people dance whenever they felt like it. those license where hard to get and owner and manager of club had to be well know and respected. but things are easer now and ther are many clubs with 24 hr licenses we are still waiting for 24 hr alcohol licence but that is going threw at moment. in parts of contry outside of london clubs had to close at 2 where as clubs in london could close at 6 thr-sat alchol stoped at 3 though. but thank god that clubs could open longer the first venue turnmills opened in 90's did at first have a 24 hr alcohol license all them years ago as it was owned by deputy cheif commisionar of the london metropolitan police. however it lost this as the result of a drug raid at one of its nights trade sun mornings 4am till 1300 hr sun afternoon even though they lost the alcohol licence they did not lose the music and dance licence so the night continued and when people could not buy alcohol they took more drugs instead ironic realy.

Here they just call raves "Parties" or "Dj Sets." Our government is so fucked up, you can't controll drugs by attacking a culture!!

[adzket]

in the uk a rave is somewhere unlicenced like an abondoned bilding or filed not an event in a club. raves in the uk go on for days as police wont shut them down as they belive more harm than good will come of this. which is true sending 2000+ people who are of there heads on to the streets just cause trouble and riots.

[korky8097]

bullshit, what was their reasonable suspcion on this one?
Electronic music? Damnit its like the gov. wants to completely
shut down a culture or people who enjoy electronic music and love to
dance drugs or no drugs. Fuck them, i would understand if there
was a huge tip saying that everyone there was on x and they saw with
their own eyes people walking in with rolls in their hand. Do
they need a warrent for this shit? Whats the law on pat downs at
the door looking for badges? Somehow keeping cops out of our
parties. Or just completely baracading the doors and coming out
when everyone is sober saying, "oh sorry we didnt hear the gunshots and
bullhorns, music was loud". I dont know, i guess there is nothing
we can do about this problem, i advise sending letters to your
governers. I did, hell the guy lives like 10 houses from me.
If congress is bombarded with letters about this, they will
start to think.

They're all a bunch of Poo Poo Headz!!

[joetaco]

Don't the police need an actual reason to strip search people?

[adzket]

no they dont they just say that they have resion to suspect you may be in possesinon of drugs or things prohibated by law.