police use Licensing Act and YouTube to stop Babyshambles performing

For the first time in this country the police have used Section 160 (orders to close premises in an area experiencing disorder) of the Licensing Act 2003 to get a live performance stopped. Wiltshire constabulary have persuaded magistrates to ban a festival appearance by Pete Doherty and band Babyshambles fearing there could be public disorder, and after previously approving the proposal for their festival appearance have insisted that the whole of the Friday of the event be scrapped due to 'crowd control issues'.

The group were to have been the headline act of the opening night of the three-day Moonfest with support on the day from Brandon Block, Robbie Craig, John Jones, and Cloudfish. Friday was to also see the Riffstock Stageplay host to Brandon Block, The Alfonz, The Mentalists, The Citizens, and Pause Break Riot, all of whom now will not be appearing, as there is not time to re-schedule their appearances, or provide programming space.

In an all-day test case yesterday, North Wiltshire Magistrates supported the police application to cancel the show with officers objecting to Friday's line-up because of fears over crowd control, however they made no application for Saturday and Sunday.

The police showed YouTube footage of Pete Doherty's recent solo performance in July at the Royal Albert Hall, (here), to demonstrate the likelihood of a stage invasion, and cited possible violence and disorder by fans as the main reason for forcing the festival to drop the whole of Friday from the event.

Ch Supt Julian Kirby, the divisional commander, says in an article (here), "We became concerned because the organiser did not appear to have due cognisance of all the risks. We carried out an analysis of what Pete Doherty and his band does. What he does as part of his routine is to gee up the crowd. They speed up and then slow down the music and create a whirlpool effect in the crowd. They (the crowd) all get geed up and then they start fighting."

This is despite the fact that at the Albert Hall gig there was no crowd barrier, a low stage, and the footage shows no sign of violence, merely a 'stage invasion'. The festival argued that at the London concert, the event contained only Doherty fans and not a wider demographic of a festival crowd, that they would have a 'mojo' crowd barrier, and a higher stage.

Festival organiser John Green, speaking exclusively to eFestivals said, "It's absolutely obscene, I think the police have totally over reacted to what was going to be a fantastic evening." He added that Wiltshire police had invited him into a meeting yesterday during recess and invited him to make a compromise. "They said that if he spent another £50,000 on security, £25,000 on policing and dropped Pete Doherty from the bill, then they would drop the action."

The banning in this test case of Doherty's appearance because of his ability to get a 'mosh pit' going is a precedent which could prove difficult for the industry to overcome. There are bands which create far bigger crowd responses than those that Pete Doherty can instigate, and if used again whole days could disappear from festivals at which bands that police constabularies are unhappy with appear. A quick search on Youtube of 'stage invasion' reveals 660 results from Iggy Pop to Blood Red Shoes. Mr Green also revealed that the police had also voiced concerns in court over Brandon Block's appearance.

The police felt that the level of crowd control and number of stewards the organisers proposed was what they were also unhappy about. Mr Green says that they had 20 security guards on rota duty, with numbers set to increase at peak time and the festival had made offers to increase the number of security guards to ally their fears. Police normally insist on one steward for every 100 participants and although the festival expected a number of people to 'roll up on the day' Mr Green said only 200 tickets had so far been sold.

Mr Green said that there would be some recourse to weekend ticket holders but they had not had a chance to organise what would happen. He added, "Pete phoned me about 2 hours ago, and he was absolutely mortified by the action of the police, and said I'll put on a free gig any time, any place you like for all the people who have bought tickets for the Friday night to see my show. We (the festival) are continuing to sell tickets for Saturday and Sunday, it will still be an amazing show despite this body blow."

Moonfest will still feature international and home-grown acts including The Australian Pink Floyd, Ozric Tentacles, Zenyth, Curiosity Killed the Cat, Shakatak, Heaven 17, Go West, and Imagination over the remaining two days.

Tickets are priced at £29 for a day ticket, with parking and camping free. To buy tickets, click here.

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