...and I thought the police at waka were bad!

[umphreak]

holy jumpin jeebus.. anyone hear any reports on bustfest 2004 (at least, thats what they are calling Smilefest, in NC, now)

heres a link to a thread I enjoyed reading... IMO there are some great posts by responsible people, pissed off at the presence and tactics of the police. I'm reading anywhere from 200 to (according to links to a local newspaper) well over 300 arrests were made :shock:

Now, wakarusa was NOTHING like I am reading, but in my very humble opinion, as Ive stated before, I think it was worse than it should have been.. and I can only PRAY that next year it gets better, not worse.. so it doesnt turn out like smilefest seems to have..

heres the one thread I am talking about... I think its worth the read, but, thats just me ;)

http://www.smilefest.com/forum/index.php?SAAction=CwVSWf%2B%2F3Qee0yThTOZ3hDnVY%2 BKQMUe5I3E%2BfE2hziCsgy8EJEbhFloElyTzZmQgOjL8rumJ

browse the forum too for other posts if ya want.. I enjoy reading reviews of other festivals.

Im guessing many bands wouldnt want to go back...

11 months till wakarusa '05 :D

[JustBob]

I read a lot about smile in the spring and found out last year they had problems with the undercovers. This makes me not want to go, and I don't even use drugs. About all I could get busted for would be the flask of rum in my pocket. The vibe would be killed at an event like that.

Odyssey Music Fest in Camp Hill, AL had a lot of the same problems. I almost went to it, but changed my mind and went to my friends 1st pyramid party. We had 0 cops.

Bob

P.S. I like my law sitting in the shade sippin on lemonade watching the hippies having a good time.

[umphreak]

[quote:19ed8f7cf5=\"JustBob\"]This makes me not want to go, and I don't even use drugs. [/quote:19ed8f7cf5]

yup Bob, honestly that's my point for mentioning it when I did (right after the festi) and bringing it up again now.. Some people enjoy a police state, some dont.. most, not all, of the people attending festivals are part of the latter, IMO

here's a thread from some umphrey's Mcgee fans that were there... ( http://www.umphreaks.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=18355 )unfortunatly, a very KIND, FRIENDLY, HARMLESS person who is friendly with many there, was one to get busted... Umphrey's dedicated one of their songs to the guy :) (free alki.. I got to meet him at summer camp, not a long meeting, but seemed like a real nice guy)

anyways.. just more reading material for your guys' pleasure :P (oh yeah, the member \"Esther\"'s post is pretty good IMO

-a late edit that has nothing to do with the topic lol... bob, was just over at jamcruises' board and saw ya posted over there... do you think you are going to make it there? I've been talking about it with my friends, but not sure if I'll be able to come up with the money... from what I've heard, it's something you wont forget :)

[JustBob]

I'm not anti police and the law is not the reason I don't use drugs. I think police should be there to keep the peace. example: Woodstock 99 needed a lot more police and Wakarusa needs a lot less.

I didn't hear of any fights at Waka, but a lot of stuff got stolen. Maybe if the police were watching for kids creeping around and not people smoking we would not even notice how many were there.

Jamcruise3, I'm 99.99% sure that I'm going. The cash is my problem too. I had a big car repair hit me 2 weeks ago and that was $436 of my $500 down. I wanted to pay in cash for the cruise, but now it looks like I'm going to ask for more credit just so I don't miss the boat. Debt, a way of life in america. Just found out last night that my friend Tony (Xingu and many other bands) will be on the boat. He was the keyboard player with Tishamingo at Waka. Hes not the normal keys player, but he should be on board and I'm sure jammin with Mingo. All the more reason I have to jump on and party my ass off. I've never heard of anyone having a bad time on Jam Cruise. How could you go wrong?

Bob

[wsp2000]

I was going to go to Smilefest this year because it was so close to home, but I instead decided to go to Bele Chere in Asheville, NC. I'm so glad that I didn't go just because I wouldn't want to deal with all the hassle and what not. Bele Chere was a blast by the way. I saw MOFRO, Stockholm Syndrome, Big Head Todd, Tishamingo and Mystic Vibrations. De la Soul was a no-show, which kind of sucks because I was looking forward to a little \"Me, Myself and I.\" And. . . it was all free baby!

[wsp2000]

I keep hearing these awful things about the police at Smilefest. Well not the police, the ALE. According to the people who attended this festival, as well as the promoters and employees of Smilefest, the ALE committed several questionable acts that are under review of their superiors. We were lucky ya'll! I think that 200 arrests out of 3000 people is excessive. What a shame!

[kinderkitti]

What's ALE?