Phish pay police to bust their fans

I don't know anything about this band, but it says here they paid for 200 police to go round busting people for drugs at a reunion gig they recently performed in Virginia, and they recovered over a million dollar worth of gear and arrested 194 people.

Is this true?



http://www.nme.com/news/phish/43337

 

What would you expect of a marginally talented band with millions of stoner fans?

 

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-03-09-17-19-22

 

nothing in the AP story about phish paying anyone anything.

 

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/va_ap__police_bust_50_Phishheads_20090306


but really, it's obviously an easy hit for the cops. not exactly a secret.

 

Could just be rumours then, I got this from the NME.

 

LULZ.. this is going in the stoners lounge!!!

 

they are called paid duty police officers and almost every big show has them....the band paid the bill for the police off the top of the concert revenue just as all bands do...its the promoter that makes a deal with the city[usually] and says if you let me have this concert i will hire 200 cops to patrol and keep the peace...its very common and happens all the time

 

anyway, phish wants to stop bootleggers and unlicensed merchandise sales. that's pretty typical.

 

"Hit" being the operative word. They are addicted to busting people.

Do they have a big stoner following? They look like they do.

What gig doesn't involve mostly everyone being on drugs these days?

 

Why, because it's about Phish?

Feel free to put it there anyone, I don't mind. Maybe it should be there.

 

*shrugs* it's a huge stoner thing. most jam bands are. lol.

anyway, that original story posted was VERY misleading. and i hate phish. but i hate bad reporting even worse.

 

a lotta selective reading goin on in the forums tonight..

 

They probably had to do it I'm guessing.

Fuck the NME.

 

I'm slightly pished at the moment, I'd rather be phished, I think, I mean totally baked.

I didn't assume they paid with the intention of the police busting their fans, but 200 is a hell of a lot of cops for a gig, even 68 or so a night if they mean over three days is a lot.

 

my bad. i got distracted.

 

i think it's a matter of negotiations between the town, the venue and the band. i'm figuring that since the fans had SUCH A LEGENDARY TIME the last time, the town decided to require more law enforcement officials. we all know what happens when hippies have too much fun.

 

my dad teaches GED classes at the washington county jail in NY state...Trey Anastasio was incarcerated there on a drug charge last year and he got his autograph...LOL...one for me and one for my brother...and i fucking HATE phish except for their version of "cities"...fuck 'em!

 

I think it was part of the deal for trey staying outta jail

SFGate: Daily Dish : Anastasio Arrested, Faces Three Years in Jail


cops say,"look you wanna stay outta jail,you do a reunion tour and pay local law enforcement to work security and drug sweeps"..

why not? 3 years is a long time to spend in jail for a hippie jam band member..

 

It could indeed be a baksheesh.