Month: May 2003

From MTV:

Officials in Suffolk County, New York, have denied a mass gathering permit for the June 7-8 Field Day Music Festival, but the Beastie Boys, Beck, Radiohead, N.E.R.D. and more than a dozen other acts are hoping last-minute negotiations can save the concert.
On Tuesday (May 27), health officials nixed the permit after Riverhead Police Chief David Hegermiller announced that his department wouldn’t be able to safely patrol the concert, which is expected to draw 50,000 people to Suffolk County’s Calverton Enterprise Park (see “Beastie Boys, Beck, Radiohead To Headline Field Day Festival”).
On Friday, county officials determined they couldn’t authorize additional police for the show because such an act would have to be agreed upon by the Riverhead town board and the Suffolk County legislature, which won’t meet again until after the concert.
However, Field Day promoters remain optimistic that the two groups will be able convene in an emergency session to sort the matter out in time.
“We are moving ahead with efforts to keep the Field Day Music Festival on track,” a spokesperson for the event said in a press release issued late Tuesday. “This notice of denial was premature, and we are continuing to work closely with the town of Riverhead and Riverhead police with ongoing meetings scheduled for this evening. Obviously we are disappointed by this decision, but it appears to be based more on procedural issues than substantive problems. We believe we can resolve this issue quickly.”
Riverhead officials were unavailable for comment.
Not everyone opposed to the Field Day Festival cites safety concerns. Some feel that an event of such magnitude would be an environmental catastrophe. The Long Island Pine Barrens Society sued the town of Riverhead on Tuesday, claiming officials didn’t conduct a thorough environmental review before they contracted to host the show. The concert is scheduled to take place during the nesting season of the rare grasshopper sparrow, according to the environmentalists, who point out that the birds lay their eggs in the fields where Field Day is to be held.

(thanks to Josh)

Here’s the latest from Newsday.

In a blow to Beastie Boys and Beck fans, Suffolk County has denied a mass gathering permit for a two-day rock concert in Calverton, meaning for now the event can’t go ahead.
County health officials denied the permit today after Riverhead Police Chief David Hegermiller said his force wouldn’t be able to handle the expected crowd of 50,000. On Friday, county officials informed the town they wouldn’t be able to help with extra police officers because doing so would require an agreement between the Riverhead town board and the Suffolk county legislature. This wouldn’t have been possible, since the legislature doesn’t meet until after the June 7 and 8 concert.
The Field Day Festival was to have been a showcase for the 2,900-acre former Grumman site, which the town has been hoping to sell in an effort to spur economic development. Town officials and the concert promoters weren’t immediately available for comment.
In addition, the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, an environmental group, sued Riverhead town today, charging the town didn’t do a proper environmental review before agreeing to host the concert. Environmentalists had worried that the concert coincides with the nesting season for the rare grasshopper sparrow, which lays its eggs in the fields where the concert was to have taken place.

The Field Day staff responded with this:

Field Day is still on. With out going into detail, the city will have much more serious problems not accommodating Field Day than it will accommodating Field Day. Rest assured everything possible is being done to ensure Field Day goes on exactly as planned.

(thanks to Max)

Prior to the June 10th release of Radiohead’s new album, Hail to the Thief, MTV.com will present The Leak, making the entire album available on the site from June 2nd through the 10th. Additionally, two-dollar tickets will go on sale for the Radiohead MTV2 2$Bill concert on Saturday, May 31st at 12 noon at the Beacon Theatre box office in New York City. The Radiohead 2$Bill concert will air exclusively on MTV2 on Tuesday, June 17th at 9pm (ET). MTV2 will also air a special Boxed Set collection of Radiohead videos, as well as air short ‘blips’ of the new Radiohead video for ‘There There’. MTV2 will also provide live wall to wall coverage, including interviews and performances of the first annual Field Day Festival on June 7th and 8th, from Long Island, New York, where Radiohead is headlining.

the krazyhouse are hosting an exclusive full preview of ‘hail to the thief’
on thursday 5th june.
the krazyhouse
16 wood street
liverpool
l1 4aq
doors open 7:30, 8pm start | over 18s only, ID may be required
entry is free, but only a limited amount of tickets are available – more
details @ http://www.thekrazyhouse.co.uk/

Thom and Jonny will both be guests on BBC 6 Music’s Tom Robinson program on Wednesday, June 3. The show begins at 1900.

File this under “North American Tour Rumors”:
It is rumored that Radiohead will be playing Alpine Valley in East Troy, Wisconsin this August.