A planned punk-rock show at the Orange County Great Park has Irvine leaders saying that the safest city in America is no place for mosh pits and teenage rage.
City Council members are alarmed by public safety risks from The Vans Warped Tour, set for June 21, a show with fast-tempo rock bands howling tunes with sometimes lyrics. Councilman Jeffrey Lalloway said he Googled the band Anti-Flag, which is scheduled to play at the show, and was disturbed by what he found — lyrics like “[expletive] police brutality.”
“This is crossing the line,” Lalloway said. “We need to have a family-friendly venue out there.”
The show, which is allowed to sell as many as 15,000 tickets, would produce traffic, noise, sanitary problems and “goodness knows what other kinds of problems for city residents,” Lalloway said.
Warped Tour promoter Goldenvoice has already signed a deal with AMCI, the company that rents out Great Park space, so the show will likely go on. But council members directed staff to draw up a policy outline to prevent future events with what they see as vulgar themes.
Councilman Larry Agran said he feared that a high number of arrests at the show could threaten the park’s reputation of being the safest public space in the safest city in America. He called for enforcement of strict park rules that could be a buzzkill for rock-show goers, including a no-smoking policy targeting “legal or illegal” substances and many police officers on the ground.
“I want to see a very, very strong police presence out there,” Agran said.