From trocha@netcom.com Sun Aug 30 23:03:47 1992 Received: from netcom.netcom.com by soda.berkeley.edu (5.65/KAOS-1) id AA01780; Sun, 30 Aug 92 23:03:45 -0700 Received: by netcom.netcom.com (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA02115; Sun, 30 Aug 92 23:03:04 PDT Date: Sun, 30 Aug 92 23:03:04 PDT From: trocha@netcom.com (Dan Trocha) Message-Id: <9208310603.AA02115@netcom.netcom.com> To: sfraves-request@soda.berkeley.edu Subject: Article - Sharon Bust Status: R I went to Point Reyes National Seashore, Cal. this weekend. While there I picked up a small West Marin County locals newspaper, with this curious article concerning the Sharon bust, of Aug. 22.... =Dan ---- From: Point Reyes Light, of Aug. 27, 1992 Headline (on front-page): Firemen cancel big Nicasio rave Headline (on page 8): No raving in Nicasio By: Roger Phelps Several hundred concertgoers decended on Nicasio last Saturday night for a "rave" party that caught sheriff's deputies and fire officials off guard. Responding to a fire west of Big Rock on Lucas Valley Road, Fire Marshal Jack Rosevear spotted a car leaving the scene of a fire and followed it to a "rave" party off a dirt road in Nicasio. Raves - quasi-legal concerts in semi-secret locations - originated in England, and as many as six are produced in the Bay Area every week. The entrance fee to the Nicasio rave was $20 per person. Driving in bumper-to-bumper traffic on a ranch road that heads north from the intersection of Point Reyes-Petaluma Road and Nicasio Valley Road, Rosevear was stopped by the party's promoter and others at the rave's gate. "We got off on a bad foot right away," said Rosevear. The fire marshal said rave organizers stopped him from pursuing the car. He then radioed deputies for assistance. Minutes later, he was able to question the passengers of the car he saw at Big Rock. He then let them go. Deputies who responded said they saw 20-foot-high scaffolding, more than a dozen "jumbo speakers," portable toilets, about 50 employees, and a five- acre parking lot ringed with colored lights. Apparently a light show had been planned with 40 to 50 laser lights, which, along with a computer system, were plugged into "a generator as big as a tractor-trailer [truck]," said Deputy Chris Henderson. Fire Marshal Rosevear inspected the property and said he found several fire violations including too many extension cords running into a multiple power source and no designated smoking area. He then talked to the party promoter, Dave Charfe, of San Francisco about the fire hazards, and subsequently shut down the party, said Rosevear. Later, Charfe told the Light he was shut down because he didn't have a permit. A party permit is only needed if the group exceeds 1,000. "There were 50 people tops when they [fire officials] got there," said Charfe. Deputies, who arrived shortly afterwards, said several hundred concert- goers had gathered before the event was cancelled. Thousands turned away Several hundred more were turned back at the gate, said Deputy Henderson. Motorists heading to the rave continued to arrive until 4 a.m., deputies said, and one deputy estimated several thousand people altogether showed up and were turned away. At the party was read estate agent Peter Edwards who identified the property owner as Seymour Lazar of Palm Springs. Lazar was not at the party. Edwards said he obtained a okay from Lazar to rent the land for the party. George Gallagher of Point Reyes Station, who is an owner of a neighboring ranch, said his calves were frightened by the noise and got loose. The partygoers "got crazy in there. They ran my calves right over the fence," said Gallagher. His cousin Rich Gallagher said the unexpected rave alarmed him, but there was "nothing I could do short of shooting. I'm too old to fight." Promoter Charfe, however, told The Light he was upset with the fire officials for closing down his event because of all the gate fees he lost. --------------------------------------------------------------------