Police called to Phish concert November 3, 1994 - Bangor Daily News by David N. Walsh BANGOR -- Police cruisers and vans with lights flashing converged on the Bangor Auditorium Wednesday night when a large crowd attending a Phish rock concert got a little out of hand and attempted to push its way into the concert. Cans and bottles and broken glass littered the parking lot and the auditorium after the concert. Before the night was done, 11 people were arrested, mostly on charges of criminal trespass, and considerable damage was done to the Bangor Auditorium and Civic Center buildings, according to Sgt. John Roach of the BangorPolice Department, who led his officers in crowd-control efforts. Details of the arrests were not available early this morning, as police tried to sort out information and fill out reports. Some people still were being booked, while others already had made bail from the Penobscot County Jail. Roach said he arrested one person from New Hampshire and another from New Jersey, and thought others arrested may have been from out of state. Police, who also confiscated some drugs, focused their efforts on crowd control. The disturbance started when a large crowd tried to crash the gates to get into the concert. People were digging up sign posts, which they used to smash windows at the auditorium, said Roach. Ticket-holding concert-goers opened side doors and those without tickets poured into the building. When it became evident that things were getting out of hand, Bangor police waited for assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff's Department and Maine State Police before trying to get the crowd under control. Roach said when the Phish fans, who were mostly people in their late teens and early 20s, saw the increase in police officers, they ceased their onslaught of the building. Six police cruisers and two vans formed a semicircle in front of the auditorium entrance. Bangor police Officer Mike Jewett said that it was not a serious incident, but could have developed into one. Police had assigned a commanding officer and seven patrol officers to cover the concert, but decided to call for reinforcements to provide a show of force. It was successful, said Jewett. About six youths had to be escorted off the roof, but none of them was arrested, said Jewett. "These are good kids for the most part. They may wear the baggy clothes, but they are a mellow group," said Jewett. The concert crowd, in his estimation, did not much differ from previous rock concert audiences. A lot of people arrived without tickets and the concert was sold out. Concert-goers urinated publically around the grounds and in the parking lots. People stood around in the chilly rain, drinking beer and smoking, before the concert. A Bangor Daily News photographer was threatened by eight youths who objected to being photographed and demanded thephotographer's film. They weren't successful. During the concert, while those who had no tickets hung around the vicinity of the auditorium, police were asked to remove some groups from the Burger King and from the Irving Mainway on Main Street. There were no major incidents as people left the concert, just the usual traffic congestion, but Bass Park was not allowing anyone to stay in the parking lot overnight, said Roach. He said the estimate of damage to the auditorium may not be known for a few days.