police were outside fights were inside what crowd control, it was a broken arrow from six thirty on

We left in a hurry well before War came on. At 5 we had a picnic on the lawn and around 7 the tension in the air suggested we put our shoes back on because the fact that we would have to run was becomming more evident. There were thousands and thousands of people on the lawn, families, children, pregnant women and quite a few who were looking for trouble. After the first fight started and appeared to be getting under control another bigger one was erupting and then another and so on. As we were quickly leaving, groups of scared people were running for their cars. Driving out we saw multiple police cars and an ambulance racing towards the mess, that was about 8 o'clock. I can't belive they didn't shut it down until 10:15.

As a fello Latino I'm terribly embarrassed by the behavior at Shoreline last night (especially because in the 2 fights I saw there was nothing but cholos involved). The atmosphere was toxic right from the beginning and you could just smell trouble coming soon. Fortunately for me and my family we left after witnessing 2 fights at 6:30pm and walked out of there. I cannot begin to tell you how uncomfortable I was right when we parked in the parking lot. I also believe that Shoreline should be held just as culpable because they did not check anyone as they entered the facility. It was obvious what type of crowd it was going to be and they should have taken more precaution up front to prevent the gangbangers from bringing their weapons in. Overall I'm just embarrassed for my culture because the crowd was at least 75% Latino and the behavior of the few continues to give us a bad name!!

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"Terribly embarassed", just because you belong to the same demographic as the perps doesn't mean you are a perp. That's a racist construct, thinking in terms of "my people" or "mi raza." You have nothing to be embarassed about or proud of except what you yourself do. It shouldn't be up to Shoreline to search every patron for weapons. They should have shut down alcohol sales when it became apparent that there was an issue with violence. Did they?

My whole day was ruined by all the immature punks that dressed up like clowns looking for a fight. The Shoreline and corresponding radio stations shouild ENFORCE AND PROHIBIT gang affiliated colors.This was suppoose to be a fun day for our family. We were looking forward to seeing War perform, but unfortunately, we had to leave early due to all the fighting. One fight broke out right where we were sittng on the lawn. All the clowns stepped on all our belongings as we rushed to get out of the way.We left right after that! Security really needs to be enforced, not only at this concert, but ALL concerts!
Why did it take the police so long to get there? They should have been called when the first fight broke out! I seen at least 6 (six)
fights. My whole family and I were terribly upset of the whole situation and the way it was handled.It needs to get better!
NO MORE COLORS!

BOMBDUCHI OF SAN JOSE

Welcome home to the new ultra-liberal society. We don't want to offend groups for looking and acting like criminals, or take away any one's right to act stupid. It's the law-abiding respectful people who left early.

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MV police normally stay outside the venue unless called in by Shoreline staff to quell fights or other problems. Police are also hugely outnumbered at these large shows since Shoreline only pays for so many cops to be there.

There have been a few other problem shows like this dating back to 1987 and they are always a drain on our city resources, but the city still keeps allowing Shoreline to book these kinds of shows.

The SJ Merc reported that alchohol sales were shut down around 8:30pm and they probably let the concert go until 10:15 so they didn't have a riot situation.

It sounds like the smart ones got out of there early, even though it ruined their evening...

first of all people need to get their information straight! the fights did not involve "lowrider types", "cholos" or illegals - the fights started as isolated incidents between individuals and escalated because there was absolutely NO CROWD CONTROL!!!!!! innocent people, including families with young children, were caught in this wave of violence that swept from one end of the lawn to the other and continued to do so for the duration of the concert.

this type of concert with these particular bands playing are definitely going to attract a certain group of people, however, this music is enjoyed by a large number of people who went to this concert with the intention of enjoying the bands with their friends and families.

this is not an immigration issue! this is an issue of young ignorant people who have been raised in a culture of violence perpetuated through the media, music, myspace, and even law enforcement!

at the first hint of violence the police should have been inside the amphitheater removing individuals and making their presence known. however, the police were no where in sight! they were OUTSIDE THE STADIUM protecting and serving no one!

it's time for law enforcement to be held accountable for what they do and what they do not do to protect and serve the general public. anyone who was on the lawn that night knows the police were no where to be seen or found and that the violence continued for hours because it was allowed to go on unchecked! innocent people were sucked into the melee while trying to protect their loved ones!

how dare those of you who have no idea of what happened make statements such as "deport Illegals NOW"!!!!!!!! such ignorance is the real embarrassment!

not only are the police at fault here but so is the shoreline amphitheater as well as the Kiss 98.1!!!!!!

NO MORE COLORS!!!!!!!

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lol - just what we need, an extremist to "solve" the problem.

"Miss Enough" try hitting the books and getting an education - then maybe you'll be able to help some, instead of just being a troll.

Hopefully the video cams at shoreline will help show who did these crimes, and get them off the streets.

A little more money invested towards a better security plan and policing inside the amphitheater would have resulted in a beautiful experience for concertgoers. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the type of crowd that was there and the potential for violence. Colors or no colors, next time make the presence be known that "IT WILL NOT GO DOWN TODAY". I am sorry for the family's and artists/bands that experienced this, supposed to be great show.I hope this show will return without the issues. These shows bring revenue to our city so instead of getting rid of it lets find a way to control it.

Please understand, people, this is Shoreline's event. They control it, they run it. Not the police until, and unless, neccessary. The city has a contract with Shoreline. They are paid to enforce laws and keep the peace outside the event. Shoreline chooses to staff the inside with private security. There are not enough officers in the entire PD to handle security inside at a concert! This situation between Shoreline and the PD generally works. The reason you didn't see ANY police officers inside the event is because they don't have control over the inside; only the outside (where there are enough problems to keep them busy). They only know about the inside from hearing about it through Shoreline staff members. Fights at concerts are very, very common. Although never this bad. Police don't handle those normal fights - Shoreline security guards do. Once Shoreline decided they couldn't handle it, only then did they notify the police about what was going on and the police took over. Then it got peaceful. Of course, it took MVPD and six other agencies to do the job. Clearly, the gang bangers were there to cause problems, not to enjoy the show. Sucks for everyone else.

Why weren't more MV police there?

When I drive on El Camino and see a car pulled over, I often see several police cars there. Has anyone else seen this?

In an event such as this, MV police should've been proactive.

Hello Resident - you and all the others really don't know all that much about law enforcement to even comment on police tactics. Try and read the post from intheknow one more time. Police were called and by the time they assembled the security took care of the fights. If you want police inside the event, then Shoreline has to pay for more officers, which means ticket prices rise, shoreline can not sell tickets to even support the event and then there is no concert. Yes, maybe Shoreline should try and book bands that bring a nicer crowd but the KISS concert has been around for years...some years no problems other years big problems. I bet Shoreline believes this is just the cost of doing business. I am sure who ever was making the decisions on the management side and police side had to have some restraint. If they allow the police to come in and shut the concert down then I am sure you would have had a larger problem called a full scale riot with people fighting, running over each other, cars on fire, and someone would have died. It is easy to "Monday Morning Quarterback" especially if you don't know anything about security or the entertainment industry. Next year you see a ton of security and police then you'll say "WHY DO THEY NEED TO BE HERE....YOU'RE JUST BEING RACIST...WE'RE NOT CRIMINALS."

Thank you Security Force.
Thank you Mountain View Police.
Thank you assisting police departments.

Good job!!!

There will be a HUGE Rap/HipHop show @ Shoreline later this month...
AND Snoop Dogg and others will do yet ANOTHER show that will attract troublemakers.
Remember Summer Jam ?(the last one included a murder in the price of admission)
Here we go again. Same crap, different name...

why weren't the 'high paid mtn. view pd' there at the top of the lawn area when the first fight started. people paid good money for these tickets to watch these acts, black, white, mexican whatever, but there
was no security and the mtn view pd they did have standing by the bathroom area were all young kids that must have just been hired while the older crew was waiting outside with the 'parole' unit, i'm surprised they didn't bring in the INS to patrol - what a joke of a security set up to bring in units from other cities - what happened to our high priced SWAT team?

The promoters of these types of concerts are driven purely by money. It's up to Shoreline Amphitheatre and (by extension) the city of Mountain View to determine the types of concerts and (by extension) the types of elements they wish to attract/avoid. More Sting and less Gangsta-rap will attract fewer gang-members and result in fewer (no?) stabbings.

Let's give the MVPD the credit they rightly deserve. It's not up to them to maintain crowd control over a crowd of thousands. It IS (emphasis) up to the concert producers and staff to ensure the safety of the audience. They alone are responsible; if they refuse to take responsibility by appropriately searching the audience for weapons, they must be held accountable. The city should revoke future privileges for non-compliant concert producers. (At least they finished the concert early.)

Incidentally there were multiple-gang-related incidents across the south-bay. One fatal stabbing/shootout happened in south San Jose early Saturday morning. Does the date May 30 bear some significance to gangsters?

"Does the date May 30 bear some significance to gangsters?"

Yes. It's a very important day for them.

The only people responsible for the mayhem at Shoreline were those people who perpetrated it. They are scum, and they should be dealt with accordingly and finally. Maybe I'll attend the Snoop Dogg concert. If I do, I'll pack a shank. Shoreline has no obligation to babysit me or anyone else, and the police have no business inside the venue. [Portion removed]

Well we should ban venues that attract this sorted ilk.

For the past three years I have attended the Old School concert, last year there were fights and tension so this year I opted out. The musical acts are about the same every year, I guess ClearChannel can't afford new acts and the attitude of the people just didn't justify buying tickets for this year. I think the solution is as simple as this, the city of Mountain View should not allow any more old school concerts. All the people who cause problems are people who don't live in Mountain View and its the same as visiting someone's home. if you can't respect it, than don't come back. I also don't understand how anyone can say that comments regarding the males involved in the fights are racist, it is a simple fact that they were Latino males, if people don't want comments made, than don't get into fights. What is so difficult to understand? The residents of Mountain View pay lots of money to live in this area and there is a low crime rate, I feel safe here. If others want to act foolish and violent than the concerts should take place in their neighborhood, there is nothing racist about this idea. People need to understand that they will be treated according to actions, there hasn't been any violent crime in Mountain View unless people from other areas bring their problems here.

The concert was 75% Latino? YER JOKING! That percentage pretty much sums up California. Enjoy.

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It is amazaing that everyone can throw the word Klan and racist around. I am African American, a darker shade, and I have worked hard to live in a safe neighborhood, a place where my children can attend school and I feel safe to walk down a street wearing red or blue or any other color. It is true, if people can't act respectful or behave themselves when visiting another city, they shouldn't come to that city. There is no issue of race, it is all about behavior.

To "just wait":

That rap/hip hop concert you're griping about was also here last year. I attended, and there were no major issues. there is always "something" going on at concerts at Shoreline in general across all demographics, be it people smoking weed to picking fights.

stop the labeling in this forum.

GSB, I 100% agree! There is far too much labeling going on here. I was there and I chalked it up to alcohol, attitudes, and juvinile behavior. I enjoy the old school, ROCK, and BLUES concerts at the Shoreline and other venues and have seen fights and smelled marijuana burning at ALL of these concerts.

As far as this past Saturday, after the first fight that started on the grass there should have been a stronger security/police presence, and even before that at the front gate. When you have thousands of drunk and high men and women roaming around the grass unseated, without ANY type of crowd control in place, this kind of thing will go down at any kind of concert, REGARDLESS OF RACE, SEX, OR AGE - you can't put a label on stupidity, it occurs in all demographics.

By the way, my family is hispanic and lowrides, and we didn't start or participate in ANY of the mess that happened on Saturday. We left early because of all chaos the what was going on. Putting a blanket on a certain 'type' of people is rediculous, as we ALL know in ANY race, a few bad apples can spoil the bunch. I am proud of how 99% of the crowd acted, and very disappointed in the 1% that had to mess it up for everyone else. I was on the grass and can say that EVERY race participated in this nonsense.

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As this comment thread was beginning to get overheated, we decided to make it registered-only, meaning that you must be logged in to comment here. We encourage readers to log in, however, which is very quick and easy to do by clicking on the link below. The result has always been more accountability and level-headedness in the comments.

Meanwhile, we'd love to hear directly from anyone who was at the concert and would like to go on the record with us. This includes any photos you took or eyewitness accounts you'd like to share. E-mails can be sent to editor@mv-voice or ddebolt@mv-voice.com.

To whatever:

Exactly what kind of new acts would you like to see at an Old School concert?

Any word on the condition of the victims?