By Neale Gulley and Eric DuVall
The taps are dry at North Tonawanda’s Saturday night Labatt Blue Light concert series.
All sale of alcoholic beverages at North Tonawanda’s popular free Saturday concert series was ordered to an abrupt stop during last weekend’s show after the state Liquor Authority revoked the concert promoter’s alcohol permit following an underage drinking sting by police.
In the wake of the decision, two questions remain unanswered as of Monday: Can promoters and the state liquor authority work out a compromise? — and if not, will the concerts continue without the primary source of revenue?
On the first question, Larry Denef, the liaison between promoters and the City of North Tonawanda, said a meeting is scheduled for today between lawyers for promoters and the state. On the second question, Denef said he could not say whether the concerts will continue without the profits from the sale of alcohol to underwrite costs of the free shows.
“That’s a business decision that’s got to come from the promoter,” Denef said. “There’s no way I can speculate on that. The plan is to be back next week, 100 percent, full deal (with beer).”
Denef said promoters were withholding comment because they had not yet received or reviewed the written complaint from the state, though on Monday a Liquor Authority spokesman provided a copy of the complaint, dated last Thursday, to the Tonawanda News.
Unless a compromise can be reached, beer and other alcoholic beverages will not be sold at the Sweeney Street location, though a separately run beer tent on the City of Tonawanda side, the proceeds from which go to charity, will still be in operation.
What happened?
Officials entered Gateway Harbor Park unannounced about 8:30 p.m., after performances had already begun and as fans held drinks they had already purchased.
According to Denef, the officials entered the beer tent almost two hours after the bands started playing, telling them they could no longer serve drinks. Promoters received no advance warning of the state’s decision, according to Denef, and word didn’t reach him until after sales had been stopped.
“Until we get to the bottom of this and see what the heck happened — why it happened, I don’t really have an answer,” Denef said.
The state’s decision stems from two arrests made during the July 30 concert after an undercover sting by North Tonawanda Police found that multiple individuals sold alcohol to underage “decoys.”
North Tonawanda Police Chief Randy Szukala said reports generated by those arrests prompted the liquor authority to cancel the venue’s permit.
He said similar operations were conducted last summer, netting arrests elsewhere in the city, but none at the canal concert venue. Police have for several weeks been sending the decoys to locations selling alcohol throughout the city to crack down on underage alcohol purchases.
Michael Smith, public information officer for the New York State Liquor Authority, provided a letter sent to permit holder JMD of WNY Inc. dated July 31. The letter outlines the police operation, stating: “The decoys were denied wrist bands that would allow them to purchase alcoholic beverages by ticket staff.”
Despite the decoys’ lack of a wrist band, which enables concert-goers to use their tickets for alcohol after they show proof of ID to event staff, the authority wrote: “The decoys gave employees serving both lines their beverage tickets and were both served Labatt Blue beer.
“Neither staff person asked the decoys how old they were, did not ask for identification, nor did they verify that either of them were in possession of an alcohol wrist band.”
Denef said promoters have yet to receive any such letter from the state.
No ID is required to buy tickets because they are used to buy food and non-alcoholic beverages in addition to beer.
Permit vs. license
The promoter’s permit was revoked by the state on the first offense, though permanent liquor license holders are typically cited by police and fined — not shut down — under similar circumstances.
Szukala speculated that a temporary permit, like the one held for the weekly outdoor concerts, is more easily canceled outright than the full-time licenses granted to stores, bars and restaurants.
“We’ve had it numerous times with (liquor) license holders where there would be more of a due process,” Szukala said. “In this case it is a permit. There’s a difference between a permit and a license. The requirements are a little less stringent, so they give a permit saying, ‘if you don’t follow the rules, it’s gone.’ So that’s why they were able to come in and pull the permit so quickly.”
Denef took issue with what he sees as a double-standard, arguing that just because a permit is temporary shouldn’t mean the holder is treated differently.
“It comes down to permit versus a license,” Denef said. “To me that’s not right. That’s not fair. Unfortunately, there was a violation. It wasn’t (malicious). What’s the difference if you have a license or a permit? You shouldn’t be selective (when punishing people).”
Smith, the liquor authority spokesman, declined to comment on whether or not such abrupt decisions by the state are common practice.
Fans took it in stride, mostly
Denef said Saturday’s crowd was the largest so far, and that despite the flap, concertgoers mostly took it in stride.
“There was some grumbling but there weren’t any real repercussions,” Denef said. “Everybody was well behaved. It could have happened differently, but we were really put into a situation we should never have been put into.”
He cautioned, though, that had a band been playing that attracts a rowdier crowd than the one assembled to see Dark Star Orchestra, a Greatful Dead tribute band, people might have reacted differently. He criticized the state’s mid-concert arrival.
“Why couldn’t they have shown up at 5 o’clock?” he said.
Mayor’s assistant Jeffrey Mis said his office was not notified in advance of any trouble by the state or the promoter. As far as the mayor’s office has heard, though, there are no plans to cancel the concerts.
“We did talk to the promoter, we did explain what took place and they said that they plan on continuing the concert series,” Mis said.
This Saturday’s scheduled headliner is Bruce Hornsby, one of the more well-known acts of the 2008 lineup.
Contact reporter Neale Gulley at 693-1000, ext. 114.
