25 January, 2016. 15:35
ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
POLICE IN SYDNEY ARE BREAKING UP illegal warehouse parties with ACDC, young revellers have been reporting.
The underground electronic dance music party scene has exploded in recent years, aided only by the NSW government’s lockout laws and the oversupply of veterinary-grade ketamine.
One issue police have had with these gatherings is that they’re completely unregulated, uninsured and often levels of intoxication aren’t monitored either. Combine that with rife drug abuse and it’s only a matter of time until somebody dies, says NSW Police Commissioner, Andrew Scipione.
“We’ve had tragic events in the past that really justify our ongoing presence at these types of affairs,” said Scipione. “Usually, we let them take the piss until midnight, then we send the first car down to tell them to get everyone inside, or out. Then we come back again and fine them for taking the piss after midnight.”
“That’s when we crank the ‘Acca Dacca’ to get them to disperse. Easy peasey. Just pull the fuses out of the fuse box and let ‘er rip.”
Illegal warehouse party organiser Thyra Faraday, 24, says that he and his team are investigating whether the police are committing an offence by blasting seminal classics such as ‘Shoot to Thrill’ and ‘Let Me Put My Love into You’ while they break up his parties.
Police have been accused of playing “Shoot to Thrill” by ACDC while breaking up illegal dance parties. VIDEO: Courtesy of Warner Brothers Music
“There’s an interesting legal precedent where the Navy was caught harassing asylum seekers with Cold Chisel which might hold up in court. They said ‘either say you love Chisel or we’re going to throw you overboard’ so they all said yes.” he said.
“We don’t do anything illegal. The biggest crime my team has ever committed during one of these parties was we accidentally hired a DJ who thought it was OK to play Justice like it was 2006,”
“It’s dangerous to break these types of gatherings with ACDC. It can cause mental health problems.”
Mr Faraday’s sentiments were echoed by Professor Alex Duckling from Bathurst’s Charles Sturt University, who’s been studying the effects hard rock has on people who’ve consumed party drugs for over a decade.
“If you suddenly change the dance track from, say, a bit of really smooth jazz-infused house to ACDC, it can really fuck with some people. Sometimes the only thing that calms the person down is a quiet space like a park, where they can squeeze in a cheeky nang before processing the situation,”
“My professional advice for the police would be to find some middle ground, something slow that might easy them out of a seriously deep munt, like some Major Leagues or Fleetwood Mac should do the trick.”
Yeha. I was wondering when Charles Sturt UNI was gonna weigh in on this issue.
The Police should trial a raft of songs as leverage in breaking-up dance parties. Like Meatloaf, Pantera, Daddy Cool or Seal. Imaging the cops bleating out that shi* over a mega-phone. That would do bad things to my mind. Bad things…It reminds me of a time once when I was coming down off a big one at some dudes place who had posters of ‘Shirl’ and the Skyhooks on his walls. I was out of it, man. And he was trying to beat-mix ‘Evie’. I don’t know whether I was too munged or what, but I had a very bad experience. Very bad.
Yeah, get rid of the drugs b/s. Play a lot of good clean stuff with proper bass and drums, including metal, which is having a big revival with nice people after “The Big Short” and before that the superb “Metalhead”. When the police have cleaned the place out, all the actually fun people can leave their boring renovated homes and TV sets and take it over.