Pages: A1
Publication date: May 22, 1988
Place of publication: Toronto, Ont.
Copyright: Copyright 1988 Toronto Star, All Rights Reserved.
Author: Shelley Page
They slam their fists to the rhythm of the night.
A sea of blue jeans, black leather and bobbing heads. Thousands of watts of sound smack their young bodies."There's nothing like it man, nothing," says Craig, 16. "You can't believe it. I'm just so into this."
Craig and his friends are rocking, violently, to the music of heavy metal band Iron Maiden.
In a frenzy, they kick the plastic seats in the Exhibition Stadium grandstand. They jump, land, then stroke air guitars. Their attention is riveted to the black leather demi-gods below on the stage.
Craig and his buddies aren't on drugs.
It's a week after the Pink Floyd concert where 14-year-old Benji Hayward took LSD. Disoriented, he headed for Lake Ontario and was found a few days later, drowned.
The tragedy of Benji was on the minds of many teens at Friday night's Iron Maiden concert. And for every kid who was on drugs - acid or pot - another two were straight.
"No I don't do them at all, it's not smart," Craig says. "I get my energy from the music, that's it." Craig and his three buddies denounce drugs, and get back to rocking.
Up on stage lead singer Bruce Dickinson moralizes. It's as if he's heard of Benji.
"There's all this crap going on," his voice echoes through the 92 speakers circling the stage. "Don't let people shove stuff up your nose. You've got one heart, one mind and one soul, and don't let anybody f- - - with it because it's yours."
Half the crowd of 9,000 people erupts. Craig and his friends are on their feet. "Yeaaaaaaah," they agree.
Not everyone is strung out at concerts.
* * *
For four hours, thousands of heavy metal fans were corralled into a small section of Exhibition Stadium. A thin strip of seats is filled from the floor in front of the stage, to the top of the north grandstand.
The atmosphere is disjointed and frenetic as the audience listens to warm-up bands Zodiac Mindwarp and Guns N Roses. They demand, "Maiden. Maiden. Maiden. Maiden."
And when the first screech of Maiden guitar finally cuts through Toronto's foggy Friday, the audience lets go. The pounding rhythm is almost satanic. But as the thundering music runs through young bodies, the movement takes on a simple, innocent groove. Drunk and disoriented teens stop wandering, and listen.
* * *
In the underbelly of the grandstand is a temporary mini-police station.
Earlier, 20 officers stood at attention to receive their assignments for the concert.
"Now remember. Don't go into a crowd by yourself. Call for assistance if there's a problem. And guard your back," a superior warns.
Officers will double-team the entrances. They stand back while security staff search the rockers coming into the concert. Police intervene only when drugs are found, or if someone is too "wrecked" to enter.
Sergeant John Silloats admits that it's virtually impossible to spot drugs on people coming to concerts. "They could have it hidden on any part of their body," he says, and searching every fan is impossible.
The police presence is one of the best deterrents to drugs and rowdyism, Silloats says.
Other officers patrol the grandstand, looking for trouble or drug deals.
One is poised with binoculars in a hidden command post. He scans the area, alerting foot soldiers to trouble by radio.
Thirty-eight officers, including seven in street clothes, patrol the crowd. Another 60 stadium security staff and burly Concert Production International employees are also on guard.
Outside the stadium Friday night, two plainclothes officers charged a teenage couple with trafficking lysergic acid diethylamide - LSD.
Two people were seen trying to sell the acid, at about $4 or $5 a hit, to patrons going into the stadium, police said. At the time of arrest, 68 hits of LSD, worth about $340, were seized.
* * *
Once through the entrance, some kids look relieved. They've smuggled their booty past the quick search by stadium security guards.
"Getting stuff in here is a joke," says 16-year-old Paula. "Look at the rip in the lining of my jacket, I can put anything in here."
The Niagara Falls teenager is in the washroom retrieving a couple of joints she has tucked underneath her leather belt. She looks like a member of an elite team in her black leather jacket and Iron Maiden T-shirt.
Paula says she wouldn't ever do LSD at a concert. "What if I flipped out, I'd be in trouble." She rushes from the washroom to the waiting party.
Two 14-year-old boys sit huddled in the upper stands. It's their first rock concert. One of the boys' mother drove them in from Fergus.
"We're sort of scared," says Rich. "We kind of wondered what kind of people were going to be here."
Rich wears thick glasses with clear plastic frames, his light brown hair is slicked to the side. He wears a black vinyl jacket.
The boys seem embarrassed to admit they don't do drugs. "It's up to you whether you take acid, or something. We don't," says Steve.
* * *
In the washroom two women "drop acid."
"What? Yes. Drugs are only for people with strong minds," says Carolina, from Quebec city. She has heard about Benji.
"Drugs are for people with powerful minds. People who have control. I don't think little kids should do drugs because they're not in control."
Her shaggy mane rims hollow, feeble, dark eyes. "I love Iron Maiden because they're real. They've got revelations, you know. Thank you very much." She struts off.
As the show wears on, the casualties of the night start to appear.
Blood is dripping from 15-year-old Paul's hand. "I smashed my hand through a streetcar window," he boasts. Only now is he feeling the pain after the effects have warn off from guzzling "half a twenty-sixer" of Vodka before the concert.
"I drank it in 15 minutes, man," he says. It was mixed with apple juice.
Paul explains why he drank so much for the concert: "It feels amazing. The music hits you like a wall and you can't feel yourself. You just feel like you're part of the scenery."
But his 17-year-old companion, Amy, is completely straight. "I won't take anything because I don't like what it does to my friends."
* * *
Police made eight arrests and threw out dozens more during the night.
The fans help sing the final strains of an Iron Maiden hit. The concert ends. They gather their souvenirs, or shoulder the weight of a drunk or stoned buddy, and file out of the stadium.
Illustration Caption: Photo Benji Hayward
Craig and his buddies aren't on drugs.
It's a week after the Pink Floyd concert where 14-year-old Benji Hayward took LSD. Disoriented, he headed for Lake Ontario and was found a few days later, drowned.
The tragedy of Benji was on the minds of many teens at Friday night's Iron Maiden concert. And for every kid who was on drugs - acid or pot - another two were straight.
"No I don't do them at all, it's not smart," Craig says. "I get my energy from the music, that's it." Craig and his three buddies denounce drugs, and get back to rocking.
Up on stage lead singer Bruce Dickinson moralizes. It's as if he's heard of Benji.
"There's all this crap going on," his voice echoes through the 92 speakers circling the stage. "Don't let people shove stuff up your nose. You've got one heart, one mind and one soul, and don't let anybody f- - - with it because it's yours."
Half the crowd of 9,000 people erupts. Craig and his friends are on their feet. "Yeaaaaaaah," they agree.
Not everyone is strung out at concerts.
* * *
For four hours, thousands of heavy metal fans were corralled into a small section of Exhibition Stadium. A thin strip of seats is filled from the floor in front of the stage, to the top of the north grandstand.
The atmosphere is disjointed and frenetic as the audience listens to warm-up bands Zodiac Mindwarp and Guns N Roses. They demand, "Maiden. Maiden. Maiden. Maiden."
And when the first screech of Maiden guitar finally cuts through Toronto's foggy Friday, the audience lets go. The pounding rhythm is almost satanic. But as the thundering music runs through young bodies, the movement takes on a simple, innocent groove. Drunk and disoriented teens stop wandering, and listen.
* * *
In the underbelly of the grandstand is a temporary mini-police station.
Earlier, 20 officers stood at attention to receive their assignments for the concert.
"Now remember. Don't go into a crowd by yourself. Call for assistance if there's a problem. And guard your back," a superior warns.
Officers will double-team the entrances. They stand back while security staff search the rockers coming into the concert. Police intervene only when drugs are found, or if someone is too "wrecked" to enter.
Sergeant John Silloats admits that it's virtually impossible to spot drugs on people coming to concerts. "They could have it hidden on any part of their body," he says, and searching every fan is impossible.
The police presence is one of the best deterrents to drugs and rowdyism, Silloats says.
Other officers patrol the grandstand, looking for trouble or drug deals.
One is poised with binoculars in a hidden command post. He scans the area, alerting foot soldiers to trouble by radio.
Thirty-eight officers, including seven in street clothes, patrol the crowd. Another 60 stadium security staff and burly Concert Production International employees are also on guard.
Outside the stadium Friday night, two plainclothes officers charged a teenage couple with trafficking lysergic acid diethylamide - LSD.
Two people were seen trying to sell the acid, at about $4 or $5 a hit, to patrons going into the stadium, police said. At the time of arrest, 68 hits of LSD, worth about $340, were seized.
* * *
Once through the entrance, some kids look relieved. They've smuggled their booty past the quick search by stadium security guards.
"Getting stuff in here is a joke," says 16-year-old Paula. "Look at the rip in the lining of my jacket, I can put anything in here."
The Niagara Falls teenager is in the washroom retrieving a couple of joints she has tucked underneath her leather belt. She looks like a member of an elite team in her black leather jacket and Iron Maiden T-shirt.
Paula says she wouldn't ever do LSD at a concert. "What if I flipped out, I'd be in trouble." She rushes from the washroom to the waiting party.
Two 14-year-old boys sit huddled in the upper stands. It's their first rock concert. One of the boys' mother drove them in from Fergus.
"We're sort of scared," says Rich. "We kind of wondered what kind of people were going to be here."
Rich wears thick glasses with clear plastic frames, his light brown hair is slicked to the side. He wears a black vinyl jacket.
The boys seem embarrassed to admit they don't do drugs. "It's up to you whether you take acid, or something. We don't," says Steve.
* * *
In the washroom two women "drop acid."
"What? Yes. Drugs are only for people with strong minds," says Carolina, from Quebec city. She has heard about Benji.
"Drugs are for people with powerful minds. People who have control. I don't think little kids should do drugs because they're not in control."
Her shaggy mane rims hollow, feeble, dark eyes. "I love Iron Maiden because they're real. They've got revelations, you know. Thank you very much." She struts off.
As the show wears on, the casualties of the night start to appear.
Blood is dripping from 15-year-old Paul's hand. "I smashed my hand through a streetcar window," he boasts. Only now is he feeling the pain after the effects have warn off from guzzling "half a twenty-sixer" of Vodka before the concert.
"I drank it in 15 minutes, man," he says. It was mixed with apple juice.
Paul explains why he drank so much for the concert: "It feels amazing. The music hits you like a wall and you can't feel yourself. You just feel like you're part of the scenery."
But his 17-year-old companion, Amy, is completely straight. "I won't take anything because I don't like what it does to my friends."
* * *
Police made eight arrests and threw out dozens more during the night.
The fans help sing the final strains of an Iron Maiden hit. The concert ends. They gather their souvenirs, or shoulder the weight of a drunk or stoned buddy, and file out of the stadium.
Illustration Caption: Photo Benji Hayward
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