[11-06-97 Thurs] Just as Metallica settles one conflict with a concert mosher (see "Suit Settled With Metallica Mosher" below), they face another problem. Metallica had chosen a Philadelphia parking lot to give a free Veteran's Day concert, recently, which of course hasn't taken place yet. But now some of the city officials and local residents are complaing about what will come with the concert. They say it will bring in the heavy metal hordes that will swarm their neighborhoods. They are concered about overcrowding, since a Flyers game will occur at about the same time.
"The issue is of bringing a large number of people into the area, during a weekday, in an area that's inundated with this kind of activity during the course of the year," said Philadelphia Councilman James Kenney about the city's reaction to the Metallica show, which will take placein Philly's CoreState Complex parking lot. The event is expected to bring tens of thousands downtown to the area, and by the way, the concert is FREE. Kenney said that residents were worried about safety, noise and security like when Lollapalooza was in the same lot. At that time, said Kenney, many of the 15,000 fans who came early camped out in the park and "kids being kids, used alcohol, drugs, urinated in the lawns... When you bring 40,000 people together at an event like that people are going to misbehave." Don't forget that these same people have to deal with this: The CoreStates Complex is consists of both Veteran's Stadium and the Spectrum, where the Phillies, Eagles, and Flyers play. Also, the night before Metallica's show Jane's Addiction will be at the Spectrum. Kenney insisted that just because the band is Metallica is not the issue. "If it was Garth Brooks I'd feel the same way," the councilman said.
A Metallica spokesperson said that the band is looking into the residents' concerns. "I believe we're taking steps to assuage the councilman's fears," he said. The lot is privately owned, so little can be done to force the show's cancellation, Kenney said.
A south Philly resident, Peter Brown, said, "My only feeling was, 'they must be pretty fucking nuts to play outside when it's this cold.' "
Metallica - November 6, 1997
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