Thirty-one years ago today, the heavy metal band Motley Crue performed at the former Manning Bowl.
Read the recap of the concert, “Problem-free concert encourages city,” by Steve Krause from August 3, 1985 below:
LYNN – Everybody agreed it could have been worse.
Saturday’s day-long rock & roll show featuring the heavy metal band Motley Crue went off without any major incidents, according to police, thanks to their highly visible presence and the subdued conduct of the majority of fans who trekked to Manning Bowl to see the show.
“From a public safety point of view I thought the day went excellently,” said police Lt. Fred McGovern, in charge of the detail at the bowl. “The police here busted their tails to make sure nothing happened.”
Police officers were stationed at all the entrances and confiscated liquor and several articles of the studs and leather variety. One girl entered the stadium wearing a studded dog collar, police said.
Eugene Dooley, park superintendent who came under some fire last week over his part in scheduling Saturday’s show, was equally encouraged.
“Unless there’s something I don’t know about,” he said, “I’d have to say I was extremely happy about how things went.”
Even some of the neighbors surrounding Manning Bowl admitted things could have been a lot worse.
“You know, I’m kind of hoping it all works out,” said one Bowler Street resident. “It’s just a shame they have to bring in a heavy metal group, because not everybody likes it. But we’ve got the stadium, we might as well use it.”
And Isarry Mason, who lives in the neighborhood, didn’t seem to mind, either.
“It seems pretty good,” he said. “It seems the retirees, the old folks, are picking up all the aluminum cans.”
Only four arrests were made, said McGovern, three for drunk and disorderly conduct and a fourth person, identified as Alfred Reice, 25, of Flushing, N.Y., was nabbed for allegedly selling bogus tickets outside the bowl. He was charged with receiving stolen property, selling false documents and larceny over $100, police said. He had 40 counterfeit tickets and $390, mostly in $20 bills, in his possession when he was arrested, according to police.
Northshore Ambulance had to remove four people, but only one girl sustained any serious injuries – “breaking a couple of ribs after being pushed against a fence,” according to a paramedic. Nordstroms took care of two more fans, and Morgans had to take one person out.
“Mostly it was the fact that people didn’t eat breakfast, didn’t eat lunch, had a few beers before they got in, and passed out,” said the paramedic from Northshore. “We needed a lot of ice.”
The day started badly, as police were unprepared for the army of fans who camped out Friday night into Saturday morning to assure themselves tickets for the show. Neighbors complained of urinating in public and beer drinking during the night, and there were some reports of vandalism.
“Next time, we’ll know better,” said McGovern. “I’ll have a sergeant and six men there from midnight on. We’ll just have to have that written in our contract with the promoter.”
The second problem arose over the huge crowd spilled out into Maple Street by mid-morning, causing security forces to open the gates two hours earlier than the anticipated noontime starting point.
“Again, we’ll know better next time,” said McGovern. “And another thing, next time we’ll have to be up there at seven in the morning, not 11 a.m., like today.”
And the last of the big problems occurred because there weren’t enough accessible gates to handle the crowds coming into the stadium.
“Next time, we’ll have eight instead of four,” said Dooley.
As anticipated, parking was a major problem. Police had eight officers patrolling the seven streets adjacent to the stadium, towing offenders.
Both Star Market and Lynngate Plazas posted signs prohibiting parking and warning owners of towing. And to be on the safe side, police and private security officers patrolled the lots, taking down license plate numbers.
Parking was available in the Star Sportswear lot, and the Lynn Hospital parking garage. All available places on Ford, Locust, Bowler, Rand, Allerton, Maple and Chestnut Streets were taken.
“They should take Fraser Field (next to the bowl), level it, and make a parking lot out of it,” said Charles McManus of Maple Street, watching the drivers trying to squeeze their way past the parked cars. “Now that there’s no minor league ball over there, it’s just a white elephant. Then, nothing like this would happen.”
“You know what the real problem is?” said Harry Hingtson, also of Maple Street. “The real problem is that the stadium’s been up since, what, 1939? And there’s never been a traffic plan for it.”
Other people were equally upset at the idea of having a concert in the neighborhood. “We’re dealing with the young, young kids,” said Evelyn Anderson of Locust Street. “They are very hard to deal with. It’s not good for the neighborhood.”
Inside the stadium, things went peacefully. Although the show was supposed to start at 1 p.m. it didn’t get under way until 2:40 because some of Motley Crue’s equipment arrived late from the band’s Friday night show in New Haven. As a result, one of the groups, Helix, didn’t go on. The group Y&T opened, followed by Accept, and finally Motley Crue.
The latter group was very cooperative about meeting the 7:30 p.m. deadline prescribed by the city.
“When things began running late, (producer) Bruce Amdur came to me and said not to worry, that they’d meet the curfew,” said Dooley. “Then he came up and said they’d beat the deadline by 15 minutes. And they did better than that. They got off at 7:08 p.m.” The band took the stage at 5:45 p.m.
There were no problems after the show. Police kept traffic moving and the stadium was emptied in an orderly fashion.
Still, a few involved with the show expressed reservations about the way it was handled.
“We didn’t have time to prepare for it properly,” said McGovern. “We had to scurry for people who worked the detail. Thankfully, the MDC came through with 20 officers.”
Both police and Dooley’s crew said the fans, while garishly attired, were well behaved and polite.
“We’d tell them where to park, and they’d come out of their cars with all their leather on and say, ‘thank you.’ They were all right,” said one of the police officers.
