Why don't people just take plastic cups and put their own beers into the cups - no one can stop you then as they won't know where you have got the beer from. The chances are that all refreshments will be served in plastic pint pots. People just need to use their heads a bit and drink smart - i.e. not carrying cans in plastic bags. They won't have warrants to sift through rucksacks!

i personally dont agree with this ban although i can see why it has happened,i have been to dml every year and personally not seen any of the bad stuff that has been mentioned. my worry is that the beer tent will be jam packed full with people waiting to get served and then drinking their beer that the second someone trips or bangs into someone there will be huge safety issues and god forbid a scuffle was to break out, would this not be more dangerous than people being allowed to drink in the bus station??? once again its the decent people who are being put at risk if they choose to have a beer for the sake of the few who cant behave... as long as they are all penned in though eh??

im not too happy about the ban but if it stops underage drinkers that cant handle it then i will be in the tent. see you there ahha

Mick H wrote:
As for Paul Davies its all 'me me me by the sound of things' we know your playing that day youve told us 4 times. Why cant Live music and a cheap can go together???

If I wanted to advertise myself Mick, I wouldnt leave comments on pages a handful of people come on to do so. I left my comment to share a performers opinion of the whole situation. Why do so many people on here try their best to pick at whatever they can in other peoples quotes. At the end of the day, if you'd like to enjoy the bank holiday with a can in your hand there are plenty of places you can do that. Let's see if anybody can respond without acting like an infant.

I'll be doing what I've done every year and getting thoroughly spanked in one of the parks/a friends house and then heading down with the old bottle of vodka down the pant leg!

As for Paul Davies its all 'me me me by the sound of things' we know your playing that day youve told us 4 times. Why cant Live music and a cheap can go together???

being 19 and not having alot of money the beer ban has really hit home with the people around my age group although i dont welcome the ban though it will stop as gary pointed out underage people making a fool of themselves

Social Drinker wrote:

And as for you Mr Gary \"Go Beg\" Ward, i would\'ve thought you would\'ve been praying for the people of Darwen to be glugging down as much of their own alcohol as possible in order to numb the pain and drown-out the **** you play (and have the cheek to call \"music)!

...

Finally, for you \"social drinker\" I hope you reply to this as your highly intellegent contribution is still making me giggle, I\'m glad to have made an impression and am happy to take the publicity!

I think maybe i\'ve touched a nerve?!?

Not really, your comments did genuinly amuse me as did Mikeoxlongs and the poor sod who had a "half eaten kebab up the side of the head". I am happy to contribute to discussions on things like this which are close to the heart and maybe offer a different angle of thought. I am dissappointed from a personal point of view but looking at the bigger picture I am prepared to accept the new rules on alcohol.

Finally, if you e-mail me (I'm sure you know which web sites to contact me on)I will give you the information that you need to get involved with next years event - it is not a closed shop, there haven't been enough people willing to help out in the past and with your passionate support for Darwen I'm sure that your views would be welcomed.

And as for you Mr Gary "Go Beg" Ward, i would've thought you would've been praying for the people of Darwen to be glugging down as much of their own alcohol as possible in order to numb the pain and drown-out the **** you play (and have the cheek to call "music)!

...

Finally, for you "social drinker" I hope you reply to this as your highly intellegent contribution is still making me giggle, I'm glad to have made an impression and am happy to take the publicity!

I think maybe i've touched a nerve?!?

I'm sorry but I've always seen Darwen live as a festival for music lovers. As an artist at darwen live I would rather play to a smaller audience of music lovers than a larger audience including people who are not there to listen and appeciate what myself and other performers are doing. In reply to other comments above; if Kim, you really think that most people will be in the pub, rather than at the stages then good riddance to those people to whom a beer is more important than live music at a live music festival. I know which I'll be choosing once I have performed am on my way to enjoy other live acts. Live music over a cheap can anyday. P.S. the beer tents are at pub prices this year anyway so the comments about all the council profit is a load of rubbish. Just think how much the bands have cost them put on. I personally can't wait til this years festival. Thanks to Gary Ward, Steve Burch and other organizers!

Social Drinker wrote:
I think its scandalous that the council has decided to ban bringing your own alcohol at the festival in order to line its very own coffers! And as for you Mr Gary \"Go Beg\" Ward, i would\'ve thought you would\'ve been praying for the people of Darwen to be glugging down as much of their own alcohol as possible in order to numb the pain and drown-out the **** you play (and have the cheek to call \"music)!

After reading all of these comments there's one or two points I would like to make which some of you may not be aware of. The musicians participating in this picture were asked to attend a photo shoot to officially launch the sale of the festival programmes. Whilst assembled at Darwen Library Theatre they where asked a series of questions about the festival including their opinion on the drinks ban. The Lancashire Telegraph reported the whole episode with a different angle and made the musicians look like they were working for the council! This is not the case and I know that some are very dissappointed with the newspaper.
For the record, I do believe that the ban will be a possitive step this year but for reasons not yet mentioned by these comments. I for one attend over ten festivals each year ranging from free events to expensive ticketed festivals and the most important thing with any decent event is not alcohol or even the music, it's the atmosphere. Darwen live has become a great event for the alcohol consuming over 18's. I personally don't mind drunkeness and am certainly not easily offended but to ignore the concerns of people like "darren james" is taking a totally selfish attitude, to what started out as a family event.
As for Ian the beancounter who asks why those who can't take their ale aren't ejected by the stewards, you can't over police festivals in this way without ruining the atmosphere and causing aggrevation. At the end of the day there are a heck of a lot of drunk folk at Darwen Live - the stewards would never be out of the crowds! At the first two Festivals, Darreners policed the event themselves and respected the family atmosphere whilst enjoying alcohol at the same time. Since then the event has grown and there are many more people attending which has affected the overall feel of the event.
In 8 years of Darwen Live I have seen, a 12 year old unable to speak through drink or drugs at 1.30pm in the afternoon. There have been parents who've been too drunk to realise that their toddler has been in police care backstage for THREE hours. There was the drunken idiot who dropped a baby from head height onto the cobbled floor and left witnesses feeling phisically sick.
I like nothing more than to watch the music with a drink in my hand but until we keep the likes of Kim, Freddie and escaped spain away from Darwen Live then I am prepared to drink in the pubs and bars. One thing which I believe hasn't helped matters is the fact that a Darwen licensee no longer runs the bar which I dissagreed with when it was decided in 2005.
Finally, for you "social drinker" I hope you reply to this as your highly intellegent contribution is still making me giggle, I'm glad to have made an impression and am happy to take the publicity!

At the moment 1,043 have joined the group saying this is a daft idea. See http://www.facebook.
com/group.php?gid=24
186534192

I am interested to know the process by which this decision was first made, as it seems there is no canvassing of public opinion before such influential decisions are made. Seems crazy to me and looks like it could backfire on the event this year, sadly, leaving around 17 "live music fans" to enjoy the bands in peace.

I stopped going to music live and particulary stopped taking the kids. Unfortunately it isn't a small minority that throw beer or get aggressive. Yes enjoy a beer at a gig by all means but why feel the need to get hammered. In 2006 I had someone be sick on my shoes and a half eaten kebab up the side of the head!

I would have thought that you'd have to be pretty hammered to listen to that ear splitting banjo music

How much are the council going to make on drinks? Its a disgrace, Nice one guys for siding with the council! Do you enjoy paying your council tax and getting barely anything in return or what? Most of us take our own drinks cos we work hard every week to make a living and survive the ever increasing cost of living. We take few drinks and watch the bands and enjoy it, so what about us being stopped from doing what we do every year enjoy oursleves without getting ripped off?? You contradict yourselfs because if there was an Alcohol Ban why is there a Beer Tent? Stick your festival, for the first time in 8 years I and many others I know wont be attending

Read the responses Cllr Johnson. Methinks you're out of touch AND outvoted, same as you'll be in the local elections: I hope.

if the council want an alcohol ban on this years music festival at darwen then it should be a total ban that means no beer tent either. but we know that'll never happen because they want to make money out people. i used to be at the main stage from start to finish ever since the DMF first started, i even took time of work to go. last year me and my wife where one of about thirty people who stood there in the pooring rain while the bands played on, because when your happy and you've got a few cans with you you'll do that kind of thing but if i cant take my own beer i think i'll start going to the pub, it'll be cheaper than the beer tent or i might just call it a day and not bother going. on another note, i wonder how many of the artist that support this ban are playing in a pub! yes people like to listen to music and people like to drink, i wonder how many people would go to the millstone are any of the other pubs to listen to live music if they could'nt get a drink, i bet it would'nt be many. BAN THE BAN!!!!

Councillor Michael Johnson, i put it to you that the very people who you say have "knocked our selves out getting off our arses getting money from local businesses so we can put on what will be the biggest and the most widley supported festival" are not actually in it for the people of Darwen, but to raise their own profiles (then blow their own trumpets about it) and put on the music they themselves want. The masses of Darwen have absolutely no input whatsoever!

I think "tin-pot councillor" sums him up, or as i would put it "Ale-can" (the very same thing he is trying to ban!!!)!

I predict the music festival will not be as big a hit as previous years, and more people will boycott the main arena for the smaller venues, thanks to the money-grabbing, profiteering ways of the council. If this is the case, and we can attract the bigger bands next year, you will know who to thank...

No doubt by the time the festival comes round, councillor Johnson will be standing for Labour, having left as an independent via standing for the Lib Dems in the interim.

Health and Safety?...MY ARSE!!!

It is a case of the minority ruining it for everyone else, but if people are being drunk and disruptive, why can't security remove those people rather than imposing an alcohol ban on everyone?

I agree with you Kim. I have no problem at all with people having a drink as long as they're well behaved and have a bit of respect for the others around them. I like a few pints myself!!Sadly, as you say, a minority of people can't take their alcohol and they are the ones that spoil it for all. It would certainly be a good idea if the organisers would encourage the security staff to remove these people before things get out of hand. Are you listening, organisers??

Ian the Beancounter wrote:
I'm a middle aged person who remembers some of the "headliners" from their first time around but still enjoy going down to the bus station on the last night to listen to the music. Sdaly, in recent years, I have been hit on the head by a thrown beer can (still half full!), had beer poured over me, been spat at, and suffered a badly twisted ankle as a drunk staggered into me and I ended up stepping on a discarded can! Wow! What fun!! :-(

I am absolutely delighted that this ban is to be in place - perhaps those of us who go for the music might enjoy it better!

If 'enjoying the music' means that I can't have a few beers with my mates whilst watching the bands then I'd rather not bother to be honest.

At every other festival I've ever been to, even the ones that you can't take your own alcohol to, people can still stand in front of the main stage with a beer in their hand. Does this mean they don't care about the music? No.

It is a case of the minority ruining it for everyone else, but if people are being drunk and disruptive, why can't security remove those people rather than imposing an alcohol ban on everyone?

I'm a middle aged person who remembers some of the "headliners" from their first time around but still enjoy going down to the bus station on the last night to listen to the music. Sdaly, in recent years, I have been hit on the head by a thrown beer can (still half full!), had beer poured over me, been spat at, and suffered a badly twisted ankle as a drunk staggered into me and I ended up stepping on a discarded can! Wow! What fun!! :-(

I am absolutely delighted that this ban is to be in place - perhaps those of us who go for the music might enjoy it better!

M Johnson wrote:
Good point Steven.
I saw thee, if that\'s a fact put your name to the comment.
Escaped, the health and saftey was imposed by the police about street drinking supported by the council and yes you are correct the council did rip off the people with the price they charged for the beer.
This is why i have demanded that the beer is at pub price.
If you look at some of the postings about the drinking it makes you wonder what Darwen Live has become.
The fact that most of the Bands are all for the can ban says it all.
The reason they support it is because of some dig dag throwing beer at the stage and some of it still in the can.
I saw thee only a few people use the word quality after they make a statement!
Like i said put your name where your mouth is.

Well time will tell what the performers think about the emphasis being on music when no-one is watching them because everyone is at the bar or in a pub.

It's not a case of getting as drunk as possible, its about a relaxed atmosphere where people aren't being dictated to about where and when they can have a drink. It's a bank holiday - people are off work and want to have a good time, which, yes, will involve maybe having a few beers.

The way that the organisers seem to have gone about introducing the ban suggests that they are out of touch with local people. Do people want a) to bring their own beers and have a good time watching the bands with their families and friends?
or b) to be told they can't take their own beer in and spend most of the time there queueing up to get a beer, to only drink in a designated area, then to go back to the main stage after a drink, then to go and queue up to get another?

Surely this ban will take the emphasis away from the music if this is going to be the case?

If the ban on taking your own alcohol is no necessary this yeat, why has it not been implemented sooner? This is the festival's 9th year!

What's a dig dag?

If people want to throw beer they'll throw it from wherever; the beer tent, the pubs, outside the cordoned off areas.

It doesn't matter what the performers think of the alcohol ban, they're not the audience, and its them who determine whether the event is a success.

I am a big fan of the event and don't want to see it cancelled in the future because of poor attendance due to unnecessary rules imposed, especially if the reasons behind them contradict the reasons given to the public.

As I've said before its one of the last couple of big events that happens in Blackburn and Darwen and since the Mela and Arts in the Park have been merged and held over a longer period, it's even more important that something like Darwen Music Live keeps running to show that this town can hold successful big events.

It would be a loss to the town if it was cancelled, but the council don't seem to be aware of this.

Cllr. Johnson said
'If you look at some of the postings about the drinking it makes you wonder what Darwen Live has become.'


What postings? There is only 1 claptrap remark above that mentions 'a can of lager' and I don't see that as being anti-alcohol.

As for putting my name where my mouth is, I don't have to, as you don't, but then again I'm not after votes or monitory gain am I? PS thats a rhetorical question.

Good point Steven.
I saw thee, if that's a fact put your name to the comment.
Escaped, the health and saftey was imposed by the police about street drinking supported by the council and yes you are correct the council did rip off the people with the price they charged for the beer.
This is why i have demanded that the beer is at pub price.
If you look at some of the postings about the drinking it makes you wonder what Darwen Live has become.
The fact that most of the Bands are all for the can ban says it all.
The reason they support it is because of some dig dag throwing beer at the stage and some of it still in the can.
I saw thee only a few people use the word quality after they make a statement!
Like i said put your name where your mouth is.

Is the councillor naive enough to believe Darweners' only get s***f****d whilst drinking, Every Darwen resident knows half the town will be pepped up on goofballs, spank, dooby and what ever else they can get their sticky hands on

Well I don't really care as I'm off to the South of France for the Monaco Grand Prix, this year as most of the recent years have had awful weather in Darwen for the festival, maybe this is why families have kept away & It was so cold last year to boot!

To cllr(?)Johnson
My comment wasn't about my being able to get sht fcd (your words) at this event. I wont even be going. It was about jobsworth tin pot councillors who are using health and safety issues to make a profit out of the people who want to go and take their own drinks. Not all people who drink are troublemakers or people who want to get Pi***d,(your choice of words again) or from what I believe as obnoxious as you.
As for 'knocking youselves out' your substantial council expenses should be more than enough compensation for your efforts.
Again your Health And Safety concerns are invalid, especially as there will be an abundance of alcohol served from council profiting beer tents. The majority of alcohol that would've been taken in would as you say be cans. Put out a few recycling bins for the empties. Cans and bottles, most people will use them.
You must know an event like this goes hand in hand with alcohol, otherwise why the beer tents?... the answer has to be not many people would go!

Why does Jackanory Johnson try to take the moral high ground.Are you trying to re-invent yourself again ?? Do you think we have the memory of pond life?? You and your wife put on a great show outside the White Lion the year before last staggering about before falling into a taxi, . Better entertainmet than some of the bands. Quality. Where are you drinking this year? I like a laugh.

The first two post are exactly what i exspect from some of the people who post on this site.
Myself,Garry and Burchy have knocked our selves out getting off our arses getting money from local businesses so we can put on what will be the biggest and the most widley supported festival with the most headline bands that Darwen Live has ever had and all you can go on about is how much beer can i have. Yes please boycott it stay away go to the pubs and try to take a can in with you! lets see what the bouncers have to say.
I love a pint and a warm can of cheap Netto ale does not quite hit the spot.
The only reason i had cans at previous Darwen live festivals was the inability to get a pint in the pub because we could not get in and the beer tent was to dear.
The beer tents are at pub prices and the number of stages has doubled so you will be able to get in the pubs to see other bands.
Failing that get S***f***d on cans outside the stage areas and you won't have to go to the bar.
Then again you won't have to worry as you will not remember anything as you will be asleep in the bus stop.
Sorry that was last year.
It's no wonder why so many people with families stopped going to Darwen Live.
The number one reason people in Darwen gave for not going was the number of people staggering around and the number of people P****d. This is from the people who come from Darwen.
Darwen live more commonly known in the town as Darwens anual P*** up.

How pathetic that some people can't enjoy a music festival without having a can of lager welded to their fist

Another 'elf and safety' excuse for the organisers to rip of the punters.
The council can't even fight their own corner, they have to recruit these anonymous 'musicians' to back them up.
Wont be long before this event is scrapped through lack of interest. I say boycott it.

I think its scandalous that the council has decided to ban bringing your own alcohol at the festival in order to line its very own coffers!

And as for you Mr Gary "Go Beg" Ward, i would've thought you would've been praying for the people of Darwen to be glugging down as much of their own alcohol as possible in order to numb the pain and drown-out the **** you play (and have the cheek to call "music)!