UPDATED: Seems like it even made the Toronto Sun!
The line between good times and all out mayhem can be thin at the best of times and it seems like a few rowdy fans and some possible poor planning combined into a bit of a situation this past weekend in Whistler at the DOPE 3 premiere.
Personally, when I showed up and saw 100+ people in line for an already at-capacity venue, I knew right away there was no way I was making it in. But apparently not everyone felt the matter was settled just yet, and within a few minutes of the scheduled showtime, the crowd took matters into their own hands and bum-rushed the front door. Surprisingly about 50 people actually made it into the venue before the doors were promptly slammed shut.
Reports from inside indicated the party was in full-swing, if not a little bit rowdy, when apparently management had other plans and, after the earlier incident, decided to cancel the musical act of Wes Makepeace and Mark Bannock and basically kicked everyone out at 11pm.
To top things off, as the restless crowd then milled around outside wondering what to do with their night and confusion caused by their extremely tight pants cutting off blood flow to their heads, someone threw a ski-rack... the cops were called... people tried to be tough... and general mayhem ensued for the next hour or so.
"It's fucking nuts over there", claimed one cabbie I talked to (who incidentally said it was great for business).
Comments the next day ranged from "Full-on riot" to "Whatever, just one or two dudes being idiots"
I went straight to the source and tried to get a bit of info out of Dave Brocklebank, DOPE leader and founder (who had nothing to do with any ruckus and/or cop incidents it should be noted). He's a tough nut to crack and didn't give up much info but here's what he had to say:
33MAG: I've been hearing lots of interesting things about your premiere last night in Whistler, what exactly went down?
Brocklebank: Oh man don't know what to say or where to start... All I know is homies were raging!!
I'm already hearing comparisons to the Baker Skate premiere riot in LA earlier this year... if not in size then in spirit. Any comment?
No way!! Ahahahha I wish.. Baker premiere was def way more buck then a bunch of snowboarders drinkin a few beers.
The D.O.P.E. crew seems to be killing it lately but it seems hard to nail down exactly what the fuck DOPE really is. What's the deal? Is DOPE a film crew? a way of life? a religion?!
All the above.
What's all this noise I hear about some ginger kid being made pro at something?
He ain't a ginger.. He's a red headed mother fucking STEPCHILD
Moments after the doors were slammed shut
By today, barely 36 hours after the party, it seems that the story is already making the rounds of local Vancouver newspapers, with one story titled "Unruly Whistler crowd gets rough with Mounties" explaining the situation as such:
"“When the suspect was arrested for mischief, he chose to resist arrest,” said Knapton in a release. “The large crowd then surrounded the officers and verbally encouraged the male to continue to resist.
“Some people in the crowd attempted to physically assault police and pull the male away, with one individual attempting to pull an officer’s firearm out of his holster,” said Knapton.
The police were eventually able to remove the 23-year-old suspect and the Pemberton man is facing charges of mischief, resisting arrest and causing a disturbance."
For the full story you can click here.
Fair enough I say... I'm always down for a party, and getting rowdy is a part of snowboarding I hope to hell never goes away, but to be honest when you break it down, it is not only not cool but realistically a huge waste of time to mess with the cops. No matter how pissed off you are, you should just walk away. Cause at the end of the day, there are always just more cops a radio-call away and you can never win. And if the reports of buddy trying to grab an officer's gun are true, which are hard to believe at best, then that dude is just a moron and deserves a punch in the face.
For now, let's keep the spirit alive, if not somewhat in check, and I look forward to lots more spirited happenings from the D.O.P.E. crew - these guys are legends in the making.
