searching wallets when entering main stage area?!

[Nizzy]

Like most people here so far I had zero issues with security - a couple times when I went through it seemed a little agressive but for the most part they patted our pockets down and waved us through. When I had doobies on me they were inside a cigarette roller to keep them from getting broken and tucked in a cargo pocket, I never had anyone searching me ask what it was. My buddy had a pipe on him most of Sunday and never had a problem.

[armedaneian]

A piece of string and a rubber band can dangle anything in an unsearchable spot. It might show on a woman in tight pants, but men in baggies can take their stash anywhere!

[captntripps]

Heard lots of issues, but was never searched or anything, but I use the force mind control trick so...

[armedaneian]

I've never been good at the mind control trick. I just say "Hi!" and make friends with the searcher. A little B.S. goes a long way! It also helps to look like a responsible adult. Wookies get searched the most. Honestly, I had my pockets patted the first day. After that, I seemed to just walk through. Maybe it helps to look for the fastest line. Going to one that's backed up is like asking for trouble.

[delilah27]

So, as we all know, security at Nateva was extremely lax during most of the weekend. Pretty much everyone was lighting up, trading drugs in the camping area, clearly using drugs without a care. Security patted us down so lightly throughout most of the weekend that everyone got c**ky (apparently if you type the word out it gets changed to "roostery", despite being a legitimate G-rated word) ... and then they cracked down.

My husband and I left during the intermission of Furthur's set to get some water. On the way back in, the guard asked to see his wallet, then dug through it, opening up the change purse and all that. He found a small bag (maybe half a gram) of molly and we were escorted to the police station set up at the Port stage.

I have never been so terrified in my entire life. All we normally do at home is smoke a little pot, but at Nateva the drugs were so prevalent, why not indulge? I totally freaked out, but since there was only a small amount on us and we were clearly not selling, we didn't get into any criminal trouble, but we did have to pack up our campsite and leave immediately-- which was not an easy thing in the dead of night.

Now, I'm not really upset about that in hindsight. These drugs are illegal, after all. My issue is they just let us drive out into the night. Anyone who got kicked out was just allowed to drive off onto the road, regardless of whether or not we were under the influence of anything. For us, the experience of getting busted and the hour spent packing up were enough to sober us up pretty well, but I know there were definitely people driving around Oxford in the middle of the night who really were in no condition to be behind the wheel. Does anyone know of any accidents that occurred that night because of this irresponsible policy?

Anyway, I just felt it was so unjust for security to do a complete 180 in their policy. After all, the list of "no-no's" never mentioned drugs at all, just nitrous and glass bottles and all that. It was obvious to even the most casual observer that pretty much everyone indulged in one substance or another over the weekend, and I don't know a single person who got thoroughly searched before Sunday night. If they were going to enforce a strict drug policy on this festival, they should have done so throughout the weekend, rather than lulling us into a state of security.

Other than that though, what a kickass weekend!!!!!

[delilah27]

I don't know about Maine, but in New Jersey, where I live, if you leave a bar way too drunk to drive, and the bartender can clearly see you are too drunk to drive, and you get a DUI or (god forbid) get into an accident, the bar is held responsible for letting you leave.

So... I don't know if that's the case in Maine according to the law, but if anyone who was kicked out drove away high as a kite and hit something..... Nateva & the Oxford police definitely share the responsibility.

[veroni]

Everyone that keeps mentioning the " on the website they never said drugs weren't allowed in" drugs are illegal. Why would not putting on a website don't brings drugs make you not bring them as aposed to not having anything about them on the website. That's like saying oh they didn't say it's illegal to rape a person so I guess that's ok. If your bringing drugs to a festival, take them before you get searched or leave them at your camp site. Indont understand why people are getting upset about secuirty taking there drugs. And I'm my opinion, they let the one couple off good with no jail time or criminal record. You guys are pretty damn lucky

[moondancer]

Jul 7, 2010 18:34:40 GMT -5 delilah27 said:

I don't know about Maine, but in New Jersey, where I live, if you leave a bar way too drunk to drive, and the bartender can clearly see you are too drunk to drive, and you get a DUI or (god forbid) get into an accident, the bar is held responsible for letting you leave.

It's the same in Maine. The bar is held responsible.

As for my experience, or lack thereof, with security getting into the concert grounds, I had no problems at all. Every time we went through, they just patted my pockets and up til Sunday didn't even check for a wristband. They did the same thing to Raven when she went through. Then I would hold my bag open so they could look and see what there was in it. Usually a couple of bottles of unopened half frozen water wrapped in a washcloth so they didn't sweat all over my camera, my camera, and cell phone. I do have to say that once the male security guys see a tampon in the bag, they don't look very closely after that. It was kind of funny to watch them look, see those and almost immediately let me go through. I saw a couple of other people in front of me get asked if they had any illegal substances though. They really seemed to get grilled about it. The security guy was saying 'if you have it and you tell me you won't get in trouble, but if I search you and I find it, you will be in trouble...'

[itrainmonkeys]

After some people complained about searching wallets on Facebook Nateva responded with:

We found over 1,000 hits of acid in a guy's wallet. Security looks in places where they have found things before, and the wallet is one of those places. Anybody with 1,000 hits of acid in their wallet is a drug dealer and not welcome at Nateva. Unfortunately, we need to make 9,800 people uncomfortable to find the 200 idiots that aren't interested in the community or the music - just selling us their drugs. Airports are the same way. In the end, what is the price to provide a safe community for everybody at Nateva?

[delilah27]

Veroni makes a good point, of course drugs are illegal and just because they're not specifically listed as a no-no doesn't suddenly make them okay, and I'm certainly not saying we should all be allowed to carry drugs on us and not get in trouble. I'm extremely grateful to the police for not arresting us... I definitely learned a lesson there.

But come on.... at a festival headlined by bands such as P-Funk, the Lips, and the m*t*e*f*c*i*g Grateful Dead (or what's left of them).... hell yeah there's gonna be drugs, and lots of them. I just think hey should've either check everyone thoroughly starting from the initial entrance into the festival, or keep it low-key all the way through, none of this changing policy on Sunday bullcrap.

[itrainmonkeys]

Jul 7, 2010 20:23:34 GMT -5 delilah27 said:

But come on.... at a festival headlined by bands such as P-Funk, the Lips, and the m*t*e*f*c*i*g Grateful Dead (or what's left of them).... hell yeah there's gonna be drugs, and lots of them. I just think hey should've either check everyone thoroughly starting from the initial entrance into the festival, or keep it low-key all the way through, none of this changing policy on Sunday bullcrap.

I think that you're just assuming that they changed policy on Sunday but it's entirely possible that no "policy" was changed and some of the more power-hungry / aggressive staff and security worked the shift you're talking about.

Honestly, the worst pat downs/searches I got were on Friday. Saturday and Sunday I was able to walk through without even being touched. Just a quick glance.

Not everyone will have the same experience.....but I think you're jumping to conclusions without really knowing what was going on.

[kincade]

Jul 7, 2010 19:10:38 GMT -5 itrainmonkeys said:

After some people complained about searching wallets on Facebook Nateva responded with:

We found over 1,000 hits of acid in a guy's wallet. Security looks in places where they have found things before, and the wallet is one of those places. Anybody with 1,000 hits of acid in their wallet is a drug dealer and not welcome at Nateva. Unfortunately, we need to make 9,800 people uncomfortable to find the 200 idiots that aren't interested in the community or the music - just selling us their drugs. Airports are the same way. In the end, what is the price to provide a safe community for everybody at Nateva?

On the FB comment:
I'm sure the guy with 1000 hits of acid wasn't the first wallet they decided to open and look in. What was the catalyst that caused the security to take the exceptional step to start opening wallets, and how many empty ones they went through before actually finding anything. LAME!!!

Security has found drugs stashes in underpants before, and it is a known concealment spot, will there be a strip search next year!?!?!

Airports are NOT music festivals. That is comparing apples to lunar landing robots. The search should be comparable to OTHER MUSIC EVENTS (or sporting, or other mass gathering of people).

[ptb351]

Jul 6, 2010 16:39:32 GMT -5 mojo4395 said:

Jul 6, 2010 16:20:46 GMT -5 shmalphy said:

I am saying that confiscating a bike is theft. Security does not have that right, and they tried to exercise it anyway. They backed down when I let them know that I know my rights...

Also, placing your hands on an individual is called battery. The pat downs were excessive, and not performed by trained individuals. They overstepped their bounds

Also, in response to this statement:
" These guys were keeping my person, including my feet, safe from harm, yet I could sit down and light up a bowl right in front of them without fear. The man who searched my purse was not looking for my stash. I didn't even try to hide it, it was in plain sight. No hassle. (Imagine a hippie music festival that hassles people for smoking a little pot? No one would go next year.)"

They WERE taking personal stashes of herb. My friend and my gf lost theirs...

I will go next year, but I will prolly not be paying for a ticket, just like about half the people there this year...

Confiscating the bike if it wasn't allowed on the grounds is not theft. By purchasing a ticket, you waived certain rights and agreed to abide by certain rules. The "No No's" section of the website specifically says "No Bicycles or Skateboards please. Too many people. Feel free to bring your bike with you and then take a ride along the beautiful country roads outside the Fairgrounds, but not inside the Camping or General Viewing Areas. Sorry."

As far as the claim of battery, if you go to any sporting event, concert, or other large public gathering, you are likely going to be patted down. Sometimes it will be more thorough than others. It is not at all "battery" to do a security pat-down. Again, by purchasing a ticket, you consented to being searched. If a particular security guard was being inappropriately handsy, you should've brought that to the attention of a supervisor and had it dealt with. However, a search is in no way battery.

As far as the fact that they were taking "personal stashes of herb," like it or not, marijuana is illegal. They find it, they take it. That's the way it is at any festival. Every festival has instances of security confiscating illegal drugs, and, if you choose to bring illegal drugs, it's a risk you assume.

Finally, your comment about attending without a ticket, other than a few folks that showed up on Sunday, I saw very few non-wristbanded people. And they checked the wristbands very thoroughly to get into the main venue on Sunday. As Keller Williams said, gate crashers suck, and if you choose to be one, I'll gladly quote that song for you.

I think the gate crashers were coming down from the field with the huge Nateva sign, getting through that fence (there might be a gate somewhere) and then sliding through the gate by the porta potties .......our tent was near the porta potties, and I saw a few people Saturday (more on Sunday) who got through there and then crossed the inner track and then just went in between the vendors into the main stage area. I assumed this was why they had staff posted by the huge Nateva sign on Sunday.

As for security at the main state areas, my wife and I didn't have any problems at all. Ofcourse when you are forthcoming with them, opening things before they ask, they cut you more slack (not that we had any illegal substances with us any way). The most ironic thing with the security was after we walk all over the place looking for the free water, fill up our water bottles, then try to go through to the main stage area and have to pour out the water (because it could be Vodka)... They searched everybody before they got into the site in the first place, right?

[itrainmonkeys]

Jul 8, 2010 7:24:24 GMT -5 kincade said:

Jul 7, 2010 19:10:38 GMT -5 itrainmonkeys said:

After some people complained about searching wallets on Facebook Nateva responded with:

We found over 1,000 hits of acid in a guy's wallet. Security looks in places where they have found things before, and the wallet is one of those places. Anybody with 1,000 hits of acid in their wallet is a drug dealer and not welcome at Nateva. Unfortunately, we need to make 9,800 people uncomfortable to find the 200 idiots that aren't interested in the community or the music - just selling us their drugs. Airports are the same way. In the end, what is the price to provide a safe community for everybody at Nateva?

On the FB comment:
I'm sure the guy with 1000 hits of acid wasn't the first wallet they decided to open and look in. What was the catalyst that caused the security to take the exceptional step to start opening wallets, and how many empty ones they went through before actually finding anything. LAME!!!

A few times going through the gate they would say "take everything out of your pockets" and I would do that. That would include my wallet, lighter, phone, camera, etc.. Now lets say I have a TON of acid sheets in my wallet and I take out everything from my pockets. It's possible one of the staff there saw something sticking out of the wallet or maybe it just looked really thick and packed out so it seemed suspicious?

I don't know how it really went down....but that's certainly possible. Nateva doesn't have to explain themselves but they do anyway to try and help angry customers understand. There was a lot of anger over some aggressive security at Mountain Jam with people feeling violated and do you think Mountain Jam responded with any explanation? Nope. At least Nateva has the decency to try and explain some of their reasoning. Why do you assume you knew what was actually going on? Did you watch security the whole time?

Security has found drugs stashes in underpants before, and it is a known concealment spot, will there be a strip search next year!?!?!

No. There won't be.

[Dexxy]

Jul 8, 2010 7:24:24 GMT -5 kincade said:

Jul 7, 2010 19:10:38 GMT -5 itrainmonkeys said:

Airports are NOT music festivals. That is comparing apples to lunar landing robots. The search should be comparable to OTHER MUSIC EVENTS (or sporting, or other mass gathering of people).

I dare say these types of searches and security are going to be the norm this year. After all the BS that has gone on the last few years, and hoards of people screaming at promoters to make changes and fix security issues, this is what we are left with... stepped up security and searches... we pretty much all asked for this..

[kincade]

Jul 8, 2010 8:26:07 GMT -5 itrainmonkeys said:

A few times going through the gate they would say "take everything out of your pockets" and I would do that. That would include my wallet, lighter, phone, camera, etc.. Now lets say I have a TON of acid sheets in my wallet and I take out everything from my pockets. It's possible one of the staff there saw something sticking out of the wallet or maybe it just looked really thick and packed out so it seemed suspicious?

I don't know how it really went down....but that's certainly possible. Nateva doesn't have to explain themselves but they do anyway to try and help angry customers understand. There was a lot of anger over some aggressive security at Mountain Jam with people feeling violated and do you think Mountain Jam responded with any explanation? Nope. At least Nateva has the decency to try and explain some of their reasoning. Why do you assume you knew what was actually going on? Did you watch security the whole time?

Nope, I had much better things to watch than security, but from the sounds of it, someone who worked the fest in an official manner should have been watching them and let them know enough is enough for the average paying customer. Looking through wallets is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

I don't mind doing the empty the pockets things, but from the tales here, the security staff did much more than that, even when they didn't see sheets of acid hanging out of the uplifted wallet they still went through them.

I stopped attending Mountain Jam 2 years ago because of the venue and the heavy handed security policies (I do not 'vend' anything, but I do partake in a puff of the weed at a show, and they were just to zealous. I personally never had anything taken from me, but just do not agree with their tactics and therefor will not support them with my cash until they change).

Security has found drugs stashes in underpants before, and it is a known concealment spot, will there be a strip search next year!?!?!

No. There won't be.

It is the same logic they used for the wallet searching. As mentioned, they themselves compared their search to airport searches. I have never had my wallet taken from my possession for any search OTHER than one at an airport. Having that level of search at a MUSIC FEST is absurd.

Like you said, if the guy had a wallet in his hand and his sheets were dangling out for all to see, yes, security should take. But, is that one clowns actions reason enough to start searching everyone's wallet. If someone had a joint in their shoe and it was found, should security now demand everyone present their shoes for inspection. I say security was WAY to zealous when they start rifling through someones wallet when their was no evidence that it contained anything it should not.

[kincade]

Jul 8, 2010 9:08:43 GMT -5 Dexxy said:

Jul 8, 2010 7:24:24 GMT -5 kincade said:

Jul 7, 2010 19:10:38 GMT -5 itrainmonkeys said:

Airports are NOT music festivals. That is comparing apples to lunar landing robots. The search should be comparable to OTHER MUSIC EVENTS (or sporting, or other mass gathering of people).

I dare say these types of searches and security are going to be the norm this year. After all the BS that has gone on the last few years, and hoards of people screaming at promoters to make changes and fix security issues, this is what we are left with... stepped up security and searches... we pretty much all asked for this..

People complained about the N2O issue. No one has a tank in their wallet.

[itrainmonkeys]

Jul 8, 2010 9:14:12 GMT -5 kincade said:

It is the same logic they used for the wallet searching. As mentioned, they themselves compared their search to airport searches. I have never had my wallet taken from my possession for any search OTHER than one at an airport. Having that level of search at a MUSIC FEST is absurd.

Dude. They aren't going to strip search you. Thinking that's going to happen is absurd. I've had my wallet searched (and much worse) when going to some other concerts......it's not really that huge of a deal to look at a guys wallet.

[itrainmonkeys]

Jul 8, 2010 9:17:00 GMT -5 kincade said:

People complained about the N2O issue. No one has a tank in their wallet.

Different people complain about a lot of different things. Please don't act like the ONLY complaints have ever been about N2O.

[kincade]

Jul 8, 2010 9:36:03 GMT -5 itrainmonkeys said:

Jul 8, 2010 9:14:12 GMT -5 kincade said:

It is the same logic they used for the wallet searching. As mentioned, they themselves compared their search to airport searches. I have never had my wallet taken from my possession for any search OTHER than one at an airport. Having that level of search at a MUSIC FEST is absurd.

Dude. They aren't going to strip search you. Thinking that's going to happen is absurd. I've had my wallet searched (and much worse) when going to some other concerts......it's not really that huge of a deal to look at a guys wallet.

yes, I know they will not strip search, I am using it to show that their reasoning for taking someones wallet from them could just as easily be applied *if* they decided to do so. Also, to show that their comparison of an airport search to their search is plain ludicrous.

That said, I also did not think they would take a wallet out of the owners possession and rifle through it without any probable cause to do so.
You say that isn't a big deal, I say it is the first step to even more extreme searching policies.
My options are to speak up now or just sit back and be a lemming, follow blindly and let Nateva security go the way of Mtn Jam (which in essence, means I will have to stop going to Nateva like I did Mtn Jam, and I DO NOT want that to occur).

As I said, the ONLY search I have encountered where my wallet is out of my possession is the airport. A music fest does not need anywhere near that level of scrutiny when it come to searching the masses.

[itrainmonkeys]

Jul 8, 2010 10:00:55 GMT -5 kincade said:

You say that isn't a big deal, I say it is the first step to even more extreme searching policies.

My options are to speak up now or just sit back and be a lemming, follow blindly and let Nateva security go the way of Mtn Jam (which in essence, means I will have to stop going to Nateva like I did Mtn Jam, and I DO NOT want that to occur).

You're totally welcome to speak up. But rather than making over the top accusations about what may happen....why not be a little more constructive and write a concise and helpful e-mail or Facebook post with all of your concerns and send it directly to Nateva. You can e-mail Frank Chandler himself and also the Nateva staff. It will do more good then simply complaining about it on here. I'm not trying to quiet you down....feel free to continue this discussion on the forums.....that's what they're here for ;D. And i'm glad we can continue having this conversation without resorting to insults and name calling.

Anyway....I'd definitely try and write something up if you feel so strongly about it. Maybe even find a few other posters who felt similarly and you could all contribute. Nateva seems to be pretty open to listening to their fans so maybe it will lead to some positive action on the security front.

As I said, the ONLY search I have encountered where my wallet is out of my possession is the airport. A music fest does not need anywhere near that level of scrutiny when it come to searching the masses.

And as I said....I"ve had my wallet taken and searched at certain concerts. I've also had metal detectors, i've had guys pull up pant legs and look at my socks to make sure there was nothing there. Just because you haven't experienced something doesn't mean that it's abnormal or completely unheard of.

I guess I just got lucky because myself and some friends of mine came and went to the main venue on Sunday a few times and never got searched like some others.

[armedaneian]

I didn't feel any bad vibes the whole time. ;D Maybe it's all in how you look at things? I was never really searched, and when my pockets were patted down, they never asked what was inside them. Of course, if they did, they wouldn't have found anything objectionable.

The only way I would be upset about my wallet being searched, was if I had something hidden there. Maybe they found someone walking around saying "acid, acid, acid" or "doses, doses, doses", and then searched him and found those 1000 hits. 1000 hits? I couldn't even imagine that many! Do you think he planned on selling them all? I know some people think secretly dosing others is fun, but to me, that would be a nightmare! I wonder what kind of a sentence he'll get?

[kincade]

Facebook - A wall post will a) drop before they see it and b) will get to convoluted with all of the comments

e-mail - I will send them an e-mail, but it will be at least a month from now. The folks who 'count' are most likely still onsite with the post-fest, then they have to get all their t's crossed and i's dotted, which means they are still busy for the next month (as well as having a bucket loads of immediate post-show e-mails that have come through)

so, for now that leaves me here (sorry mods ) to vent my thoughts and to spark some fan on fan conversation on the security topic (I think it is obvious on what side of the debate fence I am on ).

[itrainmonkeys]

Jul 8, 2010 10:32:06 GMT -5 kincade said:

Facebook - A wall post will a) drop before they see it and b) will get to convoluted with all of the comments

e-mail - I will send them an e-mail, but it will be at least a month from now. The folks who 'count' are most likely still onsite with the post-fest, then they have to get all their t's crossed and i's dotted, which means they are still busy for the next month (as well as having a bucket loads of immediate post-show e-mails that have come through)

so, for now that leaves me here (sorry mods ) to vent my thoughts and to spark some fan on fan conversation on the security topic (I think it is obvious on what side of the debate fence I am on ).

Good point about the Facebook and E-mail options. I'm not saying you have to do them RIGHT NOW though.....just that those options may have more of an impact then on here.

Also, when I said Facebook I didn't mean JUST wall posts. You could make a thread in the discussion board and state that the purpose of the thread is constructive criticism of the fest (or just security if you want). That way anyone who feels the same way can post and discuss there.

Another Facebook option is a personal message. You could send messages directly to "Nateva Maine" who posts all the answers and info on the Facebook group page. You could also find Frank Chandler and send him a personal message as well.

Basically what i'm trying to say is....the more places they hear about it....the more likely they'll realize it's something to be worked on.

With that said....continue posting here. Don't feel discouraged if myself or others had a different experience with security than yourself or others and we voice our opinions that security wasn't too bad. Obviously we all had different run-ins with staff and security and will all feel differently. As long as it doesn't turn into just personal insults and name calling then we should be fine having a debate/discussion about the issues of this first year festival

[itrainmonkeys]

Jul 8, 2010 10:23:27 GMT -5 armedaneian said:

Maybe they found someone walking around saying "acid, acid, acid" or "doses, doses, doses", and then searched him and found those 1000 hits.

Ahhh good point. I didn't even think of that. I just assumed that they found the stuff when he was trying to walk through the gate but it's entirely possible that they found him dealing in the lots/camp sites and found his big stash in the wallet.

I'm sure that finding a ton of acid in a wallet and alerting some staff would make a few of them get a little aggressive in the wallet searching.