Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 78

page E4 www.app.com ASBURY PARK PRESS SUNDAY, JULY 30, 2006 BMRMBjRjJMBJ Concerts WORRYFREE AT PNC r. ppnp-OFF ARCASP0NSCRFD5Y -y: 1 WELCOME Tv ME: 1 Concertgoers are dropped oil July 20 at the WorryFree Drop Of! Zone at Holmdel's PNC Bank Arts Center prior to an Ashlee Simpson show. Photo joseph j. DELcoNzospwiai to th. pru TEEN SAFETY TIPS BUDDIES RULE: Always go out with a friend who you trust, and make sure you watch each other's backs.

HAVE A PLAN: Print out the concert schedule or, in the case of Vans Warped Tour where it changes at each event, check the posted list that day then decide where you want to be and when. HAVE A MEETING SPOT: Everyone should plan on meeting at a certain place at a pre-arranged time, such as a food booth or a landmark. If your friend doesn't show, contact security. TREAT STRANGERS LIKE STRANGERS: If you meet a stranger even if you've been hanging out all day long and hopping from stage to stage together do not go anywhere alone with that person. GUARD BEVERAGES: Be aware of your own beverage and make sure nobody is slipping into your drink any substances (alcohol, pills) that can facilitate sexual assault.

If you feel funny, find a security guard. REMEMBER WHERE YOU PARKED: Park in well-lit areas. Walk in a straight line to the concert venue and then turn around and look for a reference as to where you parked your car, maybe a sign or a poster by the gate entrance. DON'T WALK ALONE ANYWHERE: Always stick with a group of friends and watch out for each other, maybe even holding hands. Yes, it's a music festival and you have to represent your hard-core style, but this is your life and well-being at stake.

Source: www.mtv.comnews TONY PALLAGROSI: A ROCKER SINCE HIS YOUTH By QRETCHEN C. VAN BENTHUYSEN Staff Writer Tony Pallagrosi, 52, owner of the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, remembers his first concert and the fact his mother took him. The year: 1965. The place: Asbury Park's Convention Hall. The band: The Rolling Stones.

"You can't imagine how insecure she felt staring at those five, disgusting, longhaired guys from England," Pallagrosi, of Allenhurst, said. "Her level of horror was much greater than that of parents today. "Rock music to her came from the devil or some alien planet," he said. "There was no common ground." These days, Pallagrosi said, teens into rock 'n' roll at least have parents who grew up hearing it on the radio. Like today's teens, he said he harangued his mother to take him to see the Stones.

"I told her I'd never never do anything wrong again," he said, until she finally relented. "Of course, that went right out the window." She also took him to Convention Hall to see the Mon-kees. Little did she know, Pallagrosi said, he really wanted to go to that concert because electric guitar innovator Jimi Hendrix was the opening act. Having a mother willing to take her son to early rock concerts obviously had a long-term influence on Pallagrosi, whose Starland Ballroom also is home to the concert promotion company Concerts East. He thinks it was about 1968 or '69 his mother finally let him go by himself.

Again, it was Convention Hall in the early 1970s and glitter rock band Mott the Hoople was an opening act that Pallagrosi, known for wearing sunglasses day and night, underwent another transformation. "In those days the stage at Convention Hall still had that heavy red curtain from vaudeville I remember watching that curtain go up and I saw Ian Hunter, Mott the Hoople's lead singer, wearing this long robe, a top hat and the biggest sunglasses I'd ever seen. "The next day I ask a friend to drive me to the 'hippie store' in New Brunswick and I bought a top hat and sunglasses. I lost the top hat, but I've kept the sunglasses." FROM PAGE El "Also, for Ashlee Simpson, the crowd did skew younger, about 12 to 13, so more parents went into the show with the kids so there weren't as many drop-offs," she added. Liability is paramount The WorryFree zone is most effective after concerts, said parking attendant Alyssa Eva-risto, 16, of Holmdel, because it is a central location parents and teens both have access to.

Attendants will not let incoming cars go to the front of the lot to pick up anyone, she said. When it comes to catering to young audiences, liability is paramount. No venue owner wants to be sued for any reason or lose a liquor license for serving underage customers. At the Starland Ballroom and the arts center, wristbands are required to purchase alcohol and issued only to people who can prove they are 21 or older. At Starland, which also has parking attendants on duty during concerts, the bar areas are separate from general-admission areas to stop "handing off' alcohol to underage customers, according to Pallagrosi.

"Things can easily happen at any venue, any place there is a large gathering of random people," he said. "Concert venues want their patrons to enjoy a safe concert and we take that responsibility very seriously." For instance, he said Starland and the arts center use an estab-lished security company trained to deal with concert crowds, not bouncers. "We invest money and time in making sure audiences are taken care of appropriately," he added. Ready, set, warp About 11,000 fans most of them teenagers are expected to hear at least 85 bands performing on 10 stages for 30 minutes each from about noon to 8:30 p.m. at the Vans Warped Tour.

Bands scheduled to play (but subject to change) include Aiden, Thursday and Senses Fail on Thursday at the Tweeter Center in Camden and Aug. 6 at the Englishtown Raceway in Old Bridge. To accommodate worried parents, Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman came up with a Reverse DayCare tent five years ago, when the event still was being held in Asbury Park. "I noticed a lot of parents (outside) leaning against fences reading books," Lyman said by telephone from Sacramento, during the 50-stop tour ending Aug. 13.

"The concept was to check in your parents and they can keep an eye on things while the kids are having a good time." tag rxm PjcttTgarnFTr qsaBsE gar Cupo (who loves Simpson) and Pereira (who couldn't care less) were going to the concert with the girls. They said not until the girls were of driving age could they go to a concert anywhere without an adult. Everyone's cell phones were fully charged and the adults had discussed the buddy-system and meeting spots. "You have to watch your back anywhere you go, even at school," Kristen said. Amy Agamemnon, 15, who will be a sophomore at Ocean Township High School, went to 0 The WorryFree dropoff and pickup area Row in the north side parking lot is available for the following shows at the PNC Arts Center: Aug.

11: OAR Aug. 12: Counting CrowsGoo Goo Dolls Aug. 17: 311 Aug. 18: Guster Aug. 27: John Mayer, Sheryl Crow Sept.

1: Family Values Tour featuring Korn Sept. 8: Rob Zombie, God-smack The tent varies from location to location, but Lyman said it has air conditioning, cold drinks, large-screen TVs with headphones for movie watching and chairs for lounging, including a massage chair. Lyman is realistic enough not to guarantee a 100-percent injury-free event. Young teens at their first concert can get carried away, literally, by crowd surfing or spirited moshing, he noted. These activities are "discouraged" by the more than 200 security guards, some not in uniform, trained to deal with music crowds whose rhythm changes throughout the day, Lyman said.

The average age of a Warped Tour fan is 15 or 16, Lyman said, and the typical problem the on-site medical team deals with is dehydration. "All 800 people working the festival are told to look for dehydrated kids," Lyman said. "If you see someone down, they are suppose to ask them if they need some water." Anyone causing problems is warned and then ejected if the problem continues, he said. "Part of the event is like a giant discount mall where kids can buy band T-shirts for $15 to $20 and CDs for $2 to $10," he said. "They've been saving up all year and they don't want to get thrown out." Starland Ballroom, popular with Shore-area teens, also evicts troublemakers, Pallagrosi said.

If younger than the driving age, the problem teen will be held in the outside lobby until an adult arrives. Mothers weigh in Middletown's Colleen Black, 45, is the mother of three music-loving sons: Danny 19, Tyler 16, and Brendan, 12. She said she feels comfortable letting them go together to the arts center or the VFW in Middletown for concerts because they are close to home. "I would never let them all go to New York City," she said. Recently, her eldest son was involved in promoting an all-day music event at The Stone star? 1 MONMOUTH I SOMERSET AMC LOEWS MI I HOLD METItOMX 14 FREEHOLD 100 FANOANGO 753 AMC 4 ttioatWATtn COMMONS 7 BRIDGEWATEB 90l-25-l1At CINtMAS HUSBQOUGH TtMf NAT-t AMUSEMENTS HAIXET MULTIPLtX CfNIMAf RT 35 HA1LET 262200 AMC LOFWS MONMOUTH MALL IS EATONTOWN BOO-FANDANGO 750 SOUND I I A VDD5.TT THI8 ENGAGEMENT Bamboozle with her 16-year-old brother and father because her mother is worried about moshing and crowd surfing and wouldn't let them go without an adult.

"I was so excited and I got to see two of my favorite bands," Amy said. "We had organized a meeting place with my dad, so it wasn't like we had him hanging there." The three also went to see Taking Back Sunday, the head-liner of a four-band concert at Great Adventure this summer. She said the concert was in an arena teens down on the floor dancing, most parents sitting in the seats. "At Great Adventure I saw some pretty young kids, maybe 13, who were kind of going crazy," she said. "The kids threw a bottle of soda into the audience and one of their mothers dragged them off the dance floor and back into the stands and made them sit with her.

"I would have tried crowd surfing at Great Adventure, but I didn't want to give up my space close to the stage," she said. Alex Rosenblatt, 14, a sophomore at Ocean Township High School, said he was dropped off at Bamboozle to meet his friends. "I had no trouble while there," he said. "No one harassed me or did anything to make my experience horrible. "It was amazing, and I met a various array of the artists while there," he said.

"I was free from my parents and I was able to have a good time responsibly and having responsibility makes us kids feel grown up and it gives us our own sense of security." rr CSserrH B'1 1 MOBILE USERS: For Showtlmw Text NATtOHAL UlUSfMf NTS ALL JERSEY MULiWUI CMIMAI NEWARK B73 817 8100 CLEAREW OHfMAJ All WOOD CINEMAS CUFTUN 777 HIM 1014 CIEARVIEW ONEMU BEACON HILL I SUMMIT 777 FLU 913 CIEARVIEW CINEMAS SIROENFItLD CINEMA I 777 FILM 1984 AMC LOEWS MICK PLAZA BRICK TOWN BOO FJWDANW B747 UK BRIDWW1TH C0MM0N1 7 SOB 72M1J1 CLAPVIfW CINEMAS CINEMA 11 CEDAR 9R0VE 777 FILM I8S2 AMC CUFTON COMMONS CUFTON 973 61044 RE84L ENTERTMNMf NT 8RTXJP COMMERCE CtrfTH STADIUM IS NCff'h BPUNSWICK BOO FANDANGO I6I CtANfOtO mt ATI! CftANFORO BOB 276.9120 DESTINTA'S ONE MAS Of STINT'S THEATtIM INOIFINDENCC FLUA AMU ION 809 SB8 4500 AMC10EWS EAST HANOVR It 800 FANDANOO 1711 HiTIONAL AMUSEMENTS IDMW4TH MUinnix ONIMAS 201 840.0688 IISII MIIN 8 WEST OfiAKOE 873.731 7758 AMC LOEWS FREEHOLD MITROfUI 14 BOOFAilDANOO I7S2 REOAl fNIERTMNMENT 9R0UP MAOtH THEATfE STADIUM IS SOUTH PLAINHELD 800 FANDANOO 1284 AMC HYWAY PIV1 FAWUWN AMC LOEWS JIRSCT ELIZABETH BOO FANDANOO CLEAJMEW DNNILON UNCOIN ARLINGTON CUARVlfW MANSFIELD HACKETTSTOWN 777 FILM READING MANVILLf MANVUf RfSAJ. GftOUP MAtxn fa PRINCETON BOO fANDANM NATIONAL AMUSfMfNTS Man HA2LIT MULTIPLEX OH MAI RT 3fi HA2LEI 732 264.2200 MARLBORO CUARVIEW CINEMAS HEADQUARTERS 10 MOPHISTOWN 777 HLM t55 MUSBOtOUOH CWEMAI WL.S6vOuOM 90B 874 61S1 Hourwooo cmiRua EAST ORANGE 873 676 3600 CINEMA SERVrCf HUDSON CINEMAS JERSEY CITY 201 413 1200 STADIUM 12 ROUTE 800 FANDANOO MATT AH WEST NEW 201 869 AMCtOEWS MEADOW 8 800 FANDANOO MM MOVIES BRUNSWICK EAST 732 651 Pony in Asbury Park. She let her two younger sons attend, but Black stayed from 2 to 6 p.m. to keep an eye on her youngest son and he left with her. Her youngest and oldest sons attended this summer's Bamboozle Festival at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, Black said, but she worried the whole time.

"Mosh pits, crowd surfing you just cringe," she said. "They left at noon and didn't get home until midnight. "I told the older one to call me as soon as they left (the arena) so I could breathe a sigh of relief," she said. "The 19 year old is very responsible and makes good choices, but you never know when other kids are going to act irresponsibly and start a fight or something." Lisa Cupo of Howell also is concerned about fights, especially when it comes to her daughter, Deanna, 13. "I admit it," Cupo said.

"I think girls are more naive." Her sister-in-law Anne Per-eira, 40, and her daughter, Kris-ten, 15, plus their niece Alexa Cupo, all of Clark, were tailgat-ing at the Simpson concert. It was the first arts center show for the girls. (SB 0 is NOW NATIONAL AMUSEMENTS ALL-JERSEY MULTIPLEX CINEMAS NEWAMI1UI0O CLEAIMFW CINEMAS ALUVOO0 CINEMAS CUHON 777RLM914 FLOMN-CRiATVE ATLANTIC FIVEPLEX CINEMA ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS 191-01 ClfAVVtrW CINEMAS BEACON Hill SUMMfT 777-FILMW! ClEARvlEW CINEMAS CINEMA SERVICES CREATIVE EAST tii LESSER HYWAY FAIR CINEMA PLAZA FLEMINGTON 7U-2777 OCUrTON COMMONS CINEMA CUFTON 1 1 4-044 CLEAIPVtEW ONE MAS CLOITER OOSTEfl 777-FILM MIS REGAL CINEMAS COMMERCI CENTER II AMCLOEWI JERSEY 451 ELIZABETH CIEARVIEW KINNELON NORTH BRUNSWICK BOO-FANDANGO 42 AMC LOCWS Parking attendant Alyssa Evaristo, 16, of Holmdel said PNC Bank Arts Center's drop-off area is more popular after shows. MtHMiliETIEEaflEnE PLAYING 4 (jk 6 ENT Hoarwooo ORANGE CENTRAL AVENUE 97M76-JM0 THEATRES LAWN 796-171 7 KAPKOWSKI a00fANDANGO7SI GARDENS 20 ROAD CINEMAS KIN-MALL CINEMAS 777-FILM 97 CREATIVE ENT LINCOLN CINEMAS ARLINGTON 997-41 7i CLEARVfFW CINEMAS MADISON CINEMA 4 MADISON 777-FILM HI) CLEARVfFW CINEMAS MANSFIELD PLAZA 14 HACKETTSTOWN 777-FILM VICE with your ZIP CODE to 43KIX (43549)1 AMC LOEWS MENLO RAM II EOlSON 800 FANDANOO B820 CLEARVKW CMfMAS MIDOLEBRO0 8ALLIR1A CINEMA 18 REOAL ENTERTAINMENT GROUP WHATCOM CINIMA It PWLUPSBURe BOO FANDANGO 283 AMC LOEWS IIDBf FIELD PAR1 1 RKMit FIELD PARK BOO FANDANOO 797 AMC LOEWS Sf AC0URT 10 I0MS RIVER BOO FANDANOO 780 FRANK THEATRES SOUTH COVt STADIUM It 8AYONNE 201 437 6600 CIEARVIEW ONE MAS SUCCAMJNNA CINIMA II 777 FILM ISIS SUMMIT QUAD UNION art 201 869 2878 NATIONAL AMUSEMENTS TOWN CENTER PLAZA MULTIPLEX CINEMAS EAST WINDSOR 609 371 8472 UNION THEATRES UNION 906 660 4373 CLEARWEW CHE MAS WASHINOTON CINEMAS WASHINGTON T0WNSHB 777 FILM 818 AMC LOEWS WAYNE 14 WAYNE BOO FANDANOO 1781 CtJEMAS 11 777 THM 997 OCEAN 777 FILM 1726 CINIMA Wl LUtW3 MONMOUTH 201 997 8873 1 IB EATONTOWN 800 FANDANGO 1790 AMC LOEWS MOUNTAINSIDE 18 RT 22 EAST MOUNTAINSIDE 800 FANDANOO 1794 mvti cm EDISON 732 9482300 AMC LOEWS HEW IIUNSWrCI IS 600 FANDANOU 1799 CREATIVE ENTERTAINMENT NEWARK METRORLIR NEWARK 973 642 9558 CREATIVE ENTERTAINMENT NEW PARK CINEMAS R0SELLE PARK 806 241 2525 AMCtOEWS NEWPORT CUfTH 11 Jersey an 800 FANDANGO 1793 AMC LOEWS PA1AMUS ROUTE 4 18 800 FANDANOO 1798 CtEAKVTFW CINEMAS PARSIPPANT CINEMA 11 PARSICPANY 777 FILM 598 CINIMA EAST HANOVER i2 EAST HANOVER OfrfANOANGO 741 NATIONAL AMUSEMENTS BERGENFIELD ERCENFIELD 77 -FILM MM CUARVlfW CINEMAS BERNARD (VILLI CINEMA BERNAMXVULf EDGEWATER MULTIPLEX CINEMAS EDGEWATER B4044H 777-F1LMI977 AMC LOEWS BRICK PLAZA 10 MT aRtOTTOWN I0O-FANQANGO 747 OAMC BRIOGFWATER COMMON! 7 IRIOCEWATEIt72S-1t4f CLEAffUfWCWtMAI CALDWELL CINEMA 4 CALOWEU ut-no; CLEARVirW CINEMA! CHESTER CINEMAS SIX CHESTER 777-FILM WJ OEARVIEW CINEMAS CINEMA 10 SLKCASUNHA OESSEX GREEN WEST ORANGE 731-7715 AMCLOEWI tDCtUAI NATIONAL AMUSEMENTS HAZLET MULTIPLEX CINEMAS HAZLET 244-2200 READING CINEMAS MANVILLE 12-PLEX MANVUi 777-FILM ISI AMC LOFWS MONMOUTH MAL1 15 EATONTOWN IWANDANGO7S0' AMCLOEWI MOUNTAINSIDE MOUNTAINSIDE BOfrFANOANGO 714 CINEMA SERVICE! MOVIE CITY CDSION S4 9-6444 VMAN RAMSEY CINEMA RAMSEY US 1090 FLORIN-CREATIVE R1A1TO CINEMAS WESTF1ELD 232-1 2M AMC LOEWS RIDGEFIELD PARK 12 mt BOfrfANDANGO 757 AMC LOEWS seacourt to mr TOMS RIVER NATIONAL AMUSEMENTS BOO-FANDANGO 740 MULTIPLEX CINEMAS FRANK THEATERS SOUTH COVE STADIUM 12 BArONNE 417-6600 CIEARVIEW CINEMAS STRATH MORI CINEMAS MATAWAN 777-FILM W7 LESSER SUMMIT OUAD UNION CfTY SPIROS THEATRES AT TOWN CENTER PLAZA EAST WINDSOR J7I-B472 AMC LOEWS NEW BRUNSWICK II JSt NEW BRUNSWICK B004ANDANGO 7 IS CREATIVE ENT. NEW PARK ROSEUi PARK I41-2S2S CREATIVE ENT NEWARK CINEMAS NEWARK 100-SSS-Tia AMC LOEWS NEWPORT CENTRE II UNION 6M17J CLEAJMEW CINEMAS WARNER OUAD RIDGE WOOD 777-F tLM 511 AMCtOEWS WAYNE 14 BOO-FANDANGO 741 CUARVIEW CINEMAS WAYNE PREAKNESS CINEMAS WATNt 777-FILM 7B7 CINEMA SERVICES WILLIAMS CENTER CINEMAS RUTHERFORD 913-1700 WOOD 71-1 100 CINEMAS jersey errr BOOFANDANGO 7SJ NORTH AMC LOFWS PA RAMUS ROUTE 4 10 PARAMOS OO-fANOANGO R7S4 SHROS CINEMAS PASCACK WOTWOOD 444-1200 AMCLOEWI PLAZA I IW CALK US BOO-FANDANGO 7 SI SORRY, NO KMSES ACCEPTED FOR THIS ENGAGEMENT.

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