Mayhem in Montclair; Dozens of Mostly Teens Rioting

Hundreds of young people, mostly teenagers, caused an evening of "mayhem" at the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair on Thursday night, but one law enforcement officer at the site said there were no serious injuries.

With ambulances on the scene, he said a few young people—perhaps as many as 19—had been taken to Mountainside Hospital for alcohol poisoning.

A couple in the crowd complained that they had paid $50—or $25 each—to attend The Barstool Blackout Tour at the theatre, a sold-out show dubbed “the world’s largest blacklight party."

But they were told to leave after teens started trying to push their way in without tickets.

"We were inside ... it's really just one big party ... and people were trying to get in and then people started pushing and fighting ... it was crazy," said Kelly Richards. "People were vomiting ... I'd say most people were about 18 to 21 years old. I've never seen anything so crazy.

"I just want to know if we are going to get our money back," she said.

Another ticketholder at the scene, Ryan Jacobson, said that he was told there were too many people trying to get into the venue.

"All of a sudden there were just a whole lot of drunk people everywhere around and they were yelling and the police came," he said. "Everyone was trying to get inside [the Wellmont]. It was like everybody was drunk.

"I saw a few people with knives," he added. "I can't believe this."

According to the Wellmont's website, the event was for people 18 and older and there was a midnight curfew.

The show was scheduled to start at 8 p.m. but concertgoers said that Wellmont security guards and law enforcement told everyone to leave by about 9 p.m. because there were too many people in the building.

Police not only from Montclair but from surrounding towns including Bloomfield and Belleville were on the scene and at least six people were arrested for disorderly conduct.

One law enforcement official described the event as a "rave party" for students from colleges across New Jersey. A rave party generally consists of electronic music and some kind of light show with people dancing to music played by disc jockeys and/or live performers.

The Barstool Blackout Tour’s Facebook page described the event as: “Touring the nation leaving nothing but a path of destruction in its wake. Lazers, Fog, Blacklights, Stroked and Everything that Glows right in your eyeball. An absolute orgy of sound and lights for all your senses.”

One of the shows of the tour—due to head to Boston on Saturday—was shut down in Huntington, New York earlier this month. By 9:45 p.m., most of the crowd in Montclair had been pushed back onto Bloomfield Avenue and off Seymour Street, where the Wellmont is located.

Young people—some wearing neon-colored outfits that would glow under phosphorescent lights—milled about, taking photographs or talking on their cell phones.

The incident attracted even the attention of the New York media, with MyFoxNY.com reporting how cops were forced to shut down "a rave" in Montclair.

Police alerts started coming out just after 9 a.m., reporting an incident with large crowds at the Wellmont.