[Dixielandjazz] Dixieland to quell riots by

[Stephen G Barbone]

Here's a new reason to hire Dixieland Bands. "Music hath powers to  
soothe the savage breast." Especially, OKOM. What a change from 1917  
when it inflamed listeners and ruined women. <grin> This from the  
Montreal Gazette after the Canadians won a hockey game from the  
Philadelphia flyers.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband.




Friendly, festive party after Habs' Game 3 win

Crowd expert says unruly behaviour unlikely until late in the series


BY MICHELLE LALONDE, THE GAZETTE MAY 21, 2010




A festive - but calm - atmosphere reigned in downtown Montreal last  
night, as Habs fans took to Ste. Catherine St. to celebrate a 5-1  
victory over Philadelphia in the third game of the NHL Eastern  
Conference Final.

Ste. Catherine St. was again closed between Guy and University streets  
to make room for fans pouring out of the Bell Centre and downtown  
bars. Half a dozen Dixieland bands entertained crowds at several  
street corners, and spokesperson Yannick Ouimet confirmed police had  
hired the musicians in an effort to keep celebrations light-hearted.

Fans said the music was a nice touch, although nobody seemed in the  
mood for a riot last night anyway.

"I think it's a great idea, kind of old school, to have Dixieland  
music," said Habs fan Fulvio Vitale as he watched a three-man band in  
red bowties and striped vests perform in front of Ogilvy.

Fan Michael Bright said the music probably had a calming effect on the  
crowd.

"I was going to flip a car, but now I just feel like dancing," he joked.

Crowd behavior specialist Jerry M. Lewis said he wasn't expecting any  
serious rioting in Montreal yesterday. Lewis, a sociology professor at  
Kent State University and author of Sports Fan Violence in North  
America, said the conditions were not ripe last night for the kind of  
fan rioting that happened after the Canadiens' Stanley Cup quarter  
final victory on May 12.

"Celebrating violence tends to happen relatively deep into the series,  
during championship play," he said yesterday, as the game began.

Lewis said the phenomenon of spontaneous violence after sports events  
is common, and that Montreal's reputation as a hockey-crazed city has  
little to do with recent rioting after games.

"My research shows that it's not Montreal, and it's not hockey. It's  
championship play that attracts a certain proportion of young,  
(mostly) white, males to celebrate the wrong way."

He said rioting is an extension of the anti-social behavior tolerated  
at sports events, such as screaming obscenities at referees. But fans'  
intense identification with their teams, the build-up of tension  
through a series and an urge to do something physical after a big  
victory are what sparks violence.

"The fans can't shoot the puck, or skate fast..but what they can do is  
be violent by throwing (things) and through vandalism," he said.

mlalonde at thegazette.canwest.com