Dozens hospitalized during Avicii concert in Boston

CNN ^ | June 26, 2014 | Faith Karimi

[ConservativeStatement]

(CNN) -- Dozens of concertgoers were hospitalized during a show by superstar DJ Avicii in Boston on Wednesday night, CNN affiliates reported.

Local media put the number of patients anywhere between 30 and 80.

Massachusetts General Hospital told CNN it received 13 patients between ages 16 and 19. All of the patients are being evaluated, said Kory Zhao, a hospital public affairs officer.

Most patients had a problem with dehydration, drugs and alcohol, authorities told CNN affiliate WHDH.

[IronJack]

From the Department of Appropriate Names ...

[februus]

I like the UK dubstep stuff - rusko, cotti and that sort - avicii is not really to my taste, but I’m familiar with it. Our son’s HS football team uses the crizzly remix of this is the way we ball as the primary get up and shout teambuilder song -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvOR369O7qg

[XRdsRev]

I’d be two of five.

[februus]

At the tender age of 15 I saw both the Runaways (awesome) & Ramones (third stop on their first tour ever outside NY)and played in our cities first punk band in 1976. I’d join you in listening to that old stuff. Guess we really DID hate the hippies, eh?

[smalltownslick]

All right, someone please explain what EDM is.

[februus]

Electronic Dance Music - samples, synths, techno beats.

[Billthedrill]

Think heavy disco beat and lots of synth. The beat gets to you after awhile unless you're actually dancing. It isn't really all that new, it's just been evolving. HERE's a little trance from 2007. Not particularly representative, I just sort of like it.

[dmz]

Wake me when they play real instruments.

<><><><

I’m with you.

And leave the autotune at home.

[smalltownslick]

Thanks.

[a fool in paradise]

They don’t even play records. They twiddle their fingers in front of a laptop and call it “making music”.

[a fool in paradise]

Disco vs. Rap. Sounds like choosing between a Progressive Democrat and a Communist.

[boycott]

Disco vs. Rap. Sounds like choosing between a Progressive Democrat and a Communist.

---

Yeah, I know but rap is all “f#$^ this n-word pu#$^ #E&)@ ... “ from a bunch of vile degenerates.

[a fool in paradise]

As we have discussed in the past, I am holding out for a punk/new wave greatest hits radio channel (Ramones, Blondie, Clash, the Fixx, new wave one hit wonders, early MTV music memories, etc.).

Funny how the Ramones, Clash, etc. are too "hard" for "classic rock" stations (now spinning a handful of cuts from the 60s like Hendrix, NO Beatles, 70s stadium rock, and some early 80s) yet not hard or cool or punk enough for the "extreme" "modern" stations that are still playing 20+ year old songs by Nirvana and Pearl Jam.

[a fool in paradise]

Think heavy disco beat and lots of synth. The beat gets to you after awhile unless you're

on drugs.

[kcvl]

Me either!

Tim Bergling (born 8 September 1989), better known by his stage name Avicii (/əˈviːtʃi/; stylized as ɅVICII and ◢ ◤), is a Swedish progressive house DJ, remixer, and record producer. Avicii ranked 3rd on DJ Magazine's annual Top 100 DJs in 2012 and 2013

On 28 March 2014, FIFA and Sony Music Entertainment announced Avicii would be collaborating with Carlos Santana, Wyclef Jean and Alexandre Pires for the official 2014 Brazil FIFA World Cup Anthem titled "Dar um Jeito (We Will Find A Way)." The anthem will be performed at the FIFA World Cup Closing Ceremony on 13 July 2014.

Avicii also produced and collaborated with Chris Martin from Coldplay, on the track "A Sky Full of Stars" from the band's sixth studio album Ghost Stories, released 19 May 2014. He also played and recorded the piano parts on the track. A Sky Full of Stars was released on 3 May, as the second single from "Ghost Stories".

[dfwgator]

Yes well some of that is on an XM channel, 1st Wave

I listened to that station on my most recent road trip, it was great, hadn't heard a lot of those songs in probably 20 years.

[kcvl]

Alcohol and drugs, and in particular the party drug ‘Molly’, are thought to have been a factor in some of the cases as youngsters passed out in the packed arena and witnesses reported struggling to breathe in the cramped conditions.

The drug Molly is a strong form of ecstasy which has been linked in recent years to a spate of overdoses.

However, its exact chemical makeup and purity is known to vary significantly, making it almost impossible to anticipate the effects of a single ‘dose’.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2670286/Avicii-fans-hospitalized-suspected-drug-use-underage-drinking.html

Witnesses who spoke to the Boston Globe described conditions inside the venue, which has a maximum capacity of 19,500 as unpleasant and overheated.

‘You couldn’t breathe if you were on the floor. It was the best and worst time ever,’ 19-year-old Mike Santostefano said.

Roisin Saratonion, 18, added that she had left earlier because of conditions inside the venue.

‘You get really hot in there and you just pass out. You couldn’t breathe. It was claustrophobic. People get dehydrated,’ she said.

Wednesday’s concert was not the first time Avicii fans had been taken to hospital. When the DJ performed in Toronto last month 29 people were reportedly treated for medical problems.

[kcvl]

Most are in their late teens or 20s, and many are clearly rolling — they’re under the influence of a drug called MDMA, sometimes called Molly, that causes a flood, or “cascade,” of serotonin and other neurotransmitters to the brain.

The effect, for most users, is reduced anxiety, an increased feeling of connection to others, and heightened sensations — sight, hearing, touch — making everything feel good.

“This is a way of life for me. I’ve met a lot of great people, and I know it sounds weird but I’ve learned a lot about myself,” says the 21-year-old clubgoer, who freely admits that he’s rolling but asks not to be quoted by name. He says he first tried club drugs in 2012 and has been regularly coming to events like this — DJ shows, after-hours dance parties, raves in underground spaces — for nine months. “You’re very comfortable when you are rolling; you really connect with people,” he says. “Like that girl.” He points to a woman across the room. “I love that girl. . . . She’s awesome.”

MDMA, or 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, was originally created in 1912 as a possible blood-clotting agent by the German pharmaceutical company Merck, according to archival research of that company’s records published in 2006 in the medical journal Addiction. Although it underwent animal testing soon after, it wasn’t tried on humans until the 1950s. In the mid-’70s, according to a 2010 Addiction article, a Dow chemist named Alexander Shulgin learned of its effects, resynthesized the drug, and performed tests on himself. Soon he was touting the drug for producing feelings of closeness and empathy. He became known as the “Father of MDMA,” or ecstasy, as the drug was known in the club scene of the late 1980s and 1990s, the burgeoning of electronic music.

Classified as a psychostimulant — the same drug family as methamphetamine and the attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder drugs Ritalin and Adderall — MDMA works by increasing the level of the body’s natural neurotransmitters, mostly serotonin but also dopamine and norepinephrine. In extreme cases it can cause serotonin syndrome: a rapid increase in body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure that can lead to hyperthermia and sometimes death. In law enforcement terms, it is a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it has no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.

[hout8475]

My 65 year-old mother loves his two big hits, “Wake Me Up” and “Hey Brother”. I actually kind of like those songs too, even though I’m more of hard rock/metal kind of guy.

[boycott]

I really must live in a cave. I had never heard of him. I watched a few of his youtube videos and was impressed. The guy is talented.