New Haven Plans On Who Concert

By Colin McEnroe

The Who's concert at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in New Haven Dec. 15 will take place unless the group itself backs out, New Haven officials and concert promoters said Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for Cross Country Concerts, concert promoters, and a New Haven city official both agreed that the concert date would not be cancelled, despite the 11 deaths Monday night in Cincinnati where fans of the group were trampled by a mob rushing to get non-reserved seats.

Mark Schannon, a spokesman for New Haven Mayor Frank Logue said Logue's administration has never permitted the sale of non-reserved rock concert tickets at the coliseum.

When another rock group, the Grateful Dead, once insisted on such an arrangement they were told "to go find another place to play or agree to our terms," Schannon said.

In Providence, however, the Civic Center authority voted unanimously to cancel the previously issued permit for a Dec. 17 appearance by the British group. Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci led the outcry against the proposed concert Tuesday morning, saying he would take matters into his own hands and cancel the concert himself, if no other authority would.

Promoter Larry Vaughn said he would institute legal action to force reissuance of the permit and reimbursement for his losses.

In Boston, the city's Licensing Commission announced that a Wednesday hearing would be held on a concert by the Who scheduled for Dec. 16.

Schannon blamed the deaths in Cincinnati on the sale of unreserved seats and the policy of keeping the doors to the arena closed until shortly before show time. Those attending the New Haven concert will be allowed to take their reserved seats long before the show begins, Schannon said.

Schannon also said the police on hand will more than double the number present in Cincinnati, where the crowd was considerably larger.