When last we reported on the controversial decision by the Mayor’s Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing (MOCAL) to suspend 18-plus dance nights in Boston indefinitely, and to require all under-21 concerts to disperse by 11 pm, MOCAL’s Patricia Malone predicted she’d have a revised policy addressing DJ nights in place “by the end of [February].”Well, here it is the second week of March, and still the dance floors are bereft of young’uns. Malone has news, however. It’s not written up yet, but she expects to issue a directive making way for under-21 dance nights soon. “I would say that I'll definitely have it out before the end of March,” she says.
The specifics still need to be ironed out, but this much, at least, Malone explains, is certain. “Every club will need to file a request for what night they’re going to have under-21 events, [as per the old rules, only one per week will be allowed] and a security plan that tells me how they’re going to make sure that under-21 patrons do not get ahold of alcohol.” Don’t be surprised if earlier exits are also mandated.
Malone says she’s been approached by club owners “who are hurting financially. . . . one night of under-21 [DJ] entertainment goes a long way toward their finances. I recognize that. And I don’t want these businesses, obviously, to go under. So I am working on it. Has it been completed? No. But it will be shortly.”
As for the live-music policy, which stipulates that any club seeking to extend 18-plus nights past 11 pm must secure written permission from the licensing board two weeks in advance, Malone says, “I’ve heard from a lot of licensees that it’s working much better than it ever worked before. I just send back a letter [granting permission], the police get a copy of the letter, and everybody seems to be happy.”
Not quite everyone. An employee of one Boston club, speaking on background, griped that the new rules are complicated, and indicated that excessive paperwork is to blame a marked reduction in 18-plus shows at that particular venue.
But at the very least — and this may be cold comfort — it would seem City Hall is finally satisfied. These draconian directives were instituted, in part, because of concerns over post-closing-time violence in the vicinity of larger clubs. While the Boston Police have offered few details about these incidents, Malone says, “We’ve substantially cleared a number of the problems we were having in the city. What needed to be taken care of for the most part has been taken care of.” The new restrictions, she says, have “substantially helped the Boston Police with allocation of resources” and “calmed a situation that needed to be calmed down before something happened.”
