Nelson Sheriff's Office release list of arrests at Lockn'

Time was, wearing a badge meant you'd take a bullet for the good of society. That riot gear you're wearing cheapens that, son.

I think this says it all about our police state.

We had no problems with the fuzz this year other than this WTF encounter that I'm about to describe. Haven't typed this out here yet and I apologize if it's really long, but I thought some might find it interesting.

First off, we had a group of 4 cars and we got put in what I would describe as a very crappy spot - we were the very first site nearest to the main road that runs between the BRB and the main stage. We were also right behind a big group of portos. As soon as we were directed to this spot we all tried to protest, but it was just impossible to coordinate 4 separate cars to move past the spot that we were being directed to and go somewhere else where we'd all be together without causing a major traffic jam or running over people trying to set up their stuff. We made the best out of it and had a huge setup of canopies, tents, and tapestries to close off our site. But we knew we were going to be in a very visible and high-traffic area as soon as we were put there. Not ideal. It all ended up working out fine though other than this scary moment I'm about to describe.

Our group was all very big Phish fans except for one guy and his girlfriend - these two came back to the site a little bit early before the end of the Phish show on Friday to get ready for the JRAD late night. The rest of us stayed until the very end of the Phish show and even waited around for a while after it ended so the main crowd could dissipate before we left. Had the couple I mentioned not gone back early we wouldn't have even known that this occurred, which is possibly even more of a creepy thought than the fact it happened.

So our main group finally makes it back to camp on Friday night and we are just on cloud 9 from the Phish show and having a blast. The guy who came back early says sorry to harsh everyone's good time, but I have to describe what just happened here so that you all are aware. Apparently the guy and his girl are just standing around the campsite with no one else there, no commotion going on, no nothing whatsoever, when all of a sudden what he described as 7 or 8 cops pull up on multiple different golf carts and surround my buddy's pickup truck that is one of the 4 cars parked at our site.

He said that the cops kept looking all around the truck and shining flashlights into it, but when my buddy politely asked them what seemed to be the issue they would not respond to him at all, literally just ignored him. I forget exactly how long he said that they stayed, but eventually they came INTO our actual site and were shining flashlights around the site. He asked them if they had a warrant or any probable cause to be doing that and they again ignored him completely and eventually rode away in the golf carts.

After this incident we did not see or hear one more peep from any law enforcement the rest of the time. I don't know if they had somehow mistaken my buddy's truck for a different vehicle, or if they thought we were somehow involved in nitrous stuff, or what exactly the deal was. But I guarantee that we at no time were doing anything to attract this type of attention. It was incredibly weird and really freaked me out for the rest of Friday night. At least I didn't know about it until after the Phish show though.

So that's my story, what do you guys think was up with that?

that sucks!

Yeah I mean I guess that was the case, it just seems weird that they would pick a time when no one was really at the site to roll up on it like that. My buddy said they rolled up and immediately surrounded the truck like that's specifically what they were worried about. There was nothing illegal in this truck. They did not ask who's truck it was nor ask any other questions whatsoever. They did not look at any other vehicle.

A neighbor from a few sites over who had walked out to the road to see what was going on corroborated this entire story. The poor guy seemed even more freaked out than my buddy.

Yeah I was just relating the way our buddy told it, wasn't necessarily saying that's why the cops left was because my buddy asked about a warrant or whatever.  He was just trying to get some sort of response from them about what was going on and why they were worried about the truck.  Wasn't even his truck, was one of the guy's still inside the show.

This truck was sitting out on the very edge of the campsite in absolute plain view of the road, almost directly under one of the streetlights.  Would have been the literal stupidest place in the entire campground for us or anyone to have anything illegal connected with.  

Yeah, one thing I will say is that I will never camp in a spot like that again no matter what any staff person tells me. I am fully prepared to be a dick in order to not be camped that close the main road. We did have more total space than we would've otherwise had, but it's not worth being a perpetual target of scrutiny.

Also, be sure to always clean up your site before you leave for the night. You never know who is going to come snooping through there while you're gone, whether it be the law or otherwise.

Good thinking smose! You were always a good egg, but this scene has made you into a stellar human being!

"Everyone is perfect but could stand some improvement." - Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama (the Dally Laamah, lol)