CONCERT STAFF IGNORED POT SMOKERS: UPSET MOM

Last week's Nickelback concert at Credit Union Centre was supposed to
be fun for Dayle Ellis, but it didn't turn out that way.

Ellis said she left well before the show ended, appalled by the
number of people smoking marijuana around her, her young daughter and
nieces, and the absence of any response from security officials at the venue.

Ellis, her nine-year-old daughter and two nieces, aged eight and 10,
are all big fans of Nickelback, and Ellis thought it would be fun to
take the kids to the Jan. 26 show.

"I was naive. I've had people say to me, 'You should have done some
research.' I never did," Ellis said. "Now that I know, it was
irresponsible of me, but prior to (the concert) I was unaware and
naive. I'm terribly upset with myself that I put my kids in this position."

Ellis said she was forced to leave her seat, children in tow, as a
man sitting near her lit up, even after she announced marijuana and
children do not mix.

"It doesn't make sense to me how ignorant we as humans are," she
said. "When he sees that there's three young girls sitting there, why
couldn't he have gone downstairs, gone out to the smoking area and
just smoked his joint there?"

Ellis tried finding different seats, but could not stay in the upper
level because the smell of marijuana was so strong. She then went to
complain to security officials near the exit about the drug use in
the upper decks.

Ellis said she was told there was nothing they could do to control
that many people. She left at that point.

Scott Ford, the marketing and events co-ordinator for Credit Union
Centre, said the show, which drew close to 12,000 people, was well
staffed with security personnel.

"We had enough staff to manage this crowd and manage it in a safe and
controlled fashion," Ford said. "If a customer goes to our usher,
which should have been the first line of communication, we're going
to notify our security people and they are going to deal with the situation."

He said there were 40 security personnel at the venue, and 36 ushers
who look after each particular section. There were also 54 event
staff in T-shirts, along with supervisors, door staff, event
attendants and first aid personnel. A police presence was also in the
building during the show.

"When you have 12,000 people in the building, you're going to have a
few that are going to try to break the policy," Ford said. "Do we
catch all of them? No. Are we trying to catch them? Yes we are."

Ford said 16 people were ejected during the show. Two of those
ejections were related to smoking violations.

"The type of music determines the crowd profile coming to the show
and I think in her case, she (Ellis) felt that this show was going to
be an easy rock show and it wasn't," Ford said.

"Nickelback is classified as a heavy rock band, and the music does
have a bit of an edge to it, and some of the fans are expecting that edge."