NO RAVE REVIEWS FOR RCMP

Partygoers are accusing Mounties of engaging in "police state" tactics when
they shut down a weekend rave party near Drumheller.

Mounties say the all-weekend event organized in the hamlet of Wayne, about
10 km southeast of Drumheller, lacked permits and posed a safety hazard.

But Calgary partygoer David Allan said police went overboard by refusing to
allow partiers into the campground and by harassing those who stayed at the
site to camp.

"They came in every 20 minutes to tell people to leave and at one point
threatened to tow peoples' cars away," said Allan, 41.

"I was disgusted by it ... I don't like getting threats and intimidation
from police who are supposed to be protecting and serving me."

Allan said those who made it to the site were well-behaved.

"If there was a problem, I could understand why they would have done this,
but there wasn't," he said.

But RCMP said the party, dubbed Oasis 2, was illegal and its organizers
kept its location secret until Friday, the day it was to start.

"It was an illegal concert and we can't let those go on -- that's all there
is to it," said Staff Sgt. Keith Redl of the RCMP in Drumheller, 140 km
northeast of Calgary.

Organizers tried to get last-minute permits for the rave, but were refused
on safety grounds.