<img src="http://media.canada.com/scripts/locate.asp?id=2E1047CA-3B15-40FD-BE97-D21884BBE001" alt=" - " />
hmmm too bad the fathers of springfield didn't setup a gate there...
Burned-out and overturned cars litter St. Denis St. in front of the Medley last night after a riot by concertgoers broke out when the show was cancelled.
MONTREAL (CP) -- Angered by the cancellation of a punk rock concert, dozens of young people smashed windows and overturned cars, setting them ablaze on Tuesday night.
The young people, many sporting spiked-hair and cutoff jean jackets, rioted after they were told that the groups Total Chaos and The Exploited wouldn't be performing. Some members of The Exploited were refused entry into the country by Canada Customs, the French-language TV channel LCN reported.
"At 10 after 8 one of the organizers decided to come out and tell the crowd that was here that the concert was cancelled. At that point the crowd turned crazy and turned into a riot," Yannick Ouimet, a Montreal police spokesman, told Global Television.
It wasn't immediately clear how long the cancellation was known by the Medley hall before it was announced.
Hundreds of young people were waiting on the street for about 45 minutes before the violence began. Several then picked up material from a nearby construction site and hurled the items at cars and windows, said a witness.
Minutes later, at least four cars were overturned and set on fire, flames shooting out the side windows as firemen directed streams of water at them.
A one block area was littered with 24 cars that had their windows smashed.
Some of the rioters grabbed a computer from one of the stores and hurled it at a car. The windows of at least six stores, including a large music store, a clothing shop and a printer were smashed.
A frightened Philippe Yeung, who lives above the copy shop next to the concert hall, said he called police five or six times before they arrived after more than a half hour.
"When the police came, the cars were already on fire, they were already overturned and (the rioters) were moving up the street," he said, noting that the windows to his store weren't insured.
Once riot police with helmets and shields arrived, they blocked off a several block area as the young people fled, smashing store windows along the way.
Several people were arrested along city streets, with some placed into police cars whose windows had been smashed.
Several people were reportedly arrested trying to steal from the Archambault Music store after its windows and door glass were smashed.
"A riot isn't easy for anybody," said Archambault spokeswoman Natalie Lariviere. "We will do the work to ensure that everything is repaired for tomorrow."
A student at a nearby university told reporters that security people wouldn't let her and fellow students out of the building because of what was happening on the street.
When she was finally let out, she found that her car was one of those damaged. The back and side windows of her station wagon had been smashed.
"What can you do?" she shrugged.
A woman who watched the melee said she was shocked by the violence.
"I couldn't believe it was Montreal," an unidentified woman told Montreal television station CFCF. "It's supposed to be a quiet, tranquil city and it's not."
Two police officers sustained minor injuries and workers at the concert hall were apparently injured by broken glass. The injuries were not serious, said police.
© Copyright 2003 Canadian Press
