“Let the warm air melt these blues away,’’ country music star Kenny Chesney sings in “Beer in Mexico,’’ one of his popular drinking songs. Unfortunately, alcohol in Foxborough caused the blues for some underage Chesney fans over the weekend.
Hundreds were taken into custody at the New England Country Music Festival in Foxborough, during a round-up by state and local police. This has raised the ire of many parents, who considered the police actions too aggressive.
Too bad. Law enforcement officials had good reason to zero in on the event. Drinking and rowdiness marred last year’s concert, which ended on a tragic note. Two women who had attended the festival died in a car accident that night on Route 1 in Wrentham. The parents of one of the victims, Debra Davis, 20, of Milton, spent the week before this year’s festival talking with neighbors and police about how to prevent such tragedies.
Foxborough Police Chief Edward T. O’Leary said this year’s event, which drew more than 56,000 people, was challenging from the start from a public safety perspective. Concertgoers ignored calls by police and Gillette Stadium officials not to arrive too early. By midmorning Saturday, Route 1 was jammed with traffic. Sweltering temperatures added to the security concerns. Fire department officials and paramedics treated people who overheated in the 90-degree weather. Others were treated for alcohol-related problems.
The legal drinking age in Massachusetts is 21. If you are under 21 and police catch you with alcohol, you run the risk of arrest, no matter what tune you’re humming. Country music famously celebrates beer and whiskey, but the songs don’t give fans a pass on the consequences of breaking the law.
