Grateful Dead Concerts in Limbo at the Forum
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The future of Grateful Dead concerts at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood is in limbo this week as representatives of the city, the arena and the rock band hold discussions about last month’s concert during which a Fountain Valley teen-ager died in police custody. Another fan’s death was believed to be drug-related.
The group has a city permit to perform Feb. 9, 10 and 11 at the Forum but has not yet signed a contract for the performance and it remains in doubt, Forum spokesman Bob Steiner said.
Meanwhile, more than two dozen Grateful Dead fans who say they witnessed the arrest of Patrick Shanahan, 19, at the Dec. 10 Inglewood concert have contacted the family’s lawyer after seeing flyers distributed at a series of Dead concerts in Oakland last week. The lawyer, Lawrence Trygstad, said witnesses generally described police behavior that night as “very aggressive and brutal.”
Police disputed that the officers used excessive force. The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office is investigating police conduct during the arrest.
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