A Kenny Chesney concert at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh on Saturday ended in public brawls, arrests, injured fans and a massive clean-up effort, according to WPXI. Concertgoers left giant piles of garbage, beer bottles and furniture scattered across the parking lots, and now some angry local residents are calling for a ban on Chesney concerts in their city.
"I've got to be honest with you: It's a long day, and a few folks are consuming excessive amounts of alcohol and causing some grief," Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Michael Huss said to local news reporters. "A lot of people attend without incident and are respectful. But there's always going to be some that are out of hand."
A group on Facebook called "A Ban On Kenny Chesney" has emerged out of anger, as city officials and leader say this was among one of the rowdiest and dirtiest events to take place since Chesney started playing the city in 2005. In total, there were 73 arrests and citations, including 10 large brawls, 35 underage drinking citations, 45 people taken to hospitals and 150 treated for injuries in and around the stadium.
"If this was done at Wiz Khalifa there would be hell to pay and racial slurs thrown left and right," wrote one Facebook user. "This is beyond ridiculous. It's disgusting. It's trashy. And it's pathetic."
While most commenters don't want the show to be banned, they also don't want the mess that follows in their city.
The concert drew 58,000 people to Heinz Field on Saturday, resulting in a 15-hour garbage cleanup just in time for Monday morning's commute, though a discernable smell still remains according to reporters.
"The mess is not country," Jim Bennett, a country music fan said told WPXI. "Country people take care of their messes. It's like city folks going to something and taking their city trash with them."
"You probably could say 80 to 90 percent of the people there are acting responsibly, but even 20 percent of 50,000 people getting out of control is pretty bad," said Merril Stabile, president of ALCO Parking, which headed cleanup efforts. "The Kenny Chesney crowd is the most difficult crowd for our staff to work with of any of the events of the year."
Click here to see photos of the massive concert tailgate that resulted in public fights, arrests, injuries and tons of trash.
