Flash rave takes over Hillsborough Street

See the slideshow of the event here.

What started as a Facebook event became one for the history books Sunday night.


Approximately two weeks ago, Lindsey Holmes, sophomore in Spanish literature and language, started a Facebook event advertising a flash rave in the Brickyard as a way to take a break from studying and to celebrate the end of the semester.

As of 9:15 p.m. Sunday, 3,150 were listed as confirmed guests on Facebook, 3,226 were listed as "maybe attending" and 4,111 had yet to respond.

Holmes invited students to, "Join me on Sunday to DANCE and let it all go before exams kick us back into student mode."


Just before midnight, students flocked to the Brickyard in droves. But dance they did not.


At 11:55 p.m., the music did not start. The DJ that Holmes had promised on the Facebook event was nowhere to be seen, nor was any music heard. 

According to Lt. Larry Ellis of Campus Police, Holmes did not have a noise permit, so she was not allowed to blast music.

"Any time you're on the Brickyard, you have to have a permit," Ellis said. "But gathering like that, you can do that any time you want to."


Without a noise permit, Holmes was not allowed to use amplified sound on campus.

So when Devin O'Rourke drove a red truck into the Brickyard blasting "Powershift" by Median, he was quickly shut down, much to students' chagrin.


Irwin Ki, a senior in civil engineering, said O'Rourke was "trying to bring life to the student body through music."


Bryan Nicholas, a freshman in math, was disappointed that the music was cancelled.

"This is bulls---. We want music," said Nicholas.

Nicholas was one of many screaming and chanting at the police phrases like, "Let them play," "We want music," "Hell no, we won't go" and "F---the police."


"The police can't control us," Ki said.

At around 11:45 p.m., there were approximately 2,000 students in the Brickyard, according to Ellis. Throughout the course of the night, the crowd grew to 3,000.

Kristin Farley, senior in architecture, was surprised to see so many people.

"I had no idea there would be this many people here. It's epic. This is awesome and I love that the police can't stop us," Farley said.

At first, students were mostly standing in a crowd around the steps to the Atrium, yelling, but Ellis said Campus Police's main concern was safety.

"Any time you've got a large crowd, you want to make sure everyone's safe," he said.

Ki didn't mind the lack of dancing, though.

"The music was shut down, but [students] are still clapping, still yelling, still bodysurfing, still dancing, still throwing toilet paper," he said.

After the police forced O'Rourke to move his vehicle out of the Brickyard, students followed to Hillsborough Street where they moved in a pack toward the Memorial Bell Tower, the Chancellor's house and the Capitol Building.


Caitlin Atteberry, senior in graphic design, was surprised that a Facebook event could turn into what it did.


"[My friends and I] were looking for a rave. What we got was a riot. I'm okay with it though," she said.

 

NCSU Rave from Wolf TV on Vimeo.