Bumstock through the years

Posted on April 22, 2004, at 12:00 a.m.

1972

A tradition is born

Bruce Gram and several of his friends start a music festival at the University of Maine and name it Bumstock.

1975

$600 for beer

A rainy Bumstock keeps attendance just above 600; UM Residence Life and Programs gives the festival’s organizers $600 for beer.

1976

Pres. imposes

10 p.m. curfew

Then UM President Howard R. Neville imposes a curfew on Bumstock – everyone’s done at 10 p.m.

1977

BYOB

Residence Life refuses to support Bumstock if beer is given away. Instead, it encourages a BYOB policy and pressure “from above” threatens to end the yearly celebration.

1980

Life ‘as a zoo’

UM Trustee Harrison Richardson publicly describes UM life as “a zoo.” New university President Paul Silverman hopes to “change” Bumstock.

1981

‘On egg shells’

Bumstock is regulated heavily and organizers are told the festival will end “before dark.” Admittance is restricted to only the university community, and organizers describe planning the event as “walking on egg shells.”

1989

Fenced in

Orono Town Council puts pressure on university and Bumstock officials to move the concert site from Cabins field. A fence is used to deter students from wandering around onto adjacent properties in Orono.

1998

Beer tent killed

A beer tent for staff security and performers is done away with, destroying the presence of legal beer drinking at the music festival.

1999

Big names

Boston-based modern metal band Godsmack plays Bumstock. Big headliners are the next big thing.

Campus Currents: Bumstock