Government's policy that requires all open-air concerts to be finished at 1 a.m. is killing the industry and robbing audiences of value for their dollar.

And the arrangement is insensitive to the cultural habits of Bermudian society so it is doomed to fail.

So claimed Gladwin Simmons, one of the principals behind Dred and Baha promotions.

Mr. Simmons and fellow promoter Andrew Phillips are behind a petition that will be handed to Premier Pamela Gordon. It calls for the extension of all concerts that are held away from residential areas to go to 2.30 a.m.

"Our events attract a huge number of people who don't leave home before 11 p.m.,'' he explained. "So when we have to close up at 1 p.m. where do they all go? "It creates more problems because they still have energy that needs to be used up and it ends up spilling out at Hamilton nightclubs.'' Mr. Simmons said that this often leads to an unhappy atmosphere in the clubs but it all could be avoided if concerts were allowed to go to at least 3 a.m.

This would mean that the nightclubs are all closed he said and there would not be hoards of young people descending on the City.

"At 1 a.m. most people are just getting into their vibe and it just amounts to a curfew that messes with their recreation.

"Concert goers are thus left hanging and dissatisfied because they were not allowed to come out and knock their boots.'' Mr. Simmons said that concerts are an important feature of Bermuda's social scene but Government is missing this.

"(The concert promoters) help to subdue a level of frustration that exists in Bermuda. Everyone talks about the youth and the antisocial behaviour that some of them get up to. What the powers that be miss is that we are working in their interest. Those kids at our shows are off the streets in one place enjoying themselves.

"Dred and Baha is answering the community's call because we organise the youth around a vehicle best suited to capture their interests and that vehicle is music.'' Mr. Simmons said that his organisation accepted the one-concert-venue-per-year stipulation but he had a problem with the 1 a.m. finishing time because it was "short sighted.'' Let the music play a little longer "Are you telling me that if we are only allowed to have one concert in 365 days at a particular venue that the public cannot tolerate a later time for that one night? "We need more dialogue on this issue. We need another meeting.'' Last year concert promoters met with a special committee that involved Police Commissioner Colin Coxall, Government officials and representatives of the Corporation of Hamilton and the West End Development Corporation.

As a consequence, a series of regulations which are aimed at cutting down complaints about noise were put in place.

But Mr. Phillips queried whether noise was the real issue because some venues such as Dockyard or Clearwater Beach in St. David's still have to conform to the 1 a.m. finishing time although they are far from residential areas.

Mr. Simmons said he believed that race was a factor as well because blacks form a sizable portion of concert attendees and it is their cultural norms that the policy is disrespecting.

"It's a cultural thing,'' he added. "Blacks don't show up on time for shows.

They prefer to come later and stay longer. When they are told that it is all done at 1 a.m. when they have come at 11.30 p.m., they get upset.'' Meanwhile, another promoter Choy Aming said that he will not be bringing in any "big name'' entertainers this year because the 1 a.m. time constraint is too onerous.

He said that there have been arguments at the gate because come patrons show up at 11.30 p.m. and want to pay half price since they know that everything ends at 1 a.m.

"The stalls don't make any money either. So as far as we are concerned the 1 a.m. time is really humbugging the shows.

"I will not be doing any outside shows for a while because of the 1 a.m.

thing. We are going to stick to the small things.

"To have a big concert and then to stop at 1 a.m. is just not cost effective.

I have already seen a large drop in patronage. The end result is that no one really wins.''