Inside the Nitrous Mafia
Psynthetic
Regular
Anyone outside of the jam band scene would probably be oblivious to this crew. Basically they're a bunch of thugs from the north east who figured out that hippies love nitrous, and nitrous can be sold for ENORMOUS profits. They travel the country selling gas, and have had a presence at almost every show and festival I've ever been to. I've taken interest in this crew, and have observed and indulged in their operation at many shows. It's really quite elaborate. If you're interested at all, here's a nice article about these folks that came out earlier this week. It's a pretty good read.
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Page One
Inside the Nitrous Mafia, an East Coast Hippie-Crack Ring
A hiss pierces the air as music fans wait in line outside the Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg. Across the street from the venue, a man stoops over his tank, inflating balloons and passing them to his associates by the fistful. He shuts off the valve and surveys the scene. Deciding his handlers are moving too slowly, he picks up the tank and slams it against the corner of the warehouse, sending a shrieking echo into the night. "I don't see you working fast enough!" he yells. Then he unleashes an exploding stream of gas into the air, rapidly firing left and right and cackling devilishly like a kid with a water pistol.
The balloon man, who asks not to be named, has a shaved head and a New England accent. He's the leader of the Boston ring of the "Nitrous Mafia"—a term invented by critics of his business. The Disco Biscuits performance is about to start. And the fans in line are high from his laughing gas.
"Fatty whippets!" yell the balloon man's eight or nine dealers, holding balloon clusters high in the air. Some of the dealers are locals, contracted out for the night, while the rest hail from Massachusetts and Rhode Island. When a police car is seen from a distance, a trio of spotters yells, "Six-Up"—a warning to keep cool. Selling nitrous oxide for the purpose of getting high is illegal, but the club's bouncers don't seem to mind the huffing. "The security here is cool," says a dealer named Chrystal, a single mother who is dating the Boston capo, whom we'll call Dmitri.
Throughout the year, the Nitrous Mafia travels from state to state, selling balloons at concert sites. The scene in Williamsburg is only a small preview of what happens in summer, when the outdoor festival season kicks into gear. During these campground events, which last two to four days, the Mafia, which is divided into two rings, based in Boston and Philadelphia, can burn through hundreds of nitrous tanks. With the ability to fill up to 350 balloons per tank, which they sell for $5 and $10, they can bank more than $300,000 per festival, minus expenses. Year after year, security guards at these events attempt to crack down on the illicit business, but, in most cases, they're outmatched by a phalanx of menacing gas dealers who have little regard for unarmed concert personnel.
And for some musicians and their fans, the illicit trade is a bummer. "It has a negative impact on the entire scene," says Don Richards, the tour manager for Umphrey's McGee, ranked the No. 4 jam band in a recent Rolling Stone poll. "It's a very controlling group, to the point where I've seen people get beat up."
"It's something that should be left to the dentist's office," says Josh Clark, the lead vocalist for the San Francisco–based jam band Tea Leaf Green.
But Dmitri, who has been in and out of jail on multiple occasions, defends the operation. "You don't want it, don't buy it," he says, taking a break from his balloon hustle. "We're not forcing you to do anything. You can keep walking." He lives in Rhode Island, but he and his associates will crash at his New York apartment tonight. Business has been slow, he says, and each worker will probably clear only $300 for this show. But he hopes things will pick up during the summer. When asked, he denies his crew is an organized crime ring. "There is no Nitrous Mafia," he says.
It is inevitable. At any East Coast summer music festival, from Maine to Miami Beach, the opening chords eventually give way to the whistling of tanks. In parking lots and alleyways. In mountain crevasses and open fields. At popular campsite events like All Good, in Masontown, West Virginia; Bonnaroo, in Manchester, Tennessee; and Gathering of the Vibes, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The Nitrous Mafia is there.
"You hear the hiss of that tank, and you know you're approaching a shady corner," says Clark, of Tea Leaf Green. "When I'm near it, I'm always afraid I'll wind up in some blurb for a music magazine."
Nitrous is called "hippie crack" because of its addictive qualities. Every morning, the festival campgrounds are riddled with balloons, "like bullet shells on a battlefield," says a fan. Unlike traditional drugs, which have long-lasting effects and can carry a fan through a concert, the high from N20 is cheap and quick. After that, it's often back to the end of the tank line for another round. "It's an instant rush of pure euphoria, but it only lasts for 30 seconds or a minute, and then you want it back," says Justin Heller, a fan who owns his own biodiesel company. He no longer does balloons, but remembers the days of buying 15 in a row. "You don't think about your money—you're just like, 'I want that again, I want that again, I want that again.' "
But some jam-band fans complain that the nitrous racket is harshing their idyllic pursuit, recalling a time, they say, when laughing gas was a part of the hippie ethos.
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Comments
THough I never heard nitrous mafia.
I have a friend that brings his own tank and we just set it up in the tent for after the show. Its tits.
that's why we sit down BEFORE we do the drugs .... Anyways, it would seem to me that N2O would detract from the experience and distract the user.
Yup. The name was original coined as a negative thing by people angry with the crew for bringing bad vibes to hippie shows, but I think they've taken a liking to it.
They were starting to tweak me out at Rothbury. I was trippin face and the horde of people huddled around the tank waving money was like a bunch of starved animals fighting over food. Fucking frenzy man. Later as we walked past another one of the guys was in some dudes face screaming and acting all hard. Then one of them yelled at me for not counting my money fast enough.
I think I've only ever seen one tank that was being run by someone other than scumbags that looked like somebody who would be selling coke rather than nitrous.
lol I learned this real quick the first time I ever did nitrous. Nothing like fishin' out and coming to on the ground. It's a good thing we were in a carpeted room and not in a parking lot somewhere. I hit to floor many times that day.
Distract the user from the music? The nitrous goes down in the parking lot before and after the show.
Here's the scene at the Red Roof Inn down across the street from the Hampton coliseum, where Phish played their first shows back together last year. As you can sort of make out, the two fellas in the middle of the picture don't really look like the type to be at a Phish show.
Here's some vids of the mayhem.
Aftermath across the street from Fenway
Not everyone had the foresight to bring their own. There are millions of dollars being made every day because people don't bring their own stuff when they go places.
Well I wouldn't pay 5$ for a ballon of nitrous. That is just crazy. I would rather go without a little nitrous than waste all my money on it.Like someone said "you get that euphoria and you don't think about your money" well I think about my money.
Kid that said that is pathetic(in the article)
LuL I was there after going to virgina hampton coliseum last year when first just got back together....it was tits.
They're charging $10 nowadays. 3 for $20 if you're lucky. :facepalm:
Lucky. The lottery didn't treat me so nicely. For Hampton or any of the shows last summer. Fortunately the stupid scalpers overestimated the demand for some of the shows. I payed $20 for Chicago, and was just handed free tickets by a random guy at Alpine Valley.
Yo man you were at chicago a few weeks ago? I was there too, I had a bunch of liquid dose, plus some 300mic blotter from cali.
Plus a bunch of Penis envy strain boomers.
If thats the same show you were at it would have been cool to meet up, I would have spun you outta your head.:D
I'll probably be at Deer Creek or Alpine next month (one or the other, I'm poor as shit). You planning on hittin up either?
Yes much ove was spread I like to share when I get spun.
And I had plans to go to both, I got some friends putttin down on a rent a car, when it gets a ittle close and if you are sure your going we should get some bud smoked and fry some brains.
That estimate is probably a little high. But still, that's only 30,000 balloons over a 3 day period. With 20-40k people at some of these festivals... and people usually buy more than one balloon. They don't call it hippie crack for nothin!
Man string cheese is fuckin tits, have you ever heard of schwagstock?
Anyway I was at big summer classic a few years ago and I got a free admission for doing work around the festivel grounds, so the night String Cheese was playing my job during the day was to help move shit arounnd the stage and shit I talked to kane for a little while (that crazy dude) and the band got called up to go do something, so when they left I noticed on the table where some of the STI dudes sat was a good sized little dank nug.......so I snatched it
Oh yeah and of course it was good nug, I wont lie and say it was big but the size of a thumb nail.
Peace.
You dirty thief
This was definitely my favorite moment of Rothbury -
I was out of my mind during this set. Someone released a lantern into the air, and I stared at it for 5 minutes trying to figure out what it was. I thought the intense jamming and the collective energy coming off of the audience had somehow caused some rare cosmic event. :facepalm:
Pretty cool seeing someone from rothbury on here.