A parade of party buses protested Nashville’s downtown over the new legislation that was put in place recently. The buses gathered on Friday where they protested against the new rules set in place, mainly the rules for alcohol on the buses.
One video from the protest showed a group singing the chorus 80’s classic Beastie Boys song, “You’ve got to fight for your right to party.” Many buses had posters on their vehicles that read “Save our Jobs,” “Don’t lose the Booze,” and “We want beer!”
Nick Lyon, the owner of the “Hell on Wheels” party bus, said in an interview that, “I’m here to defend my business and my livelihood. At the end of the day, all of us in the industry were pro-regulation. What we weren’t for is pro-death sentence, and that’s what’s occurred here.”
Metro Councilman Freddie O’Connell told WKRN News 2Â that he had submitted a new bill to allow for party buses to submit an application to keep their alcohol sellers’ permit and to allow customers to bring their own alcohol on the buses with them.
One company directly affected by the new prohibition is Upstage Party Bus, who said they are on board with O’Connell’s proposal.
“We feel that the city has their rights to issue permits. We have always felt that Nashville was a bit behind that they did not have regulatory powers on such tour vehicles, and are pleased to see they do now,” the transportainment company said in a emailed statement to The Tennessee Star.
But Upstage acknowledged there could be more twists and turns ahead before any new ordinances are passed.
“The new legislation is not finalized.” they wrote; adding, “Permits will not be cheap, and they will require proof of a 5 million dollar insurance policy, CDL drivers with Passenger Endorsements, professional trained and certified ABC bartenders, and routine vehicle inspections. Upstage Party Bus checks off all of these and goes above in beyond with high safety standards.”
The party bus industry has already begun to see the effects of the new legislation. Some bus companies have said that “the new changes have some second-guessing a trip to Music City and that has an impact on more than just their industry.”
Upstage Party Bus told The Star, “At this time our ticket sales have dropped dramatically as fake news keeps circulating that we will not have alcohol on board. We do not profit off of alcohol sales, as we are BYOB. However without alcohol, it would destroy the industry, it’s like asking a bar to not have alcohol and anticipate them to still be in business.”
The Upstage Party Bus also noted that they were not a part of the Friday morning protest, “as we didn’t feel it was the right thing to do at 7:30 AM.”
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Morgan Nicole Veysey is a reporter for The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow her on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Upstage Party Bus” by Upstage Party Bus.
