The tweet lured thousands of raucous ravers to hear DJ Kaskade spin some tunes outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the landmark cinema in the heart of Hollywood where stars press their shoes and handprints into cement slabs.
The movie theatre was hosting the premiere of the documentary Electric Daisy Carnival Experience about a popular series of raves that were banned in Los Angeles after a teen died of a drug overdose. The film features Kaskade, whose real name is Ryan Raddon.
"He just wanted to do something for the fans," Alastair Duncan, a spokesman for the DJ, said on Thursday.
Duncan said Raddon had a permit from the Fire Department to play a free show and to close off one traffic lane for his flatbed truck bedecked with enormous speakers.
Michael Duddie, general manager at the Supperclub, which hosted Kaskade at an after-party following the premiere, said he saw the truck get hemmed in by people as it tried to make its way to the theatre.
"He couldn't get two blocks," Duddie said. "Within three minutes, there were 1000 people and within five minutes there were 3000."
Duddie saw the truck veer down a side street, followed pied-piper style by hundreds of ravers.
Without music, crowds outside the cinema grew restive and found themselves facing baton-wielding riot police.
Three people were arrested after things turned rowdy, with would-be revellers hurling bottles at police and some jumping on a squad car.
The crowds gathered soon after Kaskade tweeted: "ME+BIG SPEAKERS+MUSIC(equals)BLOCK PARTY!!!"
He apparently underestimated the appeal to his more than 92,000 Twitter followers. By 6pm, hundreds of people had gathered outside the cinema and were spilling onto the street. Police and fire officials soon closed the boulevard to traffic.
"They showed up because, allegedly, the DJ tweeted he was doing a concert," fire Battalion Chief Michael Bowman said.
Kaskade later sent tweets urging peace.
Kaskade was on a plane to play a show in Spain and could not be reached for comment on Thursday.
It was too early to say if Kaskade would face any legal action by authorities, city legal spokesman Frank Mateljan said.
One person was arrested for felony vandalism after a police car's windscreen was smashed and its door dented. Another was taken into custody for hitting a police officer, and a third was nabbed for failing to disperse.
"There were people trampling all over the police cars, smashing the windows," said Greg Magda, who works at a coffee shop on Hollywood Boulevard.
That street and two others were closed for hours while police tried to get ravers to disperse. Some in the crowd threw bottles at police, but others were playful.
Some ravers "planked" in front of riot officers - an internet-driven phenomenon in which people lie face down in improbable places while their friends snap pictures.
The Electric Daisy Carnival is the largest electronic music party in the US.
After it was banned from Los Angeles, it moved to Las Vegas. At an Electric Daisy event in Dallas in June, a 19-year-old man died and more than two dozen people were treated at hospitals for drug, alcohol and heat-related problems.
It started with a DJ's simple tweet telling his followers about a free block party on Hollywood Boulevard.
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Oleh
Agus Prasetyo
