MADISON, Wis. -- Madison police now openly acknowledge they made mistakes at last year's Killer Halloween Party 2003 on State Street.

However, officers said bands were part of the problem and they don't want them at this year's festivities. They said the live entertainment would bring more people downtown, making it harder to control the crowd.

News 3 also learned new details on how the crowd became so out of control last year. Madison police said around 2 a.m. a mosh pit started to push officers to the edge. But it was a full hour before officers used pepper sprays on the crowd. The department has taken heat for the time delay.

"In hindsight, knowing what was going to follow we should have moved in faster," said Acting Assistant Police Chief Luis Yudice, of the Madison Police Department.

Police said they thought they could pull out the instigators, but it didn't work. The officers finally put on the riot gear, but the bus that was supposed to take them back to State Street was gone. They said walking blocks back to the melee wasted precious minutes. Police also said the band performing that night didn't help.

"People looked at the band as possibly somehow contributing to the crowd becoming agitated," Yudice said.

However, band members dispute the argument. Will Komassa, who is the band's leader, says he refuses to perform at Library Mall this year and go through the unfair backlash again.

"To say that the bands had something to do with what happened three hours later is really poor," Komassa said.

Madison Alderman Mike Verveer agrees. He's working with the UW-Madison's student government for the first time in years. They want a band, but on new conditions, such as playing until 3 a.m. instead of 1 a.m.

"I think it's important that they go past bar time, not all night long," Verveer said.

There are also talks of restaurants like Pizzeria Uno and State Street Brats staying open later to keep drunk people off the streets. In addition, new this year could be food vendors strategically placed throughout State Street.

The goal is to keep the crowd in control.

"We have learned some lessons from it," said Yudice. "We're the first ones to say there are things we can improve on."

Yudice said that there would also be more officers staffed on the Halloween weekend compared to last year. Police will monitor the crowds on Friday and Saturday and then decide if they can cut back on staff Halloween Sunday.