Tradegy At Music Festivals & Concerts (Radiohead, Guns N' Roses, The Who, Slipknot, Pantera Feature)
Friday, 29 June 2012
Written by Heather McDaid
For many, going to shows is a staple hobby, a place for fun and revelling in your love of music. Music has an ability to unite people like little else can, yet we forget that everything in life has an element of risk and danger. A stark reminder of this came at Radiohead's recent Toronto show as the stage collapsed, killing a member of crew. Sadly this isn't the first fatal incident at a show, and sadly it won't likely be the last.
During the set up of Radiohead's stage, the top section collapsed, killing 33-year-old drum technician Scott Johnson. He had also toured with the likes of Keane. This incident not only sent the internet into a wave of respectful outpourings to Scott and his family, it caused a mass of comments discussing how scary a stage collapse would be.
In 2011, both the Indiana State Fair and Belgium's Pukkelpop Festival also had stage collapses. At the former, fans lingered in severe weather conditions, awaiting the set of Sugarland. The weather conditions caused the rigging to be blown off, leading to the stage collapsing onto the crowd in front. Caught on video and put on Youtube, it proves scary to watch. This particular accident caused five deaths on site, with a sixth following a few days later from their injuries. Many more were injured.
As for the latter, it too faced severe weather conditions. During a mix of heavy rain and abrasive wind, the stage collapsed, killing four and injuring over 70 others. The festival was cancelled immediately, with a statement citing, "Pukkelpop is in deep mourning. We truly sympathise with the families and friends of the victims. Words are not enough. What has happened is very exceptional and could not have been predicted. We are deeply moved by all the spontaneous support."
Another fatal event occurred at Guns N' Roses' Monsters of Rock performance in 1988. With a combination of poor weather conditions and over 100,000 attendees surging forwards to see the band, the muddy surroundings caused many to slip. Two fans were crushed in the chaos, which not only led to the cancellation of the festival the following year, but what the members of Guns N' Roses describe as one of the lowest moments in their careers.
This was not the first incident of rock 'n' roll crowd surges proving fatal. When The Who played Cincinnati in 1979, 11 fans were killed and over 25 injured as fans rushed to get the optimum space in the venue. It seems that the band's soundcheck was mistaken by those outside as them starting, causing a rapid surge. This incident led to festival seating being banned in the city for over 20 years.
AC/DC suffered a similar issue in Utah in 1991. With a 6000 capacity show also faced with 'festival seating', the band's arrival onstage caused a surge forward, the resulting chaos killed three fans. Following the incident, many blamed the band themselves for the fans' deaths, though many leapt to their defence as they had asked fans to move back and stop crushing forward.
More recently, Pearl Jam faced another tragedy of crowd crushing. As they performed at Denmark's Rosklide Festival in 2000, numerous people fell during another surge towards the stage. In turn nine people were crushed to death. By the time the band were told of what was happening, to which they asked everyone to step back, it was too late.
The Rolling Stones' Altamont Speedway concert in 1969 was filmed as part of the Stones' US tour documentary, catching an attack in the process. Meredith Hunter got into an altercation with Hells Angels. It seems he drew a gun and was stabbed, before being kicked to death. The footage of this has been used in many documentaries.
In 2004, Caromanon rock club in Buenos Aires played host to one of the most fatal shows in the history of concerts. Hosting the band Callejeros, the venue had around 3000 in attendance, rumoured to be three times the allowed capacity. To stop fans sneaking in, they had fenced off emergency exits and locked many doors. Reportedly, a fan set off a firework in the audience (this is often disputed, with some claiming it was the band's manager) and the ceiling's netting caught fire. 194 people died during this fire; Oman Chaban, the owner of the club, was sentenced to 20 years following the incident.
The year prior, band Great White were performing at the Station Nightclub - a show which claimed 100 lives. The show held about 200 over the recommended capacity and following a spark from pyrotechnics setting highly flammable foam on fire (it was initially reported to be soundproofing foam), the surge which followed caused the exits to become blocked and many died in the blaze.
Not all tragedies are purely accidental, yet they prove equally as shocking. The prime example was Damageplan's ill-fated show on December 8th 2004. There are many speculations as to why Nathan Gale took a gun to that show with the intent of using it; some say he was upset about Pantera's split, in the investigation it was suggested that he was a paranoid schizophrenic and believed the band could read his mind and were laughing at him.
Whatever the real cause of his angers, Gale shot and killed Dimebag Darrell before killing three more and injuring seven others. Police officers attempted to end this attack, with one shooting Gale and killing him instantly. Afterwards, it was discovered he had 35 rounds of ammunition left on him.
In 2009, a Slipknot show was tinged with tragedy as 29-year-old Cory Nickels suffered cardiac arrest. Though the medics treated countless fans over the evening for typical injuries from the band's anarchic crowds, Nickels was far from the main crowd when this occurred. He left the show in an ambulance, passing away later. This is not the first time this has happened at a Slipknot concert: in 2004, 21 year old Alecia Holst had a heart attack, passing away four days later.
These are just some of the fatalities that have occurred at shows over the years. While music is a wonderful thing and concerts are great, these act as reminders that shows aren't exempt from the general dangers we can face in day to day life.
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