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[Jeff Bankston]

You know what?  I'd just as soon we talk about anything and everything.  It'll take months for the investigation, but RIGHT NOW there are people at risk all over the world as festival season continues.  If there's anything to learn from discussing this, something that might save my (or a co-worker's) life when I find myself on one of these monster stage setups, then let's talk about it.

o.k. me and the rest of the band will no longer play under one or get near one if we go to see a band until laws are passed that make it mandantory for engineers to design the structure, before one is erected permits have to be pulled, certified/trained inspectors inspect it and everyhting hanging from it, etc. it will cost more but hey how much is your life worth ? i and my crew erected a lot of scaffolding when i worked in the construction trade. i'm 54 y.o. and a drummer.

 my "guess" is that one of the tubes the roof structure was attatched to failed and the load was transferd to the remaining tubes which couldnt handle the load and they failed. it looks to me like the stage right side failed first and the weight and force of the collapesing roof broke the stage left attatching points. its very possible the structure was overloaded. the tubing appears to be aluminum and aluminum doesnt have the resilience of steel. it could be that a tube or tubes had stress cracks that could not be seen and they failed. a friend of mine is an aircraft mechanic for minden air. he works on tanker 48. he wanted me to go to work for them as a aircraft mechanic helper. he taught me about the difference between the resilience of aluminum and steel. he is continuously checking for cracks in aluminum load bearing pieces that cannot be seen with the eye. you have to use eddy current , zyglo , etc. my friend is a licensed a&p mechanic. my guess is a member failed due to a crack that could not be seen. the crack could be caused by a number of things including previous overloading. the point is that one member failed and set up the chain of events. i could be wrong but this is my opinion. 

[Craig Leerman]

Steel scaffolding is often used in large staging. These components are structurally rated, and when properly designed and implimented into a system provide a very safe structure.  The steel used in this structure is of the "Ring Lock" variety (also sometimes called "Wedge Lock" or "Ring and Pin" or "Ring Pin").

I won’t venture a guess why this particular system failed but I do agree that productions are hanging way too much crap up in the air in the last decade or so.  Call me old school but when I go to see a band, I go to HEAR the music and most of the lighting/video/dancing etc is a DISTRACTION! Unfortunately I am in the minority and most audience members need all the other distractions.

[Rick Earl]

Not only are the loads getting heavier, I think people are not aware of the total weight of their gear.   I only know of one or two venues that actually had an engineer on hand and required a dyno be put in on all points to look at the load.  Safety is going to take effort from EVERYBODY involved. 
And it is going to get expensive.  We hired an engineer to rate the steel in one of our older venues, the cost for analysis is going to be about $5K.  But we will limit touring acts to the ratings and it will be in the contract.  The last tour that came through ended up ground stacking because we have a no bridal rule.

[Jeff Bankston]

the latest fotos.

[Steve Alves]

Associated Press is now identifying the victim as the bands drum tech.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sns-ap-cn-canada-radiohead-stage-collapse,0,4565013.story

[chris johnson]

i saw radiohead on this tour. tons and tons of lights and screens and all kinds of stuff. huge load. what a shitty thing to be involved in. i hope i never have to deal with this kind of stuff ever in my life.

[Per Sovik]

It looks to me that notwithstanding any overload issue, the geometry of the lifting is totally wrong. It is possible to lift heavy loads safely, but the basic geometry has to be right. Lifting loads should allways be vertical, the load placed centrally in the supporting structure and distributed evenly onto the structure.There are ways to do this that doesn't require more structural material, just more thought going into the basic design.

[Charlie Zureki]

It looks to me that notwithstanding any overload issue, the geometry of the lifting is totally wrong. It is possible to lift heavy loads safely, but the basic geometry has to be right. Lifting loads should allways be vertical, the load placed centrally in the supporting structure and distributed evenly onto the structure.There are ways to do this that doesn't require more structural material, just more thought going into the basic design.

   What ?

[Jim McKeveny]

IIRC Live Nation's previous incarnation - SFX - tried to reduce costs by severely compromising headlining artists preferred sound & light vendors, if not actually dictating low cost alternates. Fortunately that gambit failed.

That something as substantial as a stage & roof is owned by a decidedly  non-technical entity as Live Nation and structurally 'signed off" by an ME pulling in a stream of LN checks is conflicted &  troubling. Think "Ratings Agencies & Securities".

[Christian Tepfer]

IIRC Live Nation's previous incarnation - SFX - tried to reduce costs by severely compromising headlining artists preferred sound & light vendors, if not actually dictating low cost alternates. Fortunately that gambit failed.

That something as substantial as a stage & roof is owned by a decidedly  non-technical entity as Live Nation and structurally 'signed off" by an ME pulling in a stream of LN checks is conflicted &  troubling. Think "Ratings Agencies & Securities".

Of course LN wants to cut cost. It's in the very nature of an enterprise to make profit. Every act that still tours with LN must confess that the deal is still good enough for them. Every act touring with LN can try to include their technical providers and the associated cost into the deal.
 Now for the interesting part: does an authority come into play that can approve (or not approve) stage roof designs in northern america? (I'm talking USA and Canada, maybe there is a lot more info for the USA but this happened in Canada, so I take both countries into account). That way cutting cost can be a downside for the act but it would not lead to unsafe structures.
We have a considerable amount of regulation when it comes to staging, roofs, emergency exits/paths and electricity. And there is the chance of some hefty fines when the rules are bent or broken.
Sometimes we have a clash of cultures over here, when north american acts try to do things that are forbidden here. I even hear "The show must go on" during the debates over safety. In the past and in the future I have not accepted and I will not accept this saying because we don't bend the law in order to make "things" happen. All of the time "things" are design extras that are not vital to the show, like video, lighting, sometimes sound. You want to have your act play in Germany: play by the rules.

[ProSoundWeb Community]