2D · TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2000 · USA TODAY Cover story From the start, violence follows the beat

Injuries and deaths have always been a part of the rock concert experi- Dec. 19, 1987, Public Enemy, Nashville ence. Some significant events: Two girls are crushed to death when fans rush out of the auditorium March 21, 1952, Moondog Coronation Ball, after reports of gunfire. Cleveland Jan. 18, 1991, AC/DC, Salt Lake City Disc jockey Alan Freed’s rock ’n’ roll party erupts into a riot. One patron is Three teenage fans die from the crush in the festival-seating area. stabbed; dozens are injured. May 11, 1996, Smashing Pumpkins, Dublin, Ireland Aug. 15-17, 1969, Woodstock, Bethel, N.Y. A 17-year-old girl dies and scores are injured after there’s a crowd Six thousand are treated for injuries at the seminal music festival. Three crush in a mosh pit. die: one run over by a tractor, one from a ruptured appendix and one July 23-25, 1999, Woodstock 99, Rome, N.Y. from a drug overdose. An estimated 10,000 people receive first aid at the concert, which Dec. 6, 1969, the Rolling Stones, Altamont, Calif. ends in rioting and rapes. Three die: one from heatstroke, another A Hells Angels member, part of the festival’s security, kills an 18-year-old who was hit by a car and the third from a heart attack. fan. Three others die in accidents; 850 others are injured. June 30, 2000, Pearl Jam, Roskilde, Denmark Dec. 3, 1979, The Who, Cincinnati Nine are crushed to death in a festival-seating area in front of the Eleven are crushed to death and dozens are injured as the crowd tries to stage. enter Riverfront Coliseum for a festival-seating show. The city later bans Sources: Crowd Management Strategies, USA TODAY research AP shows with general admission or festival seating. In Cincinnati: Shoes are the only June 13-15, 1986, Ozzy Osbourne/Metallica, By Grarup Jan, AP evidence of the carnage-causing Long Beach, Calif. In Roskilde: Nine trampling deaths at a Pearl crush at a 1979 Who concert. Three die: one from an overdose, one from a stabbing and one after a fall. Jam concert June 30 leave young fans in tears.

Mosh pits Concert casualties continue to rise Safety crusader at forefront July 1, 1995, to July 1, 20001 Seating plays a role often lead Deaths Type of seating at concerts with injuries2: By Anthony DeBarros don’ts that you must follow every USA 49 USA TODAY time without fail. And if you don’t, Worldwide 186 Festival (standing room) you’re negligent,” says Jack Zim- to injuries 68% CHICAGO — Paul Wertheimer’s mer, the trade group’s executive di- Injuries crusade for safer concerts takes rector. “He always points at IAAM. Continued from 1D USA 22,091 him from chaotic mosh pits to But as soon as you write a stan- Worldwide 42,538 courtroom witness chairs. His re- dard, it’s like writing a book. It’s out safety expert. Among the findings: General admission ward: the nearly universal derision of date.” Reserved (unreserved) uInjuries are at their highest 1 – All injuries and deaths associated of the concert industry. Wertheimer counters by point- with concerts and festivals 10% 22% level in a decade, according to in- 2 – Based on 247 concerts “He’s kind of a self-made guy,” ing to the British government’s dustry watchdog Paul Wertheimer. Worldwide concert Worldwide concert scoffs Cory Meredith, owner of a Event Safety Guide as a starting Wertheimer, a consultant who deaths, 1992-993 injuries, 1992-993 Southern California concert staffing point for what needs to be done started focusing on concert safety and security firm. “A self-pro- here. The guidelines range from after working for the city of Cincin- 70 70 20,000 19,723 claimed expert.” how to erect barriers to controlling nati at the time of The Who trage- 60 Wertheimer, 51, runs his Crowd sound. They’re not law, but any or- 16,000 dy, counts 19,723 injuries and 70 50 Management Strategies consulting ganizer adhering to them will be in deaths worldwide at concerts and 40 12,000 firm from his apartment in Chica- compliance with regulations. By Brent Jones for USA TODAY festivals in 1999, up from 5,711 in- 30 go’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. “We involved massive amounts juries and eight deaths in 1998. 8,000 And he has indeed made a name Paul Wertheimer: The concert of people from the music events in- 20 Wertheimer says his data — 4,000 for himself by pushing a mantra industry “created me.” dustry,” says Mark Thomas of the compiled from news and police re- 10 the industry loathes: stricter British government’s Health & ports, industry sources, his own 0 0 crowd-control standards. He’s at He’s not against moshing, or Safety Executive’s office. concert attendance and other re- ’92 ’93 ’94 ’95 ’96 ’97 ’98 ’99 ’92 ’93 ’94 ’95 ’96 ’97 ’98 ’99 the forefront of what have other- even festival seating, as long as In the USA, efforts have achieved 3 – Injuries and deaths attributed to crowd safety problems; based on an annual survey search — are not all-inclusive and of about 215 concerts. wise been off-and-on efforts to rein venues follow the National Fire mixed results. California Sen. Nell understate the problem. Source: Crowd Management Strategies’ “Rock Concert Safety Survey” in the industry — efforts ranging Protection Association’s Life Safety Soto, D-Ontario, recently intro- “My database is the one-eyed gi- By Julie Snider, USA TODAY from proposed legislation in Cali- Code, which outlines requirements duced a bill that would require ant in the land of the blind,” he fornia to a call-to-action resolution ranging from the width of aisles to venues to have an emergency ser- says. “They make it as hard as pos- to a girl to be yelling, ‘Show us your come down front.’ People are going by the National PTA. the number of square feet needed vices plan and submit lists of in- sible to gain any kind of data.” (breasts).’ It’s another thing for it to to get injured, and he doesn’t care.” “Any show can be made safer per person. But he complains that juries. But the legislation has since uGiven the lack of complete da- be coming from the stage.” Katsis blames promoters who with the proper planning and man- promoters and venues don’t ade- been watered down to simply re- ta, the extent of the problem is one Along with the injuries, there’s book rock shows into venues, such agement,” says Wertheimer, who quately protect fans and bands. quire that the governor’s office is- of the industry’s most closely no shortage of blame. Bands com- as amphitheaters, that are de- was a public information officer for Among his recommendations, sue safety guidelines. guarded secrets. The federal gov- plain about venues. Security points signed for sit-down concerts. the city of Cincinnati when 11 fans published on his Web site, www In 1992, the National PTA called ernment’s National Center for In- to bands, saying they incite crowds. “They’re not designed to let the were crushed to death there in .crowdsafe.com: separate areas for for a ban on festival seating, but it jury Prevention and Control, which And lawyers, filing lawsuits for the crowd participate,” which builds 1979 while trying to get in to see moshers, a ban on crowd surfing rescinded the resolution in 1998. tracks mishaps ranging from falls to injured, offer a litany of alleged neg- frustration, he says. The Who. In the ensuing investiga- and stage diving, and better train- “We really didn’t get very far,” homicides, keeps no record of con- ligence. And then there are the injured tion, he found himself chief of staff ing for security in mosh pits. says Pat Keegan of Northvale, N.J., cert injuries, spokeswoman Sandy When reports surfaced that po- plaintiffs and their attorneys. for the task force that investigated One of his longest-running feuds who campaigned for the resolu- Bonzo says. “It would require a lice in Denmark were holding Pearl Wertheimer has been able to how to prevent similar accidents. It is with the International Associa- tion. “Every time there’s a tragedy, special investigation.” Jam “morally responsible” for the identify 178 lawsuits filed between turned into a career. tion of Assembly Managers (IAAM). it’s in the news — but then it dies.” Venues — which, because of in- crowd crush that killed nine people July 1995 and July 2000, though he “Nobody in the industry likes Wertheimer “wants to have na- dustry consolidation, are increas- there, band manager Kelly Curtis says the actual number is probably me,” he says. “But you know what? tional standards for crowd man- Jeannie Williams’ column ingly under the umbrella of big cor- posted a message on the band’s far higher. They created me.” agement — here are the do’s and appears on 7D today. porations such as SFX Web site calling the charge “ludi- One case working its way Entertainment — refuse to release crous.” Later, in a statement given through the courts involves Randy their data. to USA TODAY, Curtis defended the L. Adams, now 27, who suffered a “I’m not sure it’s relevant to talk band’s safety record and shifted the crushing chest injury in a mosh pit about the percentage or number of focus to organizers — specifically to at a Metallica concert at Deer Creek THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER injuries at any of the events that security and to medical personnel. Music Center in Noblesville, Ind., in the company produces, unless the He also cited low visibility from the July 1994. company deems it to be a health stage and alcohol as problems. “They said that when they found . . . concern,” says Mitch Slater, “At least 15 minutes passed be- him, they had to use a defibrillator SFX executive vice president. tween the time a member of the . . . to get his heart going again,” “There is no reason for the public Festival security team identified a says his father, Randy R. Adams. His WHY KEEP YOURSELF to be concerned.” potential problem and the time we son was in a coma for three uFestival seating — the practice were informed,” he wrote. “If we months. Today, he’s in a persistent of selling fans a ticket for an area had been informed . . . we could vegetative state. with no seats — remains pervasive, have stopped the show earlier.” “I look at him, and sometimes I despite its role in injuries. So do the Danish police, who have backed off can’t help but cry a lot,” the father dangerous expressions it spawns — their criticism of the band, are still says. Adams sued the venue, Me- IN SUSPENSE? mosh pits, crowd surfing and investigating. tallica, the promoter and others squeezed fans. In the USA, criticism from artists connected to the event, charging The nine deaths at a Pearl Jam centers on decisions made at con- that all failed to prevent or properly concert in Denmark on June 30 cert sites. “Plenty of venues do a supervise moshing. “A flat-out guilty pleasure. Deftly plotted... were blamed, in part, on a crowd great job, but sometimes venues “Parents send kids to concerts surge in a festival seating area in aren’t rated (for capacity) high expecting them to have a good terrifically entertaining... front of the stage. At The Gorge, an enough,” says Peter Katsis, whose time,” says Stanley Kahn, the fam- amphitheater in George, Wash., 16- company, The Firm, manages Korn, ily’s attorney. “But who knows A jailhouse mix of greed, murder, and blackmail.” year-old Harjeet Jagpal was found Limp Bizkit and the Backstreet about the violence that occurs in unconscious after a mosh pit col- Boys, among others. “They’ll rate that environment? Why isn’t there —Entertainment Weekly lapsed during a Blink 182 concert the floor to hold 3,000 people, but a warning placed on the ticket by June 16. He remains in a coma. they’ll play it safe and only (allow) the venue owner? Why isn’t there Festival seating has contributed 1,500.” a video made to show the dangers? “As up-to-date as tomorrow’s newspaper, to hundreds of other injuries this That practice, he says, creates Why doesn’t the band come on and summer. The all-day HFStival drew more open space with festival seat- say, ‘Don’t do it’?” with allusions to presidential polls and debates, campaign 83,000 fans to FedEx Field in Lan- ing, giving mosh-minded fans more The venue and band declined to dover, Md., outside Washington, on room to run around. Venue officials comment, although Metallica at- financing, money laundering and offshore financial finagling, May 28. At the first-aid tent, 1,019 “don’t realize that kids could get torney Howard King says: “The and the stockpiling of plutonium by Russian hard-liners. people were treated, including 61 hurt if they have more room to band does not control what goes with lacerations, sprains or other wind up,” Katsis says. on at the venue. It’s impossible.” Add to those tantalizing ingredients the steady action, with problems considered serious Other times, public officials Industry officials dispute that enough to warrant a hospital trip. make questionable calls. At this claim. “The artist controls the con- some clever surprises.” —The New York Times uFans have become more vola- year’s HFStival, fire authorities de- cert, and anyone who tells you he tile, fueled by drugs, alcohol and cided to allow festival seating even doesn’t isn’t telling the truth,” says anger. On July 29, a fan was stabbed though Maryland law bans it in any Florida entertainment insurer Wal- “John Grisham is back with a bang.... in a mosh pit during a show by building holding more than 1,000 ter Howell. “The artist can stop NOFX in West Palm Beach, Fla. “It’s people. After consulting with the anything he wants.” This is a bold and gripping tale, filled with plenty not a happy crowd, which it used state fire marshal’s office, the fire But the ultimate finger-pointing, to be,” says Nina Crowley, director department decided that FedEx heard from many in the industry, is of twists and turns to keep of Mass Mic, a non-profit advocacy Field, where football’s Washington back at the fans. you on the edge of your seat.” group that fights music censorship. Redskins play, was outside the re- “To me, moshing is done by peo- In mid-July, when the Ozzfest striction because the law did not ple who have a desire to mosh,” —The New York Post rolled into the Nissan Pavilion, an apply to an open-air stadium. says Gus Kontopuls, who operates SFX-owned amphitheater in Bris- The National Fire Protection As- Elite Show Services, a security and tow, Va., staggering, inebriated fans sociation, which created the code event staffing company in San Die- were not uncommon — perhaps in- on which Maryland’s law is based, go. “If I go into a mosh pit wanting spired by show namesake Ozzy Os- disagrees. Its ban on festival seating to mosh and I catch an elbow to bourne, whose various addictions “is intended to apply to a situation my mouth and get a couple of teeth recently were chronicled in Rolling where you have any kind of con- knocked out, I have nobody to Feingold Deborah Stone. In a steady stream, police finement,” NFPA engineer Robert blame but myself.” and security hustled dozens into Solomon says. But in Seattle, where Scott Stone, vans for a trip to the detention cen- During the show, aisles leading now 18, endures the changes to his ter. Final tally: 134 arrests for drug from the field up to the seats were life, questions remain about how possession and public intoxication, so jammed that fans climbed over an event meant to entertain can according to the Prince William 8-foot walls to get up, says turn so dangerous. County Police Department. Wertheimer, who was there with Some of those questions are be- “The drunk people are the only his camera. “They knew there was ing aired in court. The family is su- ones who start fights,” said 18- no capacity limitation for the field. ing Rage Against the Machine, Seat- year-old Tim Vertin, watching the It was way overcrowded.” tle, the security company and the scene from the security area. Meanwhile, bands draw their promoter. Webb, the family’s at- Another problem: sexual as- own criticism. One of Katsis’ acts, torney, has amassed hours of depo- saults. Crowley says young men Limp Bizkit, was roundly criticized sitions that he says point to a feel free to grope women. And or- for helping whip up the volatile breakdown in responsibility. The ganizers of shows frequently don’t crowd at Woodstock 99, which lat- defendants, in response, question help. At the WBCN River Rave, an er disintegrated into rioting, with whether the boy was even injured all-day concert May 27 at Foxboro thousands of injuries. The band’s at the show. Marcia Nelson, a city THE MOST POPULAR NOVEL OF THE YEAR. Stadium, outside Boston, the per- frontman, Fred Durst, “is a total idi- attorney, says that because no one son operating the video screens ot,” says Cory Meredith, owner of has reported seeing Stone get hurt, encouraged women to bare their Staff Pro, which provides security the lawsuit should be dismissed. READ IT NOW. breasts by typing messages such as and other staff for events in South- “It’s appalling to me,” Catherine Available wherever books are sold “You know you want to.” ern California. “He continually calls Stone says. “Parents should know A Main Selection of The Literary Guild, The Doubleday Book Club, and The Mystery Guild “It’s a big problem,” Wertheimer people down front, saying, ‘Screw that the people in charge are not Available on BDD Audio Cassette and CD • Also available in a large print edition www.jgrisham.com says. “It’s one thing for a guy next security — I want everybody to protecting their children.”

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