Yet another summer festival met with a disastrous stage collapse on Thursday in Belgium, killing at least five people and very nearly ending the career of youthful Chicago band the Smith Westerns.
Be it an unfortunate chain of coincidence or the scary new reality of mounting festivals in the age of global warming, the Pukkelpop festival disaster marks the fourth time this summer a major concert event has been marred by a stage collapse.
The main stage at the Ottawa Bluesfest came down in high winds during a performance by Cheap Trick on July 27, injuring several concertgoers. The Flaming Lips’ lighting rig came crashing down during an outdoor gig in Tulsa on July 7. And just this past Sunday, five people were killed and more than 40 injured when a stage at the Indiana State Fair fell apart just before country act Sugarland was set to play.
The Smith Westerns were apparently in the middle of their set at the Pukkelpop in Hasselt, Belgium, about 80 kilometres east of Brussels, when a sudden, violent wind-, rain- and hailstorm sent one of the festival stages toppling down around them. Several trees also came down.
The band escaped unscathed, but at least 40 people were injured in the accident, according to early reports from Associated Press. More than 20 ambulances were dispatched to the scene to tend to the wounded. Attendance at the festival, headlined by the Foo Fighters and Eminem, was pegged at around 60,000.
“Stage collapsed max (Kakacek) almost got crushed by the trees,” Smith Westerns frontman Cullen Omori posted on Twitter shortly after the collapse. “I hope pukkelpop has insurance bc all our s--- is broke. Praying no one got hurt.”
Toronto saxophonist Joseph Shabason performed with Vancouver outfit Destroyer at Pukkelpop early in the afternoon and had just left the festival grounds when news of the disaster reached them. The stage they had played earlier, the Chateau Tent, had been crushed by falling trees.
“By the time we were completely packed up and ready to leave at 5:30 the only thing out of the normal was that the sky was dark. But really, it wasn't any darker than any other sky that is about to rain,” Shabason said via email. “Twenty minutes after we left the festival, we got a call from our booking agents asking if we were all right and if any of us were hurt because they’d just heard that our tent collapsed. They also said that a number of other stages had collapsed and that people had died. . . .
“What really struck me about the videos that I watched on YouTube was just how dramatic the change in weather was. I mean, 20 minutes before all hell broke loose it was a beautiful day with no wind and when you see the festival footage it looks like a tornado is hitting the place.”
Such a trend is “definitely alarming,” Shabason said, adding that he hoped “these tragedies will facilitate festival organizers making and using stages that can do a better job of holding up to strong winds. That being said, I really don't know how you can prepare for a tree falling onto a tent or an act of God thunderstorm.”
Actor-turned-rocker Jared Leto, at the festival with his band 30 Seconds to Mars, had already expressed his concerns for the Pukkelpop crowd via Twitter before the collapse.
Not long after, he wrote: “Four stages down — still raining + thunder if you are here please be safe.”
Surprised there isn't a thread on this. It's scary how the weather can turn so nasty so fast. 5 dead but some of the injuries I read about in the Youtube comments that ppl say they witnessed I don't even want to repeat.
Definitely makes you think twice about finding shelter from the rain in one of the event tents...
Takayuki
After the Love Parade incident I don't think I will be attending a Massive ever again... maybe that sounds senile due to the exigent circumstances of these past few travesty's but I'm convinced Massive's are a thing of the past and out of respect it's best to leave these events to rest, forever.
Rest in peace.
jchung52
New policy for massives, extreme weather approaching, shut down and evacuate?
RIP that is crazy
GGM
As brutal as this stuff is it would be a shame if massives faded away due to stuff like this. I think it's just a strong sign people need to go back to the drawing board and make sure stages/tents are set up to endure 150% of what they could possibly incur for bad weather. One thing is for sure though if I'm at an event and weather on this scale hits I'll just cut my losses and go home.
The Love Parade thing is a bit dif since it's not weather related. That was just plain planning and a brutal bottleneck for that size of a crowd.
Playa24_7
Lots of crazy footage in this. Near the end it looks like there was hail
VDub
What an insane year for the weather vs concert events...
