Just saw this at prosoundweb:
Downsview Park Stage Collapses Ahead Of Radiohead Concert In Toronto (PHOTOS)
Downsview Park Stage Collapses Ahead Of Radiohead Concert In Toronto (PHOTOS)
Stage collapse in Toronto
- Thread starterJohnD
- Start date
1 Person pronounced dead.
Show cancelled (obviously);
news article: Toronto News: One dead as Radiohead stage collapses before concert at Downsview Park - thestar.com
Show cancelled (obviously);
news article: Toronto News: One dead as Radiohead stage collapses before concert at Downsview Park - thestar.com
DuckJordan
Touring IATSE Member
1 dead as Radiohead stage collapses ahead of Toronto concert - Toronto - CBC News
Another news article
Count
1 dead
3 injured
Another news article
Count
1 dead
3 injured
DuckJordan
Touring IATSE Member
CNN now has video shot by a local news helicopter.
1 killed when Toronto stage collapses before sold-out Radiohead concert - CNN.com
1 killed when Toronto stage collapses before sold-out Radiohead concert - CNN.com
I'm not sure that this accident happened as a result of lack of time or money. In setting up large outdoor events such as this, they don't go up in a day like many arena tours. However, there is a good possibility that there was some bad math done. We can speculate on the causes, there are many possibilities. We will most assuredly follow up with this as we did with the Indiana State Fair collapse.
This is not a thomas style roof like Indy. This looks like more of a mountain style stage.
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At the prosoundweb forums, James Feenstra stated:
"stage is owned and operated by live nation, purchased from optex some years ago, nasco was the labor company hired to set it up."
Here is optex:
http://www.optexstaging.com/Home.10.0.html
"stage is owned and operated by live nation, purchased from optex some years ago, nasco was the labor company hired to set it up."
Here is optex:
http://www.optexstaging.com/Home.10.0.html
Last edited:
shiben
Well-Known Member
Has it been happening any more frequently than before, or is that just media bias after Indiana?
As for the question, the answer to that is complicated and convoluted, but the long and the short of it is, money is almost always more important than human life, especially to people in the business of making loads of it. This is not an endorsement of that reality, but recognition of the facts.
This is absolute B.S. I don't know one production or labor company owner who thinks that making a quick buck is more important than the life of a human being. And all of the bad publicity (both to the public AND potential clients), paperwork, man hours, lawsuits and lawyers that go with it. I have worked with Mountain, Upstaging, etc and they all take safety VERY seriously on the corporate level. It is usually the guys ON-SITE (be it with the staging company or local labor) who try to cut corners.
That said, I use NASCO in virtually every city I go to on tour in Canada, and let me tell you, the canadians take safety VERY seriously. Alot more then most stagehand unions or companies in the US. First time I was on tour in canada, I was told I couldn't work a call (and I was the Video Director! haha) because I didn't have a hard hat that was rated, steel toe boots that were rated, and safety goggles that were rated.
You're just looking to rally against big companies, who considering the size, complexity, and potential for danger have MUCH better safety records than smaller companies. Probably because they have the large budgets to do so. Maybe you got treated badly by a production company, but most production company owners do care if the people who work for them die. It's insulting for you to insinuate differently, and claim your point as "fact".
Each Canadian Province already requires a licenced engineer to design any structure except a simple house where the standard structural tables apply. In Ontario it is covered by the Professional Engineer's Act which was recently revised and made more restrictive to prevent workplace injuries etc. and this is much broader in its application than structural engineering
It will be interesting to see what the investigation reveals. However the Ontario government's official policy is "there is no such thing as an accident" and they will inevitably do something to prevent a re-occurence.
It will be interesting to see what the investigation reveals. However the Ontario government's official policy is "there is no such thing as an accident" and they will inevitably do something to prevent a re-occurence.
shiben
Well-Known Member
I dont think its just big companies or small companies or staging/entertainment companies. I was speaking to companies in general. Insinuating that is diverting from the real issue. How many companies with great safety records had all those protections in place before OSHA, insurance companies and a lawsuit happy public? None of the major reasons you mentioned to avoid incidents can be construed as genuine caring about individuals, but more accurately as caring about not loosing profits. I have no doubt that Mountain, Upstaging, and other companies have leadership that does care about their guys. And in fact, a lot, if not all of them probably personally care about health and safety. But to suggest that even a majority of companies do not have other motives in their embrace of safety is not terribly accurate from my view.
FWIW, I actually think a lot of these staging companies are great. I worked with one the other day. Their guys cared about safety and going home in one piece at the end of the day. I was definitely speaking to a larger picture than a narrow segment of a specific industry.
ejsandstrom
Member
Who here remembers all of the shark attacks during the late summer of 2001? That was all you saw on CNN, MSNBC, Fox blah blah blah. Then After the 11th of September you didnt hear about any more shark attacks.
My point being, I am sure there are are still shark attacks all the time, but they are local news only. The 24hour news cycle has a list of say 50 things and if it on that list it gets reported on, once something new hits the top of the list the bottom one is pushed off and into a "let the locals report it" list. In 5 years one or two people a year will still get killed by some sort of stage malefaction, but only the industry people will hear about it.
Who remembers when people were constantly getting trampled or killed by being stepped on at concerts? It was everywhere, now you never hear about it.
My point being, I am sure there are are still shark attacks all the time, but they are local news only. The 24hour news cycle has a list of say 50 things and if it on that list it gets reported on, once something new hits the top of the list the bottom one is pushed off and into a "let the locals report it" list. In 5 years one or two people a year will still get killed by some sort of stage malefaction, but only the industry people will hear about it.
Who remembers when people were constantly getting trampled or killed by being stepped on at concerts? It was everywhere, now you never hear about it.
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