A stagehand was taken to the hospital after being crushed by the upstage section of roof when collapsed as a result of pre-mature removal of the cross-bracing. It was this cross bracing that held the roof to the stage. 4 other stagehands, who were also under the structure managed to escape without injury. This was a completely avoidable tragedy. The out was ahead of schedule, and there was no need to rush (certainly not to the point of being dangerous).
One of the truck drivers told a local hand that this was a repeat of a similar incident that happened on a previous show.
In this rigger’s opinion, this tour is an accident waiting to happen, combining insufficient equipment, inadequate stage direction, and a poorly designed production to produce a laundry list of safety failures. Most prominent of these failures was a complete lack of communication between road crew.
Other items to be aware of on this show:
- No safety rails on the flatbed truck that was used as a loading dock.
- Open holes in between sections of the stage (resulted in minor injury of crew member).
- Belly ramps and dance floor ramps used to ferry equipment from the flatbed-dock to the stage were not secured in any way.
- Wire rope ladders for the focus crew were rigged improperly.
- Safe pathways on and off stage not marked.
scrapmetal - 6/22/2005 7:30:05 AM THere is a web site for roadies only.
OriginalJud - 6/20/2005 5:50:26 PM Nah, just so happened I got to see the entire backstage operation, in additon to the band's show. The roadies were the only ones who even partied after show.
dancypants - 6/19/2005 7:35:23 PM OriginalJudd, you sound like you went to see the roadies and not the band. This site should get a seperate forum dedicated to roadies, the rest can be dedicated to bands.
Frozen67 - 6/18/2005 9:09:05 PM Def Lepp-ass...now THEY are a fuckin joke! Poor dude...hope he gets better.
DOGSBOLLOCKS - 6/18/2005 11:25:02 AM Who's the fuckin' tour manager??? CRUCIFY THE BASTARD!!!!! THis shit ain't meant to happen that's one of the fuckin' reasons tour managers exist and why they are paid!!!
KILLERQUEEN19 - 6/17/2005 2:15:51 PM So are the individuals alright?! That's too bad. I hope & pray they all are fine & up to their normal, daily-life, routines soon.
Shawndawg - 6/17/2005 1:52:35 PM If this really happened then it will be sure to never happen again. Rock on!
LuckyFoxx - 6/16/2005 11:24:56 PM This isn't good to hear about. If it's true, I feel bad for the roadie. But, the truck driver shouldn't be given out assumations like that, either. Whether it's true or not, Def Leppard are very responsible people that wouldn't want anyone to get hurt workin' on their stage. I think that Def Leppard's already workin' on fixin' whatever problem happened, that way it won't happen again.
fizzgig - 6/16/2005 9:55:03 PM I don't recall the date offhand, but you can find more detailed reports on basically any other hard-rock site on the Net. It happened in San Bernardino, I do remember that.
frankiefrank - 6/16/2005 7:34:26 PM I guess he wasn't crushed by the music?
OriginalJud - 6/16/2005 7:34:22 PM when was this? I was just backstage at Def Leppard in Tampa as a guest of cheif guitar tech and spent much time on roadie buses at end of show. No one said shit about a anything being unsafe and I personally witnessed the tear down in its entirety after the show and it was fast, efficient , complete and the production mangager was strict and tight. Nothing was tolerated, it was the most professional and efficient atmosphere, I was actually quite surprised at how tight it was. This article is strangly devoid of detail as to when where how, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
ENGELDOG - 6/16/2005 4:43:14 PM THEN DO YOUR FUCKEN JOB RIGHT
dancypants - 6/16/2005 4:38:34 PM Yeah (sorry, forgot the Yeah).
dancypants - 6/16/2005 4:38:05 PM The Offspring uses everything that's not their own I see. And Mr Pirate, I owe you a beer, because when I saw the headline today, I was going to post that exact same thing (but unlike the Offspring, I'll abstain), but funny shit though. He woulnd' tbe crushed if it happened but he would be hot, sticky sweet, from his head to his feet.
MrPirate2k2 - 6/16/2005 7:07:53 AM they should pour some sugar on him, he will be all better
