One of the most famous tales of rock star decadence involves the rider for Van Halen. As part of their rider, which outlines the requirements for their concert, they included a line about a bowl of M&Ms with all the brown ones removed. While it seemed frivolous, the band argued that it was a test, if that tedious instruction was carried out, then all of the other details would be as well. Considering they had an elaborate stage show, that was a clause as much about safety as it was about a dislike of brown candy.
I bring it up because there have been a number of stage collapses happening at outdoor festivals across North America. The most recent was a collapse at the Indiana State Fair, which killed five and injured dozens more. This is the fourth such accident this summer, with two of the collapses happening in Canada - one in Ontario and one in Quebec. There have been several injuries, but this is the first death as a result.
In all cases, weather is named as a major factor in the accident. Three of the four were due to wind and the fourth, in Alabama, was as a result of lightning. As unpredictable as the weather might be, these are supposed to be structures that can stand outdoors, and they can't handle it.
The investigation into the latest collapse is ongoing, and it's unknown what the exact cause was. Still, given the high number of accidents at outdoor festivals this year, one begins to wonder if corners are being cut, and brown M&Ms are falling into the bowl. In Indiana, for instance, the stage wasn't required to be inspected, while the rides at the fair had such a requirement. It should be no surprise that the rides remain standing, while the stage collapsed.
Given the increasing popularity of outdoor concerts, there needs to be some assurance for both the audience and the performer that the stage will remain upright and functioning throughout the festivities. If the stage can survive the weather, we get a good show, and the stage manufacturer gets a good reputation and can put together stages many years into the future. While it's likely that at least one of the festival accidents was almost unavoidable - lightning is a cruel and unpredictable mistress - the rest are all due to wind, and stages need to be able to withstand that wind.
Right now, for the most part, the industry self regulates, and I'm sure that for many companies that's enough. However, it's clear that a bit more oversight needs to take place in order to ensure we don't see more of these collapses every summer. Four since July is an extremely high number, and makes one wonder how many more we're going to see fall down during a big storm.
I want there to be many outdoor festivals in the future, they're a great way to see lots of bands in a day, from favorites to those you're just a bit curious about. More importantly, I want all of the bands and all of their fans to go home safely at the end of the night, able to return again next year. This summer has outlined that for this to happen, there needs to be some serious consideration about the standards for the stages all over the continent. Everyone wins if everyone's safe at the end of the night.
