40th Anniversary of Who tragedy documentary on Cincinnati tv tonight.

Bill Curbishley seems like a very respectful and genuinely honest individual. You can tell that horrible night hit him hard and has stayed with him. I think it's good that he, Roger and Pete got to talk about it publicly. And bless the people of Cinncinati for letting The Who know they don't blame them. For them to go back and do a show, and give all the proceeds to that fund set up in those victims' names, would be HUGE.

 

I imagine none of the culpable parties are willing to speak or are even alive but I agree that I was expecting more about how preventable it was. That said, for the angle WCPO took, it was pretty remarkable.

 

Was at the Nationals' parade last month, and our group had staked out spots by the front of the barriers. People came in and it got crowded, but we held our ground -- which was especially needed because there were many little kids in the group. When people on the parade stated tossing things into the crowd, we had to focus on educating the geniuses who wanted to grab ahead for things, especially where they assumed were spaces where where kids were.

I appreciated the advice TMBG gave during a standing show when people were pressing in: take three steps back, we promise you will still be able to see the show quite well.

 

I went to those two Philly shows and it was a very sedate atmosphere. All were very well behaved.

 

Thought this was quite well done and respectfully handled, would have liked to hear a bit more from the other 8 victims families, but perhaps they were unwilling to be involved. Apparently there is a longer version of this so maybe it goes more in depth on some of the issues that were briefly touched on. Really do think The Who need to make a point of returning there, I actually can't believe they haven't already, would be a very moving tribute to that awful day, and could raise a great deal of money for future scholarships.

 

For anyone that wants to watch it here is the link to the video on the WCPO website.
Pete Townshend opens up about The Who concert with WCPO
I watched it last night and to listen to Pete,Roger and their manager talk about that night and how much it still affects them.They also announced that they will be doing a benefit concert,It will be the first time they have played in Cincinnati since that night.
Well worth watching!

 

Excellent book. Some of the firsthand accounts of people in the crowd are terrifying. I seem to recall someone taking ages to simply loosen or release the scarf from around their neck (as they were being choked) and then finding themselves unable to get their arm back down, such was the crush around them.

 

I've been in some tight situations leaving shows at certain venues, and gotten nervous. I can't even imagine being in something as horrible as that, where you can't even breathe.

 

Yes, very true. I think I watched both nights sitting on steps in one of the side sections btw. Friends of mine actually sat in the camera things to the side/behind the stage both nights (camera overhangs used for sporting events). I was pissed they did not tell me about that until days later or I would have gone over there too!

P.S. Were those the shows that Daltrey talked to the crowd at one point and asked everyone to take 2-3 steps backwards to alleviate some of the crushing going on up front? I remember him doing that at some shows I saw but can't recall which ones.

 

And they are going back, April 23.

Additional Moving On! US Tour Dates for 2020 - The Who

 

I forgot about this.

 

I believe you are right...both nights we sat in the back, first level.

 

That's cool, although I notice they are sticking to their guns to NOT play the same venue.

 

I was in Las Vegas Oct. 2017 and was at a sports book watching the MLB playoffs and met a guy who worked at the coroner's office he told me that a majority of the people killed in the Mandalay Bay shooting were trampled not shot.

 

https://nypost.com/2019/12/04/the-w...utm_campaign=iosapp&utm_source=pasteboard_app

 

I've always been a bit nervous at large arena and stadium shows, especially if it's a particularly rowdy band and audience. Probably the worst experience was at a Metallica show at the Long Beach Arena in December of 1989 which I've related in a couple other threads in the past....

This was the first leg of their "Justice For All" tour with Queensryche opening and they were doing a week-long stand at the Long Beach Arena. Surprisingly, the entire arena was reserved seating (which goes to show sometimes it doesn't matter if the floor is GA or not). I had been (what I thought) extremely fortunate in landing front row dead center seats for my friend and I. They had the first 10 or so rows on the floor in front of the stage blocked off by a waist high barricade that you needed to be wrist banded to access so on the surface, it looked to be a really smart, secure and safe setup.

Through Queensryche's set, it was pretty orderly but as soon as Metallica came on, all hell broke loose with the entire floor behind us trying to bum rush the stage, throwing trash and worse, even the metal folding chairs. The barricade went down almost immediately and it appeared security just bailed out on the entire floor. People from probably the back of the arena were crushing right up to the front, a lot of moshing and basically a chaotic stampede. My friend and I got separated pretty quickly in the madness and in the crush, I somehow got knocked to the floor and one of my legs got trapped in a folding chair and people were standing on it painfully pinning it and me on the floor like a bear trap. I've been knocked down in audience crushes before and since, but this was the only time I felt genuine panic. After a few minutes I managed to get up and back out to the middle area of the floor where it was not quite so crazy. My shirt was shredded, my shoes and socks gone and I was dripping wet from the heat. Although Metallica stopped their set a few times to ask the crowd to settle down, it did no good.

After a few more songs, I tried to half-heartedly make my way back up front but came upon a group of guys in the crush literally groping and tearing the top off some girl who was hysterical. Another guy and I basically grabbed and yanked her away by her arms pulling her out of the pit to the back of the floor and I was shocked to discover I actually knew this girl (she was a friend of my former girlfriend). I wound up giving what was left of her my shirt as she was topless and we tried to get her to go to security to report what was basically sexual assault if not attempted rape but she insisted on trying to find her boyfriend (I later learned she did and they left). I managed to stay to the end of the show watching from the back of the floor but the concert was pretty much ruined for me. After the show, I found my buddy waiting at the car in the lot and he said he just went up to the Loge seats and found an empty seat to watch the majority of the show.

It was almost routine at shows in the 80's at the Hollywood Palladium to get nearly crushed on the dance floor up near the front. The crowd would push and the entire floor would sway left and right until dozens of people would collapse and fall and get squashed by rowdy crowds. The Clash, The Cult, Janes Addiction... even Big Country, I often got pretty bruised and banged up getting knocked around and trampled on at the Palladium.

 

I was worried the book was going to take on the tone of all the whackadoo early 80's folks who that AC/DC and KISS were Satanic acronyms and that spinning the Beatles and Stones backwards would take your soul but it wound up being a solid read. His account of the history of the building and of that night are incredibly detailed.

 

Buying my presale tickets for Cincinnati/NKU show ASAP!

 

That venue needs to go. I want to say that it has nothing to do with The Who, but in a way that's not true. Bands stayed away from their for a long after that concert and many wound up just playing at the much older Gardens or later at the brand new Riverbend Ampitheater. Years went by, no major tenants, it finally got an upgrade in 1997 but even that was subpar. With two brand new stadiums to its west it doesn't fit. It doesn't have enough restrooms. It is very shy of concourse space. I was last there for Foo Fighters and walking by The Who Historical Marker into those same doors with the same bottleneck was just eerie. When the Cincinnati Bearcats needed a home while their own arena was being rehabbed, they wouldn't even play there. They played out of state (ironically, where The Who are playing next year). The GOP also passed over Cincinnati for Cleveland in 2016. So there's two instances of the place costing the downtown money. However, it's a catch 22. Voters don't want and have no incentive to fund an arena with no NHL, NBA or NCAA tenant.

 

Makes sense to me, that's just downright creepy to walk by a marker as you enter right at the same area? What a way to put a damper on the mood for a show.

 

Would be interesting if they invited Kenny Jones for the Cincinnati Show. Kenny was an official member of The Who at the time. He needs closure too.

 

14 yo me had a ticket to the GA Who concert the following weekend at the Spectum and did not at all understand his parents refusing to let him go. I sold the ticket to a friend for the purchase price (I believe it was $5, but that was harder to come by for a 14 year old by far than $100 is for me today).

54 yo me believes his parents made the right call and would no way let his kids go to a GA show on a tour that had proved fatal at a GA event the week before.

 

Did your mom get her way? My parents did.

 

I remember watching it unfold on the portable TV in my kitchen that night. In those days anything that came through the tv screen brought with it (to me) a comfortable distance and a degree of unreality. It took a while for me to appreciate what a horrific situation it had been. It did, however, bring back memories of my seeing McCartney in the same venue. When those doors opened I was literally lifted off my feet and swept in through the doors on a tidal wave of people.