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2D · TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2000 · USA TODAY

Cover story

Injuries and deaths have always been a part of the rock concert experi-ence. Some significant events:March 21, 1952, Moondog Coronation Ball,

ClevelandDisc jockey Alan Freed’s rock ’n’ roll party erupts into a riot. One patron isstabbed; dozens are injured.Aug. 15-17, 1969, Woodstock, Bethel, N.Y.Six thousand are treated for injuries at the seminal music festival. Threedie: one run over by a tractor, one from a ruptured appendix and onefrom a drug overdose.Dec. 6, 1969, the Rolling Stones, Altamont, Calif.A Hells Angels member, part of the festival’s security, kills an 18-year-oldfan. Three others die in accidents; 850 others are injured.Dec. 3, 1979, The Who, CincinnatiEleven are crushed to death and dozens are injured as the crowd tries toenter Riverfront Coliseum for a festival-seating show. The city later bansshows with general admission or festival seating.June 13-15, 1986, Ozzy Osbourne/Metallica,

Long Beach, Calif.Three die: one from an overdose, one from a stabbing and one after a fall.

AP

In Cincinnati: Shoes are the onlyevidence of the carnage-causingcrush at a 1979 Who concert.

By Grarup Jan, AP

In Roskilde: Nine trampling deaths at a PearlJam concert June 30 leave young fans in tears.

From the start, violence follows the beat Dec. 19, 1987, Public Enemy, NashvilleTwo girls are crushed to death when fans rush out of the auditoriumafter reports of gunfire.Jan. 18, 1991, AC/DC, Salt Lake CityThree teenage fans die from the crush in the festival-seating area.May 11, 1996, Smashing Pumpkins, Dublin, IrelandA 17-year-old girl dies and scores are injured after there’s a crowdcrush in a mosh pit.July 23-25, 1999, Woodstock 99, Rome, N.Y.An estimated 10,000 people receive first aid at the concert, whichends in rioting and rapes. Three die: one from heatstroke, anotherwho was hit by a car and the third from a heart attack.June 30, 2000, Pearl Jam, Roskilde, DenmarkNine are crushed to death in a festival-seating area in front of thestage.Sources: Crowd Management Strategies, USA TODAY research

CHICAGO — Paul Wertheimer’scrusade for safer concerts takeshim from chaotic mosh pits tocourtroom witness chairs. His re-ward: the nearly universal derisionof the concert industry.

“He’s kind of a self-made guy,”scoffs Cory Meredith, owner of aSouthern California concert staffingand security firm. “A self-pro-claimed expert.”

Wertheimer, 51, runs his CrowdManagement Strategies consultingfirm from his apartment in Chica-go’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.And he has indeed made a namefor himself by pushing a mantrathe industry loathes: strictercrowd-control standards. He’s atthe forefront of what have other-wise been off-and-on efforts to reinin the industry — efforts rangingfrom proposed legislation in Cali-fornia to a call-to-action resolutionby the National PTA.

“Any show can be made saferwith the proper planning and man-agement,” says Wertheimer, whowas a public information officer forthe city of Cincinnati when 11 fanswere crushed to death there in1979 while trying to get in to seeThe Who. In the ensuing investiga-tion, he found himself chief of stafffor the task force that investigatedhow to prevent similar accidents. Itturned into a career.

“Nobody in the industry likesme,” he says. “But you know what?They created me.”

He’s not against moshing, oreven festival seating, as long asvenues follow the National FireProtection Association’s Life SafetyCode, which outlines requirementsranging from the width of aisles tothe number of square feet neededper person. But he complains thatpromoters and venues don’t ade-quately protect fans and bands.

Among his recommendations,published on his Web site, www.crowdsafe.com: separate areas formoshers, a ban on crowd surfingand stage diving, and better train-ing for security in mosh pits.

One of his longest-running feudsis with the International Associa-tion of Assembly Managers (IAAM).

Wertheimer “wants to have na-tional standards for crowd man-agement — here are the do’s and

don’ts that you must follow everytime without fail. And if you don’t,you’re negligent,” says Jack Zim-mer, the trade group’s executive di-rector. “He always points at IAAM.But as soon as you write a stan-dard, it’s like writing a book. It’s outof date.”

Wertheimer counters by point-ing to the British government’sEvent Safety Guide as a startingpoint for what needs to be donehere. The guidelines range fromhow to erect barriers to controllingsound. They’re not law, but any or-ganizer adhering to them will be incompliance with regulations.

“We involved massive amountsof people from the music events in-dustry,” says Mark Thomas of theBritish government’s Health &Safety Executive’s office.

In the USA, efforts have achievedmixed results. California Sen. NellSoto, D-Ontario, recently intro-duced a bill that would requirevenues to have an emergency ser-vices plan and submit lists of in-juries. But the legislation has sincebeen watered down to simply re-quire that the governor’s office is-sue safety guidelines.

In 1992, the National PTA calledfor a ban on festival seating, but itrescinded the resolution in 1998.

“We really didn’t get very far,”says Pat Keegan of Northvale, N.J.,who campaigned for the resolu-tion. “Every time there’s a tragedy,it’s in the news — but then it dies.”

Safety crusader at forefront

By Brent Jones for USA TODAY

Paul Wertheimer: The concertindustry “created me.”

By Anthony DeBarrosUSA TODAY

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safety expert. Among the findings:uInjuries are at their highest

level in a decade, according to in-dustry watchdog Paul Wertheimer.Wertheimer, a consultant whostarted focusing on concert safetyafter working for the city of Cincin-nati at the time of The Who trage-dy, counts 19,723 injuries and 70deaths worldwide at concerts andfestivals in 1999, up from 5,711 in-juries and eight deaths in 1998.

Wertheimer says his data —compiled from news and police re-ports, industry sources, his ownconcert attendance and other re-search — are not all-inclusive andunderstate the problem.

“My database is the one-eyed gi-ant in the land of the blind,” hesays. “They make it as hard as pos-sible to gain any kind of data.”uGiven the lack of complete da-

ta, the extent of the problem is oneof the industry’s most closelyguarded secrets. The federal gov-ernment’s National Center for In-jury Prevention and Control, whichtracks mishaps ranging from falls tohomicides, keeps no record of con-cert injuries, spokeswoman SandyBonzo says. “It would require aspecial investigation.”

Venues — which, because of in-dustry consolidation, are increas-ingly under the umbrella of big cor-porations such as SFXEntertainment — refuse to releasetheir data.

“I’m not sure it’s relevant to talkabout the percentage or number ofinjuries at any of the events thatthe company produces, unless thecompany deems it to be a health. . . concern,” says Mitch Slater,

SFX executive vice president. “There is no reason for the public

to be concerned.” uFestival seating — the practice

of selling fans a ticket for an areawith no seats — remains pervasive,despite its role in injuries. So do thedangerous expressions it spawns —mosh pits, crowd surfing andsqueezed fans.

The nine deaths at a Pearl Jamconcert in Denmark on June 30were blamed, in part, on a crowdsurge in a festival seating area infront of the stage. At The Gorge, anamphitheater in George, Wash., 16-year-old Harjeet Jagpal was foundunconscious after a mosh pit col-lapsed during a Blink 182 concertJune 16. He remains in a coma.

Festival seating has contributedto hundreds of other injuries thissummer. The all-day HFStival drew83,000 fans to FedEx Field in Lan-dover, Md., outside Washington, onMay 28. At the first-aid tent, 1,019people were treated, including 61with lacerations, sprains or otherproblems considered seriousenough to warrant a hospital trip.uFans have become more vola-

tile, fueled by drugs, alcohol andanger. On July 29, a fan was stabbedin a mosh pit during a show byNOFX in West Palm Beach, Fla. “It’snot a happy crowd, which it usedto be,” says Nina Crowley, directorof Mass Mic, a non-profit advocacygroup that fights music censorship.

In mid-July, when the Ozzfestrolled into the Nissan Pavilion, anSFX-owned amphitheater in Bris-tow, Va., staggering, inebriated fanswere not uncommon — perhaps in-spired by show namesake Ozzy Os-bourne, whose various addictionsrecently were chronicled in RollingStone. In a steady stream, policeand security hustled dozens intovans for a trip to the detention cen-ter. Final tally: 134 arrests for drugpossession and public intoxication,according to the Prince WilliamCounty Police Department.

“The drunk people are the onlyones who start fights,” said 18-year-old Tim Vertin, watching thescene from the security area.

Another problem: sexual as-saults. Crowley says young menfeel free to grope women. And or-ganizers of shows frequently don’thelp. At the WBCN River Rave, anall-day concert May 27 at FoxboroStadium, outside Boston, the per-son operating the video screensencouraged women to bare theirbreasts by typing messages such as“You know you want to.”

“It’s a big problem,” Wertheimersays. “It’s one thing for a guy next

to a girl to be yelling, ‘Show us your(breasts).’ It’s another thing for it tobe coming from the stage.”

Along with the injuries, there’sno shortage of blame. Bands com-plain about venues. Security pointsto bands, saying they incite crowds.And lawyers, filing lawsuits for theinjured, offer a litany of alleged neg-ligence.

When reports surfaced that po-lice in Denmark were holding PearlJam “morally responsible” for thecrowd crush that killed nine peoplethere, band manager Kelly Curtisposted a message on the band’sWeb site calling the charge “ludi-crous.” Later, in a statement givento USA TODAY, Curtis defended theband’s safety record and shifted thefocus to organizers — specifically tosecurity and to medical personnel.He also cited low visibility from thestage and alcohol as problems.

“At least 15 minutes passed be-tween the time a member of theFestival security team identified apotential problem and the time wewere informed,” he wrote. “If wehad been informed . . . we couldhave stopped the show earlier.”Danish police, who have backed offtheir criticism of the band, are stillinvestigating.

In the USA, criticism from artistscenters on decisions made at con-cert sites. “Plenty of venues do agreat job, but sometimes venuesaren’t rated (for capacity) highenough,” says Peter Katsis, whosecompany, The Firm, manages Korn,Limp Bizkit and the BackstreetBoys, among others. “They’ll ratethe floor to hold 3,000 people, butthey’ll play it safe and only (allow)1,500.”

That practice, he says, createsmore open space with festival seat-ing, giving mosh-minded fans moreroom to run around. Venue officials“don’t realize that kids could gethurt if they have more room towind up,” Katsis says.

Other times, public officialsmake questionable calls. At thisyear’s HFStival, fire authorities de-cided to allow festival seating eventhough Maryland law bans it in anybuilding holding more than 1,000people. After consulting with thestate fire marshal’s office, the firedepartment decided that FedExField, where football’s WashingtonRedskins play, was outside the re-striction because the law did notapply to an open-air stadium.

The National Fire Protection As-sociation, which created the codeon which Maryland’s law is based,disagrees. Its ban on festival seating“is intended to apply to a situationwhere you have any kind of con-finement,” NFPA engineer RobertSolomon says.

During the show, aisles leadingfrom the field up to the seats wereso jammed that fans climbed over8-foot walls to get up, saysWertheimer, who was there withhis camera. “They knew there wasno capacity limitation for the field.It was way overcrowded.”

Meanwhile, bands draw theirown criticism. One of Katsis’ acts,Limp Bizkit, was roundly criticizedfor helping whip up the volatilecrowd at Woodstock 99, which lat-er disintegrated into rioting, withthousands of injuries. The band’sfrontman, Fred Durst, “is a total idi-ot,” says Cory Meredith, owner ofStaff Pro, which provides securityand other staff for events in South-ern California. “He continually callspeople down front, saying, ‘Screwsecurity — I want everybody to

come down front.’ People are goingto get injured, and he doesn’t care.”

Katsis blames promoters whobook rock shows into venues, suchas amphitheaters, that are de-signed for sit-down concerts.“They’re not designed to let thecrowd participate,” which buildsfrustration, he says.

And then there are the injuredplaintiffs and their attorneys.

Wertheimer has been able toidentify 178 lawsuits filed betweenJuly 1995 and July 2000, though hesays the actual number is probablyfar higher.

One case working its waythrough the courts involves RandyL. Adams, now 27, who suffered acrushing chest injury in a mosh pitat a Metallica concert at Deer CreekMusic Center in Noblesville, Ind., inJuly 1994.

“They said that when they foundhim, they had to use a defibrillator. . . to get his heart going again,”

says his father, Randy R. Adams. Hisson was in a coma for threemonths. Today, he’s in a persistentvegetative state.

“I look at him, and sometimes Ican’t help but cry a lot,” the fathersays. Adams sued the venue, Me-tallica, the promoter and othersconnected to the event, chargingthat all failed to prevent or properlysupervise moshing.

“Parents send kids to concertsexpecting them to have a goodtime,” says Stanley Kahn, the fam-ily’s attorney. “But who knowsabout the violence that occurs inthat environment? Why isn’t therea warning placed on the ticket bythe venue owner? Why isn’t therea video made to show the dangers?Why doesn’t the band come on andsay, ‘Don’t do it’?”

The venue and band declined tocomment, although Metallica at-torney Howard King says: “Theband does not control what goeson at the venue. It’s impossible.”

Industry officials dispute thatclaim. “The artist controls the con-cert, and anyone who tells you hedoesn’t isn’t telling the truth,” saysFlorida entertainment insurer Wal-ter Howell. “The artist can stopanything he wants.”

But the ultimate finger-pointing,heard from many in the industry, isback at the fans.

“To me, moshing is done by peo-ple who have a desire to mosh,”says Gus Kontopuls, who operatesElite Show Services, a security andevent staffing company in San Die-go. “If I go into a mosh pit wantingto mosh and I catch an elbow tomy mouth and get a couple of teethknocked out, I have nobody toblame but myself.”

But in Seattle, where Scott Stone,now 18, endures the changes to hislife, questions remain about howan event meant to entertain canturn so dangerous.

Some of those questions are be-ing aired in court. The family is su-ing Rage Against the Machine, Seat-tle, the security company and thepromoter. Webb, the family’s at-torney, has amassed hours of depo-sitions that he says point to abreakdown in responsibility. Thedefendants, in response, questionwhether the boy was even injuredat the show. Marcia Nelson, a cityattorney, says that because no onehas reported seeing Stone get hurt,the lawsuit should be dismissed.

“It’s appalling to me,” CatherineStone says. “Parents should knowthat the people in charge are notprotecting their children.”

1 – All injuries and deaths associatedwith concerts and festivals2 – Based on 247 concerts

July 1, 1995, to July 1, 20001

Deaths

Injuries

USA

Worldwide

49

186

USA

Worldwide

22,091

42,538

Seating plays a roleType of seating at concerts withinjuries2:

Festival (standing room)68%

General admission(unreserved)

22%Reserved

10%

Worldwide concertdeaths, 1992-993

Worldwide concertinjuries, 1992-993

3 – Injuries and deaths attributed to crowd safety problems; based on an annual surveyof about 215 concerts.Source: Crowd Management Strategies’ “Rock Concert Safety Survey”

706050403020100

70

’92 ’93 ’94 ’95 ’96 ’97 ’98 ’99

20,000

16,000

12,000

8,000

4,000

0

19,723

’92 ’93 ’94 ’95 ’96 ’97 ’98 ’99

Concert casualties continue to rise

By Julie Snider, USA TODAY

Mosh pitsoften leadto injuries Continued from 1D

Jeannie Williams’ column appears on 7D today.