Ottawa Bluesfest Stage Collapses During Cheap Trick Performance
UPDATE: At a press conference earlier today (July 18) in Ottawa, as reported by the Ottawa Sun, Ottawa Bluesfest executive director Mark Monahan said Ministry of Labour investigators are at the location of the stage collapse today. "What happened last night was really dramatic, something that came up fairly quickly," he said, noting that those who were injured and taken to the hospital following the incident have been released. "When we realized or when we felt that the weather was coming in we made the call to shut the show down."
The festival executive director added that the festival would review procedures to ensure such a near tragedy doesn't occur in the future. As well, refunds for those who attended the show will be available from July 25 to July 30, or concert-goers can hold onto their ticket stub to attend one of the days during the 2012 edition of the festival. Monahan also said Cheap Trick and their crew were "just relieved" they managed to get off the stage before the collapse (you can watch a video of the damage captured and narrated by Cheap Trick frontman Robin Zander after the jump.)
A sudden violent thunderstorm caused the Ottawa Bluesfest main stage to collapse during a performance by Cheap Trick on Sunday (July 17) evening, forcing thousands to flee the festival grounds, including the city's mayor.
Globe and Mail reporter Jeremy Torobin gave an eyewitness account to his national newspaper: "There were thousands of people running. The rain was pounding, pouring down sideways. It was insane."
The Ottawa Citizen reported nobody was trapped underneath the stage at the time of the incident but that one person suffered a broken leg. CTV News Ottawa, however, reported paramedics
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