Concerts That Ended In Tragedy
Concerts are meant to be an amazing moment and create memories that will last a lifetime for those who attend. Sadly, those memories are not always of the best night ever. Sometimes, they can be complete horror stories. We take a look at concerts that went horribly wrong and the fans and artists who suffered.
Ariana Grande In Manchester, 2017
This is perhaps the most recent example of a massive tragedy that turned a great night out into something awful. The show had ended, and streams of people were heading out of the arena with smiles on their faces. An explosion ripped through the crowd just at the exit on one side of the stadium. This killed 22 people and injured another 59.
One man was arrested in connection with the bombing and terrorist organization ISIS claimed responsibility for it. Whether or not they were actually involved has not been proven, but they announced it on one of their social media platforms. The singer, Ariana Grande, was physically unharmed as there were no explosions in the actual stadium, but she has made a point of checking in with her fans who were there every year on the anniversary of the event.
Guns N’ Roses And Metallica in Montreal, 1992
Canadians are generally considered one of the nicest groups of people in the world. However, the rock and roll fans that attended this concert at the Olympic Stadium seriously had their patience tested and turned nasty. It started with Metallica cancelling their portion of the evening’s show due to James Hetfield getting burnt while standing on a pyrotechnic cannon. Guns N’ Roses then showed up late to an already frustrated crowd and proceeded to cut their set short due Axl Rose complaining of a sore throat.
The crowd formed an angry mob and went on a rampage through the stadium. They looted the stalls, set things on fire and racked up damages worth half a million dollars. Guns N’ Roses were deemed responsible for the whole tragedy and were handed a life-time ban from Montreal once the dust had settled.
The Who in Cincinnati, 1979
Famous British rock band was a hit all over the world. Their tour of the US in the late 1970s was a massive success until tragedy struck before their concert at the Riverfront Coliseum. Fans were eager to get into the venue and were getting worried that they would miss the start of the show. Due to the overwhelming numbers and insufficient entry points, a stampede started. The officials checking tickets at the limited entries were over run as 7000 people tried to get in at once.
The end result was 11 people dead and 8 people injured. Surprisingly, the concert still went on. The mayor of the city pleaded with the band to perform, citing major concerns that the trouble would get worse and people would riot if the show got canceled after all of that.