Forty years ago today, one of the worst tragedies in rock history took place when 11 Who fans were trampled to death outside of a concert in Cincinnati. Here is our definitive account of how this nightmare unfolded
A few of those thousands of young people – the youngest known was four years old – had blood on their shoes as they ran happily down the concrete steps into the “pit,” the seatless area in front of the stage where the true fanatics stand throughout the show. But no one noticed. Some of the people who paused – dazed – beside the green and white pizza stand just past the nine turnstiles at the main entrance had no shoes on at all, and some had lost other bits of clothing.
He wrote: “The two concerts that I have attended were both sold out on a ‘festival seating’ or general-admission basis. What this means for the promoter is more money; for the concertgoer . . . this means that he’ll probably have to sit in the aisles or on the floor . . . jeopardizing his safety and the safety of others. If a fire or general panic were to break out, many, many people would be trampled to death . . .
A few feet away, Mark Helmkamp was pleading with a policeman to do something. He said to the cop, “Here, take my ID and bust me for false information if you don’t believe me.” He said the policeman told him to move along. Mayor Ken Blackwell – this was his first day on the job – was summoned from his dinner with House Speaker Tip O’Neill and said it looked to him like this awful tragedy had been caused by “festive seating.” It was his decision to continue the concert, lest the many thousands inside riot if the show were stopped.
Lieutenant Menkhaus said sixteen doors were open and Cal Levy echoed that; Electric Factory attorney Tom Gould said nine to eleven doors were open and Roger Daltrey said three were open. Dozens of eyewitnesses toldthat never during the trouble were more than four doors open and that only two were open most of the time. The coliseum management still refuses to say how many tickets were sold, how many guards were on duty, how many ticket takers or ushers there were or anything else.
Heekin never did get the NHL franchise he said he had, nor did he get a World Team Tennis franchise. The Kentucky Colonels did play a few games there before pulling out. Gradually, as with so many such arenas around the country, rock shows supported the place. Instead of an NHL team, Heekin got the World Hockey Association Stingers, hardly a major draw.
City councilman Springer said publicly that festival seating caused a “climate of disorder.” Brian Heekin disagreed, saying that Springer was not qualified to comment on people’s behavior at concerts and that kids liked festival seating. Heekin also said he wouldn’t mind talking with city officials about the problem of people urinating outside the coliseum.
Their report, issued August 24th, 1976, said in so many words that in the future, everything would be fine and dandy at the coliseum. Section Three of the report, regarding festival seating, said: “The matter of ‘Festival Seating’ was briefly discussed; however, no recommendation is being made at this time. The team felt that we should first evaluate the results of improved fire safety and security methods before taking a firm position on seating arrangements.
The night of the Who concert, business continued as usual until eleven people died. Some blamed the victims for their own deaths, even though it has been proved that some of them – like David Heck, who got out of the crush and went back in to try to help others – died while trying to stop the madness even as police ignored them.
Electric Factory’s Cal Levy did agree to talk. Levy, who actually was the show’s promoter – Magid had come in just to see the Who – was visibly shaken. He contended he had had no control over the opening of doors or the number of guards. “No. Our only responsibility is to get the group onstage, to pay for staffing at the coliseum” . He said Electric Factory had provided “peer security” for the floor-level general-admission area and had arranged to have paramedics and ambulances ready.
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