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Radiohead cancel seven shows after stage collapse tragedy
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 22 June 2012
Radiohead have cancelled seven planned concerts following last weekend’s stage collapse tragedy that occurred ahead of show in Toronto and which killed the band’s drum tech Scott Johnson.
In a statement on the Radiohead website, the band say they need a couple of weeks to recover from the trauma of having lost a crew member, while the show’s production team also need time to reconstruct the light show that accompanies their current tour, with much of the required kit having been damaged when the roof of the temporary staging set up they were due to use in Toronto fell to the ground.
The band’s statement reads: “As you will probably have heard the roof over the stage collapsed at our show in Toronto killing crew member Scott Johnson and injuring three other crew members. The collapse also destroyed the light show – this show was unique and will take many weeks to replace. The collapse also caused serious damage to our backline, some elements of which are decades old and therefore hard to replace”.
They continue: “Whilst we all are dealing with the grief and shock ensuing from this terrible accident there are also many practical considerations to deal with and consequently we have to try and reschedule these shows. We will make every effort to offer the fans the very best show possible under the circumstances – thanks for your understanding and support”.
The band hope to be back on stage on 10 Jul for the first of two shows in Nimes, France. As previously reported, back in Toronto officials are still investigating what caused last weekend’s stage collapse, with some speculating that too much kit hung on the rig, and too little time to properly set up the show’s lights, caused the tragedy.
