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Live music can bring unmatched joy, but sometimes tragedy strikes with devastating impact. From deadly fires and crowd crushes to violent attacks, these incidents have changed the concert experience forever. We explore the darkest moments that shocked fans around the world, revealing the stories behind disasters like the Cocoanut Grove fire, Astroworld tragedy, Manchester Arena bombing, and more.
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00:00Welcome to Ms. Mojo. And today, we're looking at fatal incidents during live music performances that had a permanent impact
00:07on the industry and history.
00:10Performers grief-stricken. Pharrell calling it a tragic loss. Blake Shelton saying he's heartbroken. From Selena Gomez, I miss you,
00:18Christina.
00:19Burning Man 2026. Sadly, not everyone survives the high temperatures and higher energy found every summer in Nevada's Black Rock
00:30Desert.
00:31But the three fatalities of the 2026 edition of the Culture and Music Festival Burning Man represented an unusually high
00:38death toll.
00:39Among the more than 70,000 attendees, the middle-aged Samson Chishambe, Armando Ramirez, and Craig Mann were found unresponsive.
00:50Authorities found no evidence of foul play.
00:52Just two days later, they acknowledged a second death. They said in part, quote,
00:57Burning Man Project is saddened to share that a second Black Rock City participant, Craig Mann, a 60-year-old
01:03man, was found deceased.
01:04Still, these and past deaths sparked public scrutiny about the limits of medical preparedness for an event specifically situated in
01:12extreme environments.
01:14Moreover, Burning Man's clandestine drug culture is infamous.
01:18While the decades-old, week-long tradition represents liberty for many people, many others say that any loss of life
01:25should inspire re-evaluation.
01:28Over the past 25 years, Burning Man has averaged one death a year. This year marks the most at the
01:35event in over two decades.
01:36Coconut Grove Fire. Jazz band leader Mickey Alperts hoped to lift everyone's spirits during the first Thanksgiving weekend after the
01:44U.S. entered World War II.
01:46The Coconut Grove in Boston would instead become the site of the deadliest nightclub fire in history.
01:53The smoke carries deadly fumes caused by the combustion of plastic wall coverings and decorations.
02:01It is the smoke, not the fire, that will cause most of the deaths.
02:05The disputed story is that it began with busboy Stanley Tomaszewski simply lighting a match while replacing a light bulb.
02:12The venue's highly flammable props and furniture quickly ignited as panicked patrons stopped up the main revolving door exit.
02:20Alpert managed to sneak himself and others out of a basement window.
02:24Alas, a total of 492 people did not survive.
02:28But from this catastrophe came significant burn treatment research and new U.S. fire codes regarding emergency exits.
02:37Boston's night of terror has left its imprint on history.
02:41The images of that night remain, as do the new laws enacted as a direct result of the tragedy.
02:472022 Martyrs Stadium Crush
02:50Even the fourth-largest venue in Africa has faced dangerous challenges in containing pandemonium.
02:57In October 2022, Prince of Rumba, Fali Ipupa, drew more than 120,000 fans to the 80,000-seat Martyrs
03:06Stadium in Kinshasa, Congo.
03:08Dozens of concertgoers wound up hospitalized from the pressure of this population and high temperatures.
03:1411 people, including two police officers struggling to control the situation, were fatally asphyxiated or trampled.
03:22They went beyond 100% capacity.
03:24At least 11 people died in the Stampede.
03:27The Capitol Stadium of Martyrs, where the event took place on Saturday, has a capacity of 80,000.
03:34The organizers were accused of deliberately and recklessly overselling tickets to Ipupa's high-profile concert, but faced no charges.
03:43Nearly two years later, a Mike Colombe performance at Martyrs Stadium saw another crowd crush that resulted in nine deaths
03:51and further debate about proper venue infrastructure.
04:011974 White City Stadium incident
04:04David Cassidy himself was overwhelmed by the teen hysteria following him throughout his 1974 world tour.
04:11His decision to take a hiatus was sealed by a show at White City Stadium in London, in which more
04:17than 700 of the roughly 35,000 attendees were injured in a crowd surge.
04:22It was, you know, you were very clearly what you wore, and music was very, uh, it was a time
04:29when people would go and die over their belief system about being hip.
04:34The scene was so shocking that 14-year-old Bernadette Whelan later died of cardiac arrest.
04:40Her parents didn't blame Cassidy, but he declared that remorse would stay with him for the rest of his life.
04:46Concert safety standards would themselves be permanently haunted by this turning point in the teen idol golden age.
04:53Cassidy didn't return to the stage for over a decade after the tour.
04:58I don't miss, on a personal side, I don't miss the experience of feeling like a loss of my own
05:06identity.
05:07Namiga Metro Station Crush
05:09On May 30th, 1999, around 2,500 people gathered by the Svizlitch River in Minsk for Radio Mir's second anniversary
05:18music festival.
05:20Alcohol was flowing, and the popular Russian band Mango Mango was performing when a sudden thunderstorm pelted the area with
05:28heavy hail.
05:35The crowd's panicked dash for shelter in the narrow underpass of the metro station Namiga proved to be lethally chaotic.
05:42Of the roughly 300 people who were injured, about 54 died, most of them teenagers and young women.
05:50The incident was an international story, which left a lasting impression on the cultural memory of the Belarusian people.
05:56Bronze roses for each life loss were installed along with a plaque at Namiga in remembrance.
06:03Collective Nightclub Fire
06:05A free launch party for the Romanian band Goodbye to Gravity would send a government crashing down.
06:11Bucharest's Club Collective hosted the October 2015 celebration of the album Mantras of War
06:18when indoor fireworks ignited the polyurethane foam installed for soundproofing.
06:22400 fans were exposed to intense heat, smoke and pandemonium, leading to nearly 200 injuries and 64 deaths.
06:43Vocalist Andre Gallut was the sole survivor of Goodbye to Gravity, but it was the lethal use of diluted hospital
06:51disinfectants at the hospital
06:52that led to widespread protests against systemic inefficiency and corruption.
06:57Many saw the forced resignation of Prime Minister Victor Ponta as a ray of light at the end of this
07:02dark chapter in Romanian pop culture.
07:05Până acum au fost numărate 99% din voturi, iar situația este cât se poate declară. Partidul Social-Democrat a
07:13cuștigat aceste alegeri.
07:14Tsunami at Tanjung Lesung
07:18Indonesian pop rocker 17 headlined the Perus-Hahen-Listrik Negara's corporate get-together on the evening of December 22, 2018.
07:28Suddenly, a volcanic eruption unleashed a tsunami on the Pandaglong Beach Resort Tanjung Lesung.
07:36Sunda Strait would ultimately claim more than 420 lives in the area without prior warning.
07:47The only member of Seventeen to survive was singer Ifan Fajar Shah, who also lost his wife, TV personality Dylan
07:55Sahara.
07:56The naturally immense media response was compounded by viral video of the tsunami's impact.
08:02Greater Indonesian culture would feel the lingering effects of this high-profile tragedy on the tourism economy.
08:08More importantly, it has raised concerning questions about the capabilities of warning systems for ecological catastrophes.
08:17Murder at the Plaza Live
08:19A special opening act accompanied the band Before You Exit during their 2016 All the Lights tour.
08:26The tour prematurely ended in tragedy at Orlando's Plaza Live on June 10.
08:31After her performance, Christina Grimmie of NBC's The Boys held a meet-and-greet at her merch table.
08:37It was there that obsessed fan Kevin James Loible shot the 22-year-old singer twice,
08:42then turned a second gun on himself after being subdued by her brother Marcus.
08:47Grimmie later died at the hospital.
08:50Christina Grimmie, a former contestant on NBC's The Voice, was shot and killed after her concert in Orlando, Florida last
08:57night.
08:57The 22-year-old singer was signing autographs with her band when the gunman shot her.
09:03The horrifying scene amplified public discussions about threats against women and public figures,
09:09while exposing lax security standards at venues.
09:12The ensuing tributes and lawsuits reshaped meet-and-greet security protocols across the American entertainment industry.
09:19They weren't being security guards, they were just kind of standing there, like, having a good time.
09:24Like, they were more concerned about, like, bringing water bottles in.
09:28And, like, I don't understand how they couldn't have found, like, a gun or two guns, whatever he had on.
09:33Rhythm Club Fire
09:34On April 23, 1940, more than 700 people gathered to hear Walter Barnes and his Creolians perform at the Rhythm
09:42Club in Natchez, Mississippi.
09:44Management boarded the windows shut to keep out non-paying observers.
09:48This security measure worsened the disaster of a fire likely caused by a cigarette discarded near decorations doused with petroleum
09:56insecticides.
09:58The moss was flammable and covered with a petroleum treatment called flit, which was used to prevent bugs.
10:04It not only fed the fire, but the air became toxic.
10:08Barnes played on in an attempt to curb pandemonium.
10:11This jazz pioneer was among the 209 souls lost in one of the deadliest building fires in American history.
10:19Yet, segregation limited national media coverage.
10:23The Rhythm Club Fire inspired annual memorials in Natchez to this day.
10:28But American fire code reforms only came after the Coconut Grove Fire in Boston two years later.
10:34A few of the graves that where people were identifiable are buried up on that hill.
10:42I don't know if you noticed coming down to that area, that low area.
10:47KISS Nightclub Fire
10:48January 27, 2013, saw one of the deadliest concert disasters ever at KISS in Santa Maria, Brazil.
10:56The nightclub was hosting a 2 a.m. set by Garazada Fandangara that featured pyrotechnics designed specifically for outdoor use,
11:05which ignited cheap acoustic foam overhead.
11:08An already excessive population of college-age patrons struggled to find the emergency exits to escape the toxic smoke amid
11:16a brief power failure.
11:17This is the nightclub, and those are the doors through which nearly 2,000 college students tried to squeeze through
11:22as that fire raged.
11:24It all happened so fast that security guards blocked patrons believed to be running out on their bar tabs.
11:30The injury of more than 630 people and the death of 242 inspired fire code reforms in Brazil.
11:38Meanwhile, KISS's owners and two band members were convicted of homicide.
11:44There is no explanation for the pain I'm feeling.
11:47I can no longer cry because I've already cried so much.
11:51I still don't believe that they are gone.
11:53The Indiana State Fair stage collapse.
11:56Every year, starting in late July and ending in mid-August, Indianapolis hosts the Indiana State Fair, sometimes drawing close
12:04to 1 million people to the event.
12:06As you can see to the west, there are some clouds.
12:09We are all hoping for the best, that the weather is going to bypass us, but there's a very good
12:14chance that it won't.
12:15On the night of August 13th, 2011, country music duo Sugar Land were scheduled to take the stage following opener
12:22Sarah Bareilles.
12:23But shortly after Bareilles finished and before Sugar Land began, a massive wind gust hit the poorly constructed stage.
12:30It collapsed onto the crowd below, instantly killing four people and injuring dozens more.
12:37Thousands gathered at the fairgrounds were stunned as the sudden powerful wind gusts blew down the huge stage.
12:42An additional three would later die at the hospital, bringing the total number of deaths to seven.
12:48Several lawsuits were filed following the incident, with the largest awarding the plaintiffs with $50 million.
12:55Woodstock 99
12:57Event planners need to study Woodstock 99, as it contains everything you shouldn't do when planning a large concert.
13:05Really, it's out of sheer luck that it didn't end up worse than it did.
13:09Attempting to emulate the peace and love of the original Woodstock, organizers held a third iteration in July of 1999.
13:17But the event was horribly planned from the outset.
13:20The problems were countless, from an inadequate sanitation system to overpriced water in the scorching heat.
13:27It's going to crash. It's going to crash in a very big, cinematic, cataclysmic way.
13:34Three people died, two from heat-related causes. Sexual assault was rampant in the massive crowd.
13:41Frustrations built and built before exploding into a flurry of violence on the night of July 25th,
13:47complete with rioting, mass vandalism, and fires.
13:50It did feel like this unifying force, like, these are my people now, and we're going to go crazy.
13:56With performer Anthony Kiedis likening the site to Apocalypse Now.
14:01The Yiddish Concert Accident
14:03In the summer of 2001, the European Center for Yiddish Culture organized an open-air concert in
14:09Strasbourg, France to promote traditional Yiddish music. Various storm warnings were issued prior to
14:15the concert, as winds were topping out at nearly 100 miles per hour. And while nearby events were
14:21canceled, this Yiddish concert went ahead as planned. During the intense wind and rain, some 130 spectators
14:28left the stands and sought shelter in a nearby food tent. But in a horrible twist of fate, a large
14:34plain
14:34tree was uprooted by the wind and crushed the food tent, killing 11 and injuring a further 85.
14:42The Cro-Manon Nightclub Fire
14:44On December 30th, 2004, the Argentine rock band Calhieros was performing in the Repubblica Cro-Manon.
14:51This nightclub had no fire alarm, an expired fire safety license, and little suppression material to
14:57speak of. With 10 of the 15 extinguishers not working. And in a club with a maximum capacity
15:05of 1,500, 4,000 people were watching Calhieros play. During the performance, a pyrotechnic was set
15:12off and ignited the insulation foam in the club's ceiling. The fire quickly spread out of control,
15:17owing to the flammable decorations. And to make matters worse, four of the six doors were chained
15:23shut to prevent non-payers from getting in. The fireworks were in the concert hall. It's because
15:28for a bit of money, the local inspectors were looking in one direction and the police in another.
15:32But people couldn't get out and nearly 200 died from breathing the poisonous air.
15:37The Mouazine Stampede, meaning rhythms of the world. Mouazine is an annual music festival held
15:44in the Moroccan capital of Rabat. As part of this festival, Moroccan pop star Abdelaziz Stati
15:57was holding a free concert at the Ainada soccer stadium on the night of May 23rd, 2009.
16:04Shortly after midnight on May 24th, the concert ended and 70,000 people rushed to the exits.
16:10This mass of surging people quickly resulted in a stampede and people were crushed and suffocated
16:16as the mass moved forward. 11 people lost their lives, all having been crushed to death.
16:28A further 40 were injured, 8 of them quite seriously. The Curtis Mayfield accident
16:34An enormously influential musician, Curtis Mayfield found success as a solo artist and a member of the
16:41R&B group The Impressions. Their song People Get Ready is highly regarded, appearing on a number of
16:47best-of-all-time lists. On August 13, 1990, Mayfield was set to perform at an outdoor concert in Brooklyn.
16:58While being introduced on stage, a scaffold was knocked down by a strong gust of wind and fell
17:04directly on top of Mayfield. I guess the first thing set in was this is a crisis. The important
17:12thing is that I don't allow myself to die. While he survived, the falling scaffold broke his neck and
17:19left him paralyzed from the waist down. He would live another nine years in this condition before dying in
17:241999 from diabetes. Big Beach Boutique 2
17:29Like Woodstock 99, Big Beach Boutique 2 was a logistical nightmare that resulted in tragedy.
17:35When I first arrived in this room, I was just looking out and going,
17:37oh, this is really so many people. Famous DJ Fatboy Slim put on a free concert on the beach of
17:43Brighton,
17:44a resort city on the south coast of England. He was expected to perform for 60,000 people,
17:49but 250,000 showed up and the authorities were not prepared. Brighton has always been a good place to
17:56come and party. It was just rammed. It was chucka all the way down. The beach was crowded with too
18:01many people and some people were pushed into the ocean, forcing a Coast Guard helicopter to perform
18:07numerous rescues. Approximately 160 people were injured in the crowd and ambulances could not reach
18:14the service tents owing to the enormous crowds. Six people were arrested, two died, and half of
18:24the police force on duty that day underwent trauma counseling. The Ghost Ship Fire
18:29On December 2, 2016, a warehouse that was illegally converted to a music venue hosted an electronic
18:37concert dubbed Ghost Ship. This fire has been a devastating tragedy. About a hundred people
18:43were in attendance, including residents who unlawfully lived in the building when a fire broke out.
18:48The cause remains unknown, but it quickly engulfed the entire building. 36 people died,
18:55making this the deadliest California building fire in over a hundred years. The Ghost Ship was no secret
19:00to anybody. The Ghost Ship just became a secret when they decided not to charge the owner and when they
19:05tried to protect certain aspects of the city government. The Ghost Ship had numerous issues
19:09that contributed to the tragedy. It had known electrical problems and no fire sprinklers,
19:14and it had been poorly constructed to house the illegal tenants. California law says a landowner must
19:20maintain the property to prevent an unreasonable risk of harm, stating everyone is responsible not
19:26only for the result of willful acts, but also for an injury. Owner Derek Almano was charged with
19:32manslaughter and sentenced to 12 years in prison, but he was released for time served.
19:38The Roeskild Crush Every summer, the city of Roeskild,
19:42Denmark holds the Roeskild Festival, the largest music festival in the Nordic countries.
19:47The festival had been inspired by Woodstock and had been running for nearly three decades and was
19:52considered to be one of the safest festivals in Europe. On the evening of June 30, 2000,
19:57the iconic grunge band Pearl Jam was performing for 50,000 people on the festival's orange stage.
20:03The crowd were swaying in a wave-like motion to the music, but a large number of people fell,
20:09likely owing to the slippery and muddy ground. This opened up a hole that was filled by the dancing
20:14crowd and the people on the ground were quickly stomped and suffocated.
20:18Up in front, fans slipped on the muddy, rain-soaked ground and were crushed or trampled.
20:24Crowd surfers alerted security of the problem and the band stopped the concert, but it was too late.
20:29Nine people died and a further 26 were injured.
20:33The Santika Club Fire
20:35Bangkok's Santika nightclub was hosting a New Year's party on the night of December 31, 2008.
20:41Just after midnight, in a horribly cruel twist of irony, about a thousand people were watching a band
20:47called Burn perform when a fire broke out in the nightclub.
20:51We tried to help those we could. We saw some people trapped in the staircase,
20:56burning and crying for help, but we couldn't get to them.
20:59The exact cause remains unknown, but it was most likely an electrical accident in the ceiling.
21:05The building was poorly regulated, only having one main exit and using plastic as a waterproofing
21:11material. This plastic quickly burned and caused the people to faint, which undoubtedly added to
21:16the casualties. People stuck inside when the fire started. People stuck inside because they can't
21:23breathe. 67 people died in the fire and over 200 were injured, and club owner Waisuk Setsawat
21:30was eventually sentenced to three years in prison. The Riverfront Coliseum Disaster
21:36Iconic rock band The Who embarked on a world tour in 1979, this being their first since the passing of
21:43drummer Keith Moon. Just after we lost Keith Moon, we were a wounded animal. I have to say that we
21:50weren't playing at our best. On the night of December 3rd, the band was scheduled to play in
21:54Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum. Despite a sizable crowd waiting outside the venue, only two doors were
22:01open to permit entry. And 18,000 kids were supposed to go through two turnstiles and show a ticket at
22:08a
22:08who concert as if they're going to do that in an orderly manner. To make matters worse, the crowd
22:14then heard a soundcheck from outside and believed that the band was starting earlier than expected.
22:19This resulted in a panicked surge towards the two open doors and 11 people were killed in the crush.
22:26Regardless, the concert went on as planned, and the band were not told of the tragedy that occurred
22:41outside. The Al Rosa Villa Show. Often considered one of the best metal guitarists ever, Dimebag Daryl
22:48found enormous success playing with Pantera. He also formed a short-lived band called Damage Plant,
23:01who were performing in Columbus's Al Rosa Villa nightclub on the night of December 8th, 2004.
23:07Shortly after the first song began, a fan rushed the stage and shot Dimebag Daryl multiple times with
23:13a 9mm pistol. Various people attempted to help him and stop the shooter, but they were also killed.
23:19Three people, not including the gunman, died in the shooting. This includes the band's head of
23:25security, an employee of the venue, and a fan who hopped onto the stage. The shooter then took
23:30drum tech John Brooks hostage, but he was killed by a responding police officer before more deaths
23:36could occur. The Manchester Arena Incident. On the night of May 22, 2017, pop star Ariana Grande was
23:45performing in England's Manchester Arena. The concert went off without a hitch and finished a few minutes
23:51before 10.30. At exactly 10.31, as the massive crowd was filing out of the venue, a bomb weighing
23:5866
23:58pounds exploded in the arena's foyer. I think everybody has a right to take a sharp intake of
24:03breath and think, oh my goodness, so much went wrong. 22 innocent people were killed in the blast,
24:09and over a thousand were injured. Countless more suffered severe psychological trauma after witnessing
24:15the bombing and its aftermath. The incident was linked to an Islamic terrorist who also died in
24:21the explosion. The bomber's brother helped source the explosives and was later convicted on 22 counts
24:26of murder, resulting in life imprisonment. Puckle Pop 2011. The summer of 2011 was a bad time for
24:45concert tragedies. Just five days after the Indiana State Fair tragedy, the Belgian festival Puckle Pop
24:52was struck by torrential rain and high winds reaching up to 106 miles per hour. Around 60,000 people were
24:58thought to be at the three-day event that was hit by a storm. The storm carved a large swath
25:03of damage,
25:04like uprooting trees, destroying tents and knocking down light towers. 140 people were injured in the
25:11destruction and four people died at the scene. A fifth later passed away in the hospital. It caved in
25:17at the middle and people screamed and ran and everyone was just running away. The combined Indiana
25:24and Puckle Pop incidents resulted in an international uproar, with many people calling for stricter
25:29regulations for outdoor concerts. The Astroworld Crush. Inaugurated on November 17, 2018,
25:37the Astroworld Festival was created by Travis Scott and held annually in Houston's NRG Park. Astroworld's
25:44third iteration occurred in 2021, with the 2020 event being canceled due to COVID. Scott took the
25:51stage at 9.02 p.m. on the night of November 5th, causing people to rush the stage in an
25:56attempt to
25:56get a better view of the rapper. Officials say there were nearly 50,000 at Friday's Astroworld Festival,
26:02headlined by founder and rapper Travis Scott. When the crowd began to surge toward the front of the stage,
26:08pushing fans to the ground and crushing others at the outdoor venue. This resulted in a slow crowd
26:13crush that lasted approximately one hour. Attendees desperately tried to get the attention of security
26:19and even Scott himself. But all these pleas were either ignored or missed and the show continued.
26:26Usually like whenever someone falls in that crowd, like they help them up. But in this case,
26:30like I was on the floor, like screaming for help and trying to reach for people's hands so they could
26:34see me and no one would see me. Ten people died from compressive asphyxiation,
26:38while a further 300 were injured. The 2017 Las Vegas attack. On October 1st, 2017,
26:47the United States experienced its deadliest mass shooting by a single gunman. And it occurred on the
26:52Las Vegas Strip during the Route 91 Harvest Festival. We were laying down on the floor. I didn't know to
26:58get up, to run, to stay, to duck. The gunman opened fire from the nearby Mandalay Bay, firing well over
27:05a
27:05thousand rounds into the massive crowd below. Hundreds of people were injured from the shooting.
27:10And 58 died either at the scene or in the immediate aftermath. It was very scary at the time. And
27:17then
27:17I got my wife up as I got her up. Two guys came running by that were carrying a girl
27:22or somebody that
27:24was all bloody and it looked like they had been shot. Two others died years later from their injuries,
27:28bringing the official death toll to 60. The shooting resulted in a national discussion about gun rights.
27:34And eventually led to the banning of bump stocks, which allowed the perp to shoot his rifles in
27:40rapid succession. The Altamont Free Concerts. Just four months after the original Woodstock,
27:46another famous counterculture concert took place, this time on the West Coast.
27:54Called Woodstock West by some, the Altamont Festival hosted the likes of Santana,
27:59Jefferson Airplane, and the Rolling Stones. And security was infamously provided by the Hells
28:06Angels. Unfortunately, the acts were largely overshadowed by the widespread violence that
28:11occurred at the concert. Two people died in a hit-and-run and a third drowned in a canal after
28:19taking LSD. But the most well-known death was that of Meredith Hunter, an audience member who was killed
28:26by a Hells Angel after drawing a revolver. For many, the darkness of Altamont symbolizes the end
28:32of the hippie era. You can't do any more than just ask you, just beg you just to keep it
28:37together.
28:38The Love Parade Disaster. Between 1989 and 2010, Germany hosted a touring dance festival called
28:45Love Parade, which was mostly centered around techno and EDM. With pressure from all sides,
28:51things came to a standstill. The 2010 iteration was taking place in Deuceburg,
28:56a city of about 500,000 in the west of the country. The population of the city ballooned for the
29:02event
29:02as nearly 1.5 million people were thought to have attended the concert. The festival area was only
29:08accessible through one narrow tunnel, which quickly became overcrowded and confined with surging bodies.
29:14If you take the expected maximum capacity as a basis, all the turnstiles together were still not
29:23sufficient. The intense bottleneck soon resulted in a violent crowd crush, with one police officer
29:28calling the situation a living hell. Hundreds were injured and 21 people died, all from crushed ribcages.
29:37The Station Fire. America's deadliest fireworks accident occurred on February 20, 2003,
29:43at The Station, a small nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island. The governor calls this the
29:48fourth worst fatal fire in U.S. history. 462 people were inside the club watching a band called Great
29:55White, when tour manager Daniel Beakley set off a number of stage pyrotechnics. The sparks ignited the
30:02acoustic foam used for soundproofing, and the fire spread at a rapid pace. In just one minute,
30:11thick black smoke had consumed the club. Most people panicked and attempted to escape through
30:16the front doors, resulting in a massive crash that blocked the exit and prevented further escape. In mere
30:23minutes, the club was completely engulfed by flames and 100 people died in the fire.
30:29The Beverly Hills Supper Club Fire. Located in Southgate, Kentucky, was the Beverly Hills Supper
30:35Club, an opulent venue that nevertheless had a number of extreme deficiencies.
30:40The flames were visible in Mount Adams, Ohio, several miles above.
30:46For example, there was an inadequate amount of fire exits, no alarm or sprinkler, faulty wiring,
30:52and piecemeal construction. All this resulted in tragedy on May 28, 1977. The club was overbooked,
31:00containing double the max capacity of 1,500, many of whom were there to watch singer John Davidson
31:06perform. A fire began in the club's ceiling and quickly spread throughout the building.
31:10One of the first firemen on the scene said, I opened the door and people were just on their heads,
31:18literally stacked up one on top of the other. Panic ensued and people were either crushed in
31:23doorways or stuck in dead ends owing to the building's confusing layout. The roof eventually
31:29collapsed and destroyed the club shortly after midnight. A total of 165 people lost their lives.
31:36Do you remember these and other dark moments in live music history? Honor these fans in the comments below.