The fire rages on...end of part one of Great White tragedy

[rockfan]

The band's manager is sentenced to 4 yrs.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060511/ap_ ... tclub_fire

[Rebecca]

"'What do you think of your son now?' Patricia Belanger shouted to Biechele's mother. Belanger, who lost her 30-year-old daughter, Dina Ann DeMaio, told reporters afterward: 'Now it's her turn to suffer, just like we've been suffering because of her son.'"


Geeeez lady. Get therapy or something. Screaming at someone's mom in the courtroom is not the answer to your problems.

[Sybil]

There is no option for "all of the above". This was an unbelievable tragedy, and I think everyone was to blame. I was shocked when I saw the pictures and saw that they were using pyrotechnics in that tiny club - what in the world were they thinking? Bad judgement all the way around, you might even say criminally bad judgement.

Sybil

[mr_j]

what sybil said. also, i think that the fans should have had some sense to realize what was going down wasn't part of the show. apparently, from reports i heard, people thought 'oh, the fire, it's part of the show,' and didn't make their way out of the club ASAP. some did, though. (not that i'm suggesting it's their fault they died. but come on! a burning sheet is NOT a part of the show!)

[ree-ree]

There is no option for "all of the above". This was an unbelievable tragedy, and I think everyone was to blame. I was shocked when I saw the pictures and saw that they were using pyrotechnics in that tiny club - what in the world were they thinking? Bad judgement all the way around, you might even say criminally bad judgement.

Sybil

I agree.
The clip says it all. Everyone should have been experienced/old enough to know better than to set off pyrotechnics inside that small space.

[Irock]

from reports i heard, people thought 'oh, the fire, it's part of the show,'

I didn't hear that, but I did hear there were padlocked emergency exits, so even if they had started to run...

I think the city played a role too; that place was unsafe even without pyrotechnics and shouldn't have been allowed to operate in the condition the building was in.

[ree-ree]

I didn't hear that, but I did hear there were padlocked emergency exits, so even if they had started to run...

I think the city played a role too; that place was unsafe even without pyrotechnics and shouldn't have been allowed to operate in the condition the building was in.

Very true.
Right around the same time there was a stampede for the exits in a club in Chicago (security sprayed teargas to break up a fight) and most of the exits were locked or blocked. It was horrible. Bodies piled up and crushed. Ridiculous. The building manager had been cited many times but the problems were ignored. So many of these places are tragedies waiting to happen.

[sam]

We actually have nightclub fires to thank for a great deal of the current life safety codes.

http://boston.about.com/cs/bostonnightl ... _grove.htm

[James]

Great White is simply not a good enough band to not have a gimmick. For a lot of these hair metal hang ons, it's always been fire. There's not a lot of brains left in the heads of these individuals due to years of drugs and the rocknroll lifestyle. It was a sad incident indeed, and at the end of the day, the manager is responsible for it because he's the one that is supposed to jump in and say "this is stupid. this is not going to happen in a club of this size. it's too dangerous." A lot of people lost their lives because that didn't happen.

I've always appreciated bands like Pearl Jam who do it with their songs. And maybe a few lights. But mostly just their songs. They put it all out there with every performance, and they give me hope that there are a few bands that are still all about the music.

[rockfan]

I guess I should have thought of all of the above, but in the end, managers are supposed to protect bands and fans. But, the owners most likely knew that the foam they used was not firesafe. Anyhow, it's a lesson to stay cautious in small clubs where anything can happen.