DECEMBER 3, "The Who" Concert Tragedy

  On the evening of today's date - December 3, in 1979 at Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum the press of concert-goers outside of the entry doors to a  show being performed by the British rock group  called "the Who" pushed forward with enough force to cause the death of 11 people who were trampled by the crowd.  23 other people sustained injuries in a situation so chaotic  that the concert was performed to the end, before the band members were even told of the deaths.

The Crowd Began Gathering Early

   "The Who" was on on the late part of a successful world tour which had taken them to Detroit and Pittsburgh in the days before their Cincinnati appearance at the Riverfront Coliseum (which is now called the Heritage Bank Arena).  The event seemed to be a success from the monetary side. 18, 348 tickets had been sold. The vast majority of these had been "General Admission" or "Festival Seating' which meant that instead of being actual seats with numbers on them, they were in the large open floor area directly in front of the stage.  And the spots where one stood were of course on a "first come first serve" basis. The Concert had been scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. but by 7:00 the crowd waiting to enter which had been gathering since about 5:00 had grown to about 8,000. By 7:00 only two of the doors had been opened at the far right of the main entrance area. Why the late opening and of only two doors is something which I've not been able to discover.

The "Stampede" Begins.....

  Then at about 7:15, "the Who's" "Quadrophenia" movie began playing as an opening to the concert. At this point, the crowd appeared to think that the band had started the concert early.   So the situation quickly became dangerous when the entire crowd thinking that they were missing the concert began to surge toward the two open doors in a way that left some people being pushed to the ground and being literally crushed under the forward  force of the crowd's movement.  At total of eleven people who were unable to tear themselves away were knocked to the ground or simply crushed by the  pushing and died of asphyxiation. Other people recalled being lifted off the ground and being carried along as if by a wave of the ocean. Some felt themselves being moved horizontally in and on top of the crowd. In some reports such as the Enquirer it was called a "stampede." The Concert did actually go on as planned as those who were inside had gotten there without knowing about the mob scene outside. The members of the band did't know of the chaos outside, and were not told of it until after the concert's end. In fact Cincinnati Safety Director Richard Castellini had thought of cancelling the Concert until he heard that the problem was on the outside, not in the arena itself.

In the Aftermath of the Chaos

   There was much to discover in the aftermath, but few people willing to take responsibility. Lt. Dale Menkhaus, who was in charge of the 25 man policemen who were assigned to police the event could see early on what a problem the crowd was turning into. He told one of the

concert promoters that more doors needed to be opened,  but was told that the doors couldn't be opened until the sound check was over. And coliseum officials who had been told that more doors needed to be opened wouldn't comment on why more doors weren't opened.  Some local TV news outlets described it as a drug crazed mob when it was obviously just too many people being squeezed through only a couple of open doors. The band when they were told of the deaths were obviously enough stunned and horrified. When they began a concert in  Buffalo the following night, band leader Roger Daltry said;  "We lost a lot of family last night. This show's for them." The city of Cincinnati also placed a ban on "Festival" seating on December 27, 1979, which, with minor exceptions, remained in place for the next 25 years. The families of the victims sued the band, the concert promoter and the city of Cincinnati. The suits were settled in 1983, awarding each of the families of the deceased @ $150,000, and roughly $750,000 to be divided among the 26 injured.

  Who or what was responsible for their lost lives? The idea of "festival seating" which crammed too many people into such a restricted spot? Was it whomever kept all but two of the doors closed, and why? Was it not having enough security personnel on handle such a huge crowd? We'll likely never have an answer.


Below is a list of those who were killed that night, along with their age, and hometowns:

Walter Adams, Jr., aged 22, Trotwood
Peter Bowes, aged 18, Wyoming, Ohio
Connie Sue Burns, aged 21, Miamisburg
Jacqueline Eckerle, aged 15, Finneytown
David Heck, aged 19, Highland Heights, Kentucky
Teva Rae Ladd, aged 27, Newtown
Karen Morrison, aged 15, Finneytown
Stephan Preston, aged 19, Finneytown
Philip Snyder, aged 20, Franklin
Bryan Wagner, aged 17, Fort Thomas, Kentucky
James Warmoth, aged 21, Franklin

May they all rest in peace.


Sources =

 https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2019/12/02/who-concert-tragedy-40-years-ago-stampede-kills-11-persons-coliseum-rock-concert/2590113001/

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/rock-roll-tragedy-why-11-died-at-the-whos-cincinnati-concert-93437/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Who_concert_disaster