Tragic Moments in Entertainment History

Concerts and live shows provide a wonderful outlet for emotion, allowing people to come together as a collective to experience the energy and artfulness of music, entertainment, and performance. Thousands of concerts happen peacefully around the world every day, with attendees coming away intact and enriched by the experience. Other times, however, terror strikes and disrupts the social agreements of large crowds in tight venues. Throughout the years, certain live shows took a tragic turn.

Not all concert tragedies happen because of bad actors. While incidents like the Bataclan terrorist attack and the Altamont Free Concert were caused by unparalleled violence that became murders, others happened by accident. The majority of tragic live shows were the result of simple fires growing out of control and engulfing ill-equipped venues. Whatever the case, sometimes live shows that start as peaceful result in terrible circumstances. In this article, we will explore some of the live shows that took a tragic turn.(For shows that went remarkably well, explore the most iconic concerts in music history.)

To compile an article about 10 live shows that took a tragic turn, 24/7 Tempo consulted a range of historical, news, and entertainment publications including NBC 26, Rolling Stone, and NPR. Next, we selected live shows that featured a tragic turn of events, be it accidental tramplings, out-of-control fires, or mass shootings. After that, we confirmed aspects of our research using sites like The Cincinnati Enquirer and Forbes Magazine.

When the Altamont Free Concert kicked off, promoters intended it to be California's answer to Woodstock. It drew nearly 300,000 attendees and featured performances from big-name acts like Jefferson Airplane, Santana, and The Rolling Stones. From the start, however, a dark energy hung in the air. Jam band legends The Grateful Dead were also slated to perform but pulled out at the last minute citing the aggressive atmosphere. The concert sealed its fate after hiring the Hells Angels motorcycle gang as the venue's security.

As the show progressed, pockets of violence sprung up. Two people died in a hit-and-run accident while another drowned in a nearby irrigation canal. For their part, the Hells Angels relied on broken pool cues to administer punishment to unruly crowd members. As seen in the documentary about the incident, "Gimme Shelter," the crowd begins to swirl in chaos with outcroppings of violence as The Rolling Stones perform. While performing "Sympathy for the Devil," numerous fights near the stage caused the band to stop playing.

The violence came to an apex during the Stones' performance of their song "Under My Thumb." That's when a Hells Angels member stabbed an attendee named Meredith Hunter during the band's set. Chaos followed as the show came to an abrupt close, with scores of injuries, cars being stolen, and extensive property damage occurring. Considered a symbol of the Summer of Love's fading luster, Rolling Stone magazine called it "rock and roll's all-time worst day, December 6th, a day when everything went perfectly wrong."

Exactly 13 years ago, a country music concert became one of the live shows that took a tragic turn. Weather was fierce in the Indianapolis area then, with a heavy thunderstorm hammering the city area. Nevertheless, thousands of fans braved the weather and headed to the Indianapolis fairgrounds to see country music band Sugarland play. As the weather worsened, the show's promoters considered canceling the performance.

They figured it was too late to accomplish this, however, so the show went on. While Sugarland waited in their tour bus for the opening act Sara Bareilles to finish singing, tragedy struck. A wind gust from the incoming thunderstorm hit the stage's temporary roof. In short order, the roof collapsed.

It landed among the first couple rows of spectators, killing seven people and injuring 58 others. A later investigation reported that the concrete barriers affixed to the guy lines holding the roof shifted and brought the structure down. A few years later a lawsuit brought forth resulted in a $50 million payout to said defendants by the State of Indiana.

Amid the Fruitvale neighborhood in Oakland, California, sat the Ghost Ship. Though the building was once a warehouse, its owner leased the property to Derick Almena and Nicholas Bouchard to "build and create theatrical sets and offer workshops for community outreach." As such, the empty warehouse transformed into an informal artists collective. Though it ostensibly served as a mixed-use working space for artists, the managers began illegally subletting living space on the first floor to artists for an attractive price compared to nearby apartment buildings. At the same time, Almena told residents to keep the illegal sublets a secret, a statement he repeated to police at different times throughout the years.

On Dec. 2, 2016, the managers hosted an electronic music concert in the building. Not long after, a fire erupted somewhere in the building, and within minutes, it spread across the concert area, causing attendees to flee in panic. A lack of easy exits and piles of objects like furniture prevented people from getting out of the building. By the time firefighters extinguished the blaze, 36 people were dead.

Due to habitual skirting of fire codes and building regulations, faulty wiring, and flammable objects nailed to practically every surface of the building, the fire was able to spread unimpeded. In the aftermath, purveyors Almena and Harris faced trial. While Harris was eventually acquitted, Almena received a 12-year prison sentence. Ultimately, the City of Oakland settled with victims and agreed to pay $33 million in settlements. Later, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company settled another lawsuit with victims for an undisclosed amount.

On the night of Dec. 8, 2004, fans eagerly awaited Damageplan to take the stage at Alrosa Villa Nightclub in Columbus, Ohio. The band featured legendary metal musicians and brothers "Dimebag Darrell" Abbott and Vinnie Paul Abbott. Amid their opening song, 25-year-old Nathan Gale rushed the stage and fired off multiple shots from his pistol. Dimebag Darrell died instantly, along with the band's head of security, Jeffrey "Mayhem" Thompson. A nightclub staff member and two fans also died in the chaos as they attempted to protect the band, with three others being injured.

Police arrived quickly, and within three minutes of the shooting, police killed Gale and neutralized the scene. Some commentators suggested the shooter's motive was resentment over the breakup of Dimebag Darrell's previous band Pantera. Others pointed to Gale's discharge from the Marines due to paranoid schizophrenia.

His true motive, however, remains unknown. In response to the tragedy, an outpouring of fans, fellow metal musicians, and publications paid tribute to Darrell and the senseless loss of life. Many also called for increased security at concerts to prevent a mass shooting like this from happening again. (For other famous deaths, discover celebrity deaths marked by violence.)

When The Who embarked on its 1979 World Tour, the band was already reeling from tragedy. It was the first run of performances after the death of the band's drummer, Keith Moon. Upon finishing the first leg of their world tour, they headed to Ohio to play at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati. A radio broadcast informed attendees that ticketholders would be admitted by 3 p.m. By 5 p.m., however, a sizeable crowd had formed with no doors yet opened. Finally, a single pair of doors opened, and fans rushed through the tiny entrance.

By 7:15 p.m., chaos erupted. Fans mistook either a very late soundcheck or a video screening of The Who's "Quadrophenia" for the band itself. In response, hundreds surged towards the two open doors. This caused dozens of people to be trampled in the crowd surge. Eleven were crushed by the pushing crowd and died of asphyxiation. Another 26 were injured in the throng of surging fans.

Fire officials advised The Who's manager to cancel the show. Hoping to avoid further panic, however, the manager kept the ship sailing. The Who took the stage unaware of the incident, only to be told after they finished performing. When asked about the tragedy a few years later, guitarist Pete Townsend said, "I went through two phases. One was, of course, tremendous upset and concern. But the other was incredible anger that we had been performing while this was going on."

Gulliver's Restaurant Inc. sat at a unique spot halfway between Westchester County, New York, and Fairfield County, Connecticut. Since the drinking age was still 18 in Connecticut but New York had a later last call, the spot attracted throngs of young crowds looking to drink well into the night. In many ways, Gulliver's functioned like a miniature city. It featured a bar, restaurant, lounge, discotheque, retail shops, and most pertinently, a bowling alley that took up half the building.

On the night of June 30, 1974, the rock band Creation performed in front of a 200-person crowd. They stopped playing after a waitress told them she smelled smoke. The band urged attendees to leave in an orderly fashion but the growing smoke cut the lights out. In response, the crowd panicked and surged toward the stairs leading to the main level. The stairway was tight, however, and people piled up at the steps attempting to escape. In the end, 24 people died from the fire, including the band's keyboardist and lead singer.

Due to the building's setup and the intense fire, firefighters struggled to breach the building for hours. Though no one is quite sure exactly where the fire started, some suggested it started somewhere along the wall between the discotheque and the adjoining bowling alley. A later investigation resulted in the arrest of 22-year-old Peter J. Leonard. Authorities said Leonard set the fire himself in an attempt to cover up his burglary of the bowling alley. In the fallout, Leonard received a 15-year sentence. Furthermore, lawyers representing eight victims served the city of Greenwich with a notice of claim for $16 million.

For years, The Station Nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, hosted various '80s rock bands that used pyrotechnics for their performances. These pyrotechnic show additions often went off without a hitch. On the night of Feb. 20, 2003, however, the nightclub played host to one of the live shows that took a tragic turn. Jack Russell's Great White, an offshoot of the original Great White band, took the stage. Shortly after the band began performing its song "Desert Moon," their tour manager set off a pyrotechnics display.

Within seconds, the pyrotechnics ignited the surrounding acoustic foam. Though many people thought the fire was part of the act, by the time it spread to the roof, panic set in. The band left the stage as fire spread through the building. Since the nightclub didn't have sprinklers installed, smoke quickly filled the venue. Within six minutes, flames completely engulfed the building. Attendees rushed towards the main entrance but piled up in the narrow hallway. Others attempted to flee through side doors but security guards blocked their exit. Within an hour, a portion of the nightclub's roof collapsed. Of the 400 people in the venue, 100 died, with 230 more injured.

The fallout from the incident was immense. A National Institute of Standards and Technology investigation found the building had failed several fire inspections in previous months. A subsequent grand jury investigation resulted in indictments against The Station Nightclub owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, as well as Great White road manager Daniel M. Biechele. Derderian and Biechele received 15 years in prison. By 2008, over $115 million in settlements had been paid or offered to victim's families. The tragedy also resulted in increased venue safety measures in the form of tentative interim amendments and Congressional legislation called the Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act.

During the 1977 Memorial Day Weekend, a performance at the Beverly Hills Supper Club became one of the live shows that took a tragic turn. For better or worse, the venue had quite the history. It functioned as a popular nightlife spot and illegal gambling house as far back as 1926. In 1971, it reopened under new management as a more professional venue to attract top-notch talent acts. Its growth and popularity caused its owners to construct several additions, service areas, and other rooms to the complex. This resulted in a sprawling, labyrinthine facility lacking an easy emergency exit. Though the building's frame was classified as noncombustible, wood materials were used for various parts of the venue. Furthermore, the building lacked a fire sprinkler system.

On Saturday, May 28, 1977, popular singer and actor John Davidson performed to a beyond-capacity crowd. Though the building could legally hold about 600 people, an estimated 1,6000 people packed the venue that night. Around 9 p.m., employees discovered a fire in another part of the building. When they went to retrieve fire extinguishers, however, they opened a door, allowing the fire to use the oxygen gust as fuel and spread throughout the facility. Quickly, power failed in the building, the lights shut off, and people panicked. The maze-like design of the Supper Club caused many attendees to pile up in various doorways. By 11:30 pm, the building collapsed. In the next few days of cleanup, firefighters began retrieving bodies.

It was the seventh-largest nightclub fire in history, killing 162 people and injuring more than 200. In the aftermath, attorney Stanley Chesley raised millions of dollars in class action lawsuits for victims. Furthermore, these cases became the first lawsuits to use the concept of "enterprise liability" as a cause for litigation.

For multiple years in a row, popular rapper and singer Travis Scott hosted the Astroworld Festival at NRG Park in Houston. For the 2021 edition of the festival, management company Live Nation expected 100,000 attendees. This number was brought down to 50,000, however, due to safety concerns. These concerns extended to logistical problems including inadequate facilities, a maze-like venue layout, and a concerning staff-to-attendee ratio.

When Scott took the stage on the night of Nov. 5, the crowd rushed toward the stage. In the process, the surging mass of people caused a crushing and trampling of numerous attendees. This led to the deaths of 10 people, with 25 more hospitalized and hundreds injured. Though the crowd showed serious panic and gave warnings of the ensuing trampling, the show continued unabated. The small selection of staff and security became overwhelmed and unable to control the growing crowd surge.

In the aftermath, Scott and Live Nation faced extensive criticism for their handling of the incident. Despite previous violent incidents at Scott's concerts, investigators found the lack of security coordination and a paltry event-operations plan contributed to the tragedy. Numerous lawsuits were brought against the organizers, with some being settled for undisclosed amounts. For his part, Travis Scott came away unscathed. A Texas grand jury declined to charge him or anyone associated with organizing the concert. Over the years, the dark imagery of Scott's music and the Astroworld concert decorations have led to numerous conspiracy theories regarding his role in the incident.

On Friday, Nov. 13, 2015, a series of coordinated terrorist attacks occurred in Paris and its surrounding suburbs. These attacks also resulted in one of the live shows that took a tragic turn. While the American rock band The Eagles of Death Metal played to an audience of 1,500 people at the Bataclan Theatre, three gunmen arrived. First, they shot people outside before storming the theatre and opening fire on the crowd.

Chaos erupted, with rows of people mowed down by the hail of bullets. The lights quickly went out, with only flashes of gunfire illuminating the darkness. After the initial barrage, the gunmen took 20 survivors hostage and corraled them into an adjoining room. Soon after, an elite police response team entered the theatre and began negotiations with the gunmen. Those negotiations soured quickly and the police stormed the room as the gunmen attempted to use hostages as human shields. Fortunately, the police managed to kill the gunmen and save all the hostages. In the end, 90 people died, with hundreds more being injured.

The shooting occurred in tandem with two other attacks on various locations throughout Paris. Police later identified Foued Mohamed-Aggad, 23; Ismaël Omar Mostefaï, 29; and Samy Amimour, 28, as the attackers. The day after the incident, Islamic terrorist group ISIL claimed responsibility for the attacks. The fallout from the Bataclan and related attacks resulted in a widespread outpouring of public support, increased state security, and military airstrikes in Syrian cities where ISIL was based. (For celebrities who turned violent, discover 24 famous people who have killed people.)