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49-596: When Riverbend opened in 1984, it was one of only 16 outdoor music amphitheaters in the United States and it helped revive the Cincinnati concert scene. Many concert promoters avoided Cincinnati following the December 3, 1979, Who rock concert tragedy , in which 11 people died at Riverfront Coliseum . The city passed tough crowd control ordinances, which kept major acts away. Despite those factors, promoters gave

98-506: A fluid , with individuals moved about by the pressure of those around them, and shockwaves can pass through the crowd as pressures within the crowd change. This can be highly dangerous, although some people actively seek this experience, such as at rock concerts or football matches, where the excitement, camaraderie, and literally "going with the flow" is for some an essential part of the experience, and activities like dancing and moshing are common. The danger inherent in these conditions

147-532: A 2001 show by Oasis and The Black Crowes were among the shows canceled. The venue's first performance was by Erich Kunzel & The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra , with special guests Ella Fitzgerald and Neil Armstrong , on July 4, 1984. The British group the Spice Girls played a show, during the North American leg of their Spiceworld Tour , on July 18, 1998. On July 4, 2000, The Pops performed

196-407: A crowd can become so packed that people are crushed together to such an extent they can no longer breathe and are asphyxiated. Such crowd crushes can occur when a moving crowd is funneled into a smaller and smaller space, when it meets an obstacle (such as a dead end, or a locked door), or when an already densely packed crowd has an influx of people, causing a pressure wave toward those at the front of

245-479: A crowd has swept over them where they have lain. It is believed that most major crowd disasters can be prevented by simple crowd management strategies. Crushes can be prevented by organization and traffic control, such as barriers. On the other hand, barriers in some cases may funnel the crowd toward an already-packed area, such as in the Hillsborough disaster. Hence barriers can be a solution in preventing or

294-403: A crush is inexperienced security officers who assume that people's behaviour in a dense crowd is voluntary and dangerous, and start applying force or preventing people from moving in certain directions. In the 1989 Hillsborough disaster , some police and stewards were so concerned with what they saw as possible hooliganism that they took actions that actually made matters worse. There is risk of

343-416: A crush when crowd density exceeds about five people per square meter. For a person in a crowd a signal of danger, and a warning to get out of the crowd if possible, is the sensation of being touched on all four sides. A later, more serious, warning is when one feels shock waves travelling through the crowd, due to people at the back pushing forward against people at the front with nowhere to go. Keith Still of

392-483: A group of family members of victims and survivors. Daltrey and the families later said the meeting brought a great deal of peace and healing. In 2014, Pearl Jam played in the city and acknowledged the tragedy. They dedicated a cover version of the Who's " The Real Me " to those who died. Pearl Jam had experienced a similar tragedy in 2000, when nine people died in a crush during their concert at Roskilde Festival . On

441-478: A key factor in causing a crush. One problem is lack of feedback from people being crushed to the crowd pressing behind—feedback can instead be provided by police, organizers, or other observers, particularly raised observers, such as on platforms or horseback, who can survey the crowd and use loudspeakers to communicate and direct a crowd. In some cases it may be possible to take simple measures such as spreading movements out over time. A factor that may contribute to

490-844: A large group of people all try to get away from a perceived risk to life. One study has calculated that there were 232 deaths and over 66,000 injuries in the ten years between 1992 and 2002 as a result of such incidents, but crowd scientists believe that such casualties are both vastly under-reported and increasing in frequency. One estimate is that only one in ten crowd injuries occurring in doorbuster sales are reported, while many, if not most, injuries at rock concerts go unreported. The average individual occupies an oval floorspace approximately 30 by 60 cm (1 by 2 ft), or 0.18 square metres (2 sq ft) and at densities of one to two per square metre (0.1 to 0.2/sq ft) individuals can move freely without contact. Even if people are moving quickly, at this density one can avoid obstacles, and

539-410: A pair of doors at the far right of the main entrance were finally opened. As concertgoers entered the stadium through these two open doors, those waiting in front of all of the other doors began pushing forward again. After a short period of waiting and then knocking on the doors and the glass next to the doors, the crowd assumed that none of the remaining doors would be opened. At about 7:15 p.m.,

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588-556: A part of their North American "The Who Hits Back" tour, with the event moved from BB&T Arena to TQL Stadium . It was the first time the band had played in Cincinnati since the incident in 1979. Students from Finneytown High School were booked to play and sing alongside the band for a portion of the concert. The concert's opening act was Safe Passage, a local band featuring members of the Finneytown High School Class of 1979, and two of its members had attended

637-405: A second-season episode of WKRP in Cincinnati called " In Concert ". It also inspired scenes in the film Pink Floyd – The Wall , whose 1982 premiere was attended by the Who's Pete Townshend . In 2004, the city of Cincinnati permanently repealed its long-standing ban on unassigned seating, two years after temporarily making an exception for a Bruce Springsteen concert. The goal of lifting

686-585: A separate WCPO news broadcast marked the first time that Daltrey and Townshend had ever conducted interviews solely about the Cincinnati disaster. In 2019, the Who announced plans for a Cincinnati-area performance in April 2020, to be held at the BB&;T Arena at Northern Kentucky University , although the concert was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic . Pete Townshend said in a documentary which aired on

735-521: A stampede. People don't die because they panic. They panic because they are dying". Paul Torrens, a professor at the Center for Geospatial Information Science at the University of Maryland , remarks that "the idea of the hysterical mass is a myth". Incidents involving crowds are often reported by media as the results of panic. However, the scientific literature has explained how panic is a myth which

784-705: A total of seven dates split between the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey and Madison Square Garden in New York City . The tour was their first following the 1978 death of drummer Keith Moon and the first to feature former Small Faces drummer Kenney Jones as Moon's official replacement. The band then took some time off, and resumed the tour on November 30 at the auditorium of the Detroit Masonic Temple . The Cincinnati concert

833-554: Is a loaded word as it apportions blame to the victims for behaving in an irrational, self-destructive, unthinking and uncaring manner, it's pure ignorance, and laziness ... It gives the impression that it was a mindless crowd only caring about themselves, and they were prepared to crush people. In virtually all situations it is usually the authorities to blame for poor planning, poor design, poor control, poor policing and mismanagement. Edwin Galea, professor of fire safety engineering at

882-467: Is that the crowd will collapse in on itself or become so densely packed that individuals are crushed and asphyxiated. A crowd collapse occurs when a crowd is so dense that each individual is touching others all around and is, to an extent, supported by those around. This can occur whether the crowd is moving or stationary. If a person then falls, the support to those around is lost, while the pressure from those further out remains, causing people to fall into

931-453: Is used to mislead the attention of the public from the real causes of crowd incidents, such as a crowd crush. In crowd collapse and crush incidents the most common cause of death is asphyxiation , caused either by vertical stacking, as people fall on top of one another, or by horizontal stacking, where people are crushed together or against an unyielding barrier. Victims can also exhibit fractures due to pressure, or trampling injuries, when

980-673: The Mayhem Festival , Ozzfest , Projekt Revolution , The Horde Festival and the Vans Warped Tour .Also, in 1995, The Alan Parsons Project played live. Gulf and western singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett played at Riverbend every year from 1988 to 2022. As of his 2008 appearance, he had performed for 41 consecutive sell-out crowds. There are only two other venues at which he played more shows ( Comcast Center and Merriweather Post Pavilion ). His following in Cincinnati started at Kings Island 's Timberwolf Amphitheater, where

1029-406: The University of Greenwich , England The term " stampede " is usually used in reference to animals that are fleeing a threat. Stampede events that involve humans are extremely rare and are unlikely to be fatal. According to Keith Still, professor of crowd science at Manchester Metropolitan University , "If you look at the analysis, I've not seen any instances of the cause of mass fatalities being

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1078-487: The 1979 event. The episode, "The City Whose Name Must Not Be Spoken", showcases the "roadies" of a fictional band completing many rituals after someone on the tour bus mentions Cincinnati. On the 40th anniversary of the tragedy in December 2019, Cincinnati television station WCPO aired the documentary The Who: The Night That Changed Rock about the incident and its aftermath, which featured interviews from survivors, family members, Daltrey, and Townshend. The documentary and

1127-513: The Fire Safety Engineering Group, University of Greenwich, said "Be aware of your surroundings. Look ahead. Listen to the crowd noise. If you start finding yourself in a crowd surge, wait for the surge to come, go with it, and move sideways. Keep moving with it and sideways, with it and sideways." Other recommendations include trying to remain upright, and keeping away from walls and other obstructions if possible. After

1176-482: The P.E.M. Scholarship Fund. Of the 11 people who died that day, three were from Finneytown High School – Stephan Preston, Jackie Eckerle and Karen Morrison. Three scholarships are awarded annually to eligible Finneytown High School seniors who are pursuing higher education in the arts or music at an accredited university or college. In 2018, Roger Daltrey visited the Finneytown High School and met with

1225-605: The Riverfront Coliseum concert. The families of nine of the victims of the disaster were in attendance. Prior to the band taking the stage, a video message from Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder was broadcast in which he recalled how Daltrey and Townshend had comforted him after a fatal crowd crush occurred during his band's 2000 set at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark . During their performance,

1274-437: The Who incorporated several tributes to Cincinnati and the victims at the 1979 concert. The names and photos of the 11 victims were displayed throughout the concert. Photographs of the 11 victims of the 1979 disaster appeared on the venue's video screens as Who keyboardist Loren Gold performed an 11-minute instrumental introduction to " Love, Reign o'er Me ". The band was accompanied by 10 current Finneytown High students during

1323-442: The anniversary of the tragedy, "We need to go back to Cincinnati, you know, we do. As soon as we can. It would be such a joyous occasion for us, and such a healing thing." Townshend also said that he regretted that the band did not stay around to mourn with others at the venue on the night of the tragedy, saying "I'm not forgiving us. We should have stayed." After 43 years, the Who returned to perform in Cincinnati on May 15, 2022, as

1372-527: The ban was to attract more big-name acts. However, the city now mandates there must be nine square feet per person at a venue, and the number of tickets sold for each event is adjusted accordingly. Paul Wertheimer, the city's first Public Information Officer at the time of the tragedy, went on to serve on a task force on crowd control, and later founded Crowd Management Strategies in 1992, a consulting firm based in Los Angeles. In 2009, thirty years after

1421-404: The chance of a crowd-related incident is minimal. Even at three or four people per square meter, the risk is low; however, at densities of five per square meter, it becomes more difficult for individuals to move, and at higher densities of six to seven per square meter, individuals become pressed against each other and can be unable to move voluntarily. At this point a crowd can begin to act like

1470-480: The class action and settled later for an undisclosed amount. Approximately $ 750,000 ($ 2,294,400 today) was to be divided among the 26 injured. The city of Cincinnati also imposed a ban on unassigned festival seating on December 27, 1979, with minor exceptions, for the next 25 years. The incident was the subject of a book, Are the Kids All Right? The Rock Generation and Its Hidden Death Wish , as well as

1519-498: The concert-ending performance of " Baba O'Riley ". Crowd collapses and crushes Crowd collapses and crowd crushes are catastrophic incidents that can occur when a body of people becomes dangerously overcrowded. When numbers are up to about five people per square meter, the environment may feel cramped but manageable; when numbers reach between eight and ten people per square meter, individuals become pressed against each other and may be swept along against their will by

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1568-926: The crowd. In this situation those entering may be unaware of the effect on those in front and continue to press in. Examples of crushes are the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England in 1989, the Love Parade disaster in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany in 2010, the Astroworld Festival crowd crush in Houston, Texas, and the Itaewon Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon, Seoul, South Korea in 2022. Stampede

1617-489: The crowd: "We lost a lot of family last night. This show's for them." Years later, Townshend said he regretted leaving Cincinnati and continuing to tour, remarking on the Buffalo concert "We're in the wrong city. We're in Buffalo." The eleven people who died in the crush were: In Providence, Rhode Island , Mayor Buddy Cianci cancelled a scheduled performance of the Who at the city's Civic Center that same month. This

1666-512: The current box office. The pavilion opened on May 24, 2008 with Cincinnati's Over the Rhine . The band performed their entire Ohio album on the venue's opening night. In January 2009 National City Pavilion became PNC Pavilion due to PNC's purchase of National City bank. 39°03′08″N 84°25′07″W  /  39.052105°N 84.418721°W  / 39.052105; -84.418721 The Who concert disaster The Who concert disaster

1715-444: The dense crowd pushing toward them and died by asphyxiation . Twenty-six other people reported injuries. Fire officials advised Who manager Bill Curbishley to cancel the concert, but he convinced them to allow the show to continue to avoid further panic. The concert went on as planned, with the band members not told of the tragedy until after their performance. Years later, Who guitarist Pete Townshend recalled his feelings after

1764-500: The eve of the 35th anniversary of the tragedy, Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley promised to have a historical marker on the site of the tragedy in 2015. A committee consisting of three concert survivors (Mike Babb, Thomas Brown, Rick Schwitzer) and one family member of victim Teva Ladd (Kasey Ladd) were pivotal in getting the memorial placed. The marker was dedicated at U. S. Bank Arena (as it was then known) on December 3, 2015. The Showtime series Roadies dedicated an entire episode to

1813-613: The first live concert televised from Cincinnati , which aired on PBS , featuring Rosemary Clooney and Doc Severinsen . The Dave Matthews Band performed and recorded their show, on June 26, 2000, which was later released as a live album, entitled Live Trax Vol. 16 . Sting performed during his Symphonicities Tour on July 20, 2010, along with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra . The amphitheatre has also played host to music festivals, including Crüe Fest , Crüe Fest 2 , Curiosa , Lilith Fair , Lollapalooza ,

1862-401: The motion of the crowd. Under these conditions, the crowd may undergo a progressive collapse where the pressure pushes people off their feet, resulting in people being trampled or crushed by the weight of other people falling on top of them. At even higher densities, the pressure on each individual can cause them to be crushed or asphyxiated while still upright. Such incidents are invariably

1911-418: The product of organizational failures, and most major crowd disasters could have been prevented by simple crowd management strategies. Such incidents can occur at large gatherings such as sporting, commercial, social, and religious events. The critical factor is crowd density rather than crowd size. Crowd collapses and crushes are often reported incorrectly as human stampedes , which typically occur when

1960-535: The show; "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." The following night, a lengthy segment on the tragedy aired on the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite examining violence at rock concerts. At the Who's next concert in Buffalo on December 4, lead vocalist Roger Daltrey told

2009-482: The situation began to escalate. Conflicting reports suggested that concertgoers could hear either a very late soundcheck or the Who's film Quadrophenia (1979), in lieu of an opening act. Either way, the crowd assumed that the Who were on earlier than scheduled. At that point, the entire crowd surged and pushed toward the two doors which had been opened. This caused many people to get trampled while some suffered more serious injuries. Eleven people were unable to escape

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2058-429: The summer of 2001, fans in Cincinnati were disappointed when only one show was played. Even though the shows continued to sell out in record breaking time, he only played one show each year from 2001 to 2022. (Buffett died in 2023.) During his two-night stay at Riverbend in 1990, he recorded live songs for the album Feeding Frenzy . Riverbend has built an additional 4,100 seat pavilion, The PNC Pavilion, adjacent to

2107-466: The term " Parrotheads " was coined. Every year after, his concerts sold out in minutes, and was one of the toughest tickets to get in Cincinnati. Because of the sellouts, he played two shows in 1989. As shows continued to sell out, Buffett was one of a few performers who played multiple nights at Riverbend. He played two shows in 1989 and 1990, three in 1991, four in 1992, and a five-night stint in 1993. He continued to play multiple nights through 2000. During

2156-452: The tragedy, rock station WEBN /102.7 aired a retrospective on the event, including clips from news coverage in 1979. The P.E.M. Memorial was created in August 2010 to commemorate the lives of those who died while awaiting entry to the concert. Every first Saturday in December, local musicians perform at the P.E.M. Memorial. The free concert features old and new tunes to raise awareness of

2205-538: The venue a chance and the fans were excited to see acts who had been avoiding the city since 1979. Riverbend was built for $ 9 million on 15 acres (61,000 m) of land donated by Coney Island , a small amusement park. The land was once the site of 2 popular rollercoasters, The Wildcat and Shooting Star, the latter was demolished in 1971. Due to its location next to the Ohio River, parts of the venue can become flooded, canceling shows. A Pearl Jam concert in 2003 and

2254-602: The void. This process is then repeated, causing a bigger void, and will progress until the pressure eases; meanwhile, those who have fallen are at risk of being smothered by the weight of bodies on top or being trampled as the crowd is swept over them. An example of a progressive crowd collapse was the 2015 Mina stampede in Mecca, Saudi Arabia during the Hajj when over 2,400 people were reported to have died. At even higher densities (up to ten people per square metre (0.93/sq ft))

2303-583: Was a crowd disaster that occurred on December 3, 1979, when English rock band the Who performed at Riverfront Coliseum (now known as Heritage Bank Center) in Cincinnati , Ohio, United States, and a rush of concert-goers outside the Coliseum's entry doors resulted in the deaths of 11 people. The Who were in the midst of the United States leg of their 1979 world tour , which began in September with

2352-537: Was despite the fact that the Providence venue had assigned seating. In 2012, the band returned to Providence and honored tickets from the 1979 show. The families of the victims sued the band, concert promoter Electric Factory Concerts , and the city of Cincinnati. The class action suit filed on behalf of ten of the families was settled in 1983, awarding each of the families of the deceased approximately $ 150,000 ($ 458,900 today). The family of Peter Bowes opted out of

2401-504: Was the third show played in this portion of the tour, after a concert the night before at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena . The concert was a sellout, with 18,348 tickets sold. People were originally told through a radio station that General Admission ticket holders would be admitted at 3:00 p.m. and therefore a sizable crowd formed by 5:00 p.m. Although all the doors were expected to be opened simultaneously, only

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