Scores feared dead in RI club fire

[Michael K.]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=519&e=2&u=/ap/20030221/ap_on_re_us/nightclub_fire

I was going to write something about the pointlessness of losing your life at a Great White concert, but that's too much of a cheap, easy laugh: this is simply horrifying. There is just nothing of the club left, going by the aerial shots on TV, and they are expecting the death toll to rise over 50.
Upon first hearing 'Fire at a Providence club' I immediately thought "Lupo's?": can't say I had ever been to The Station. Perhaps someone here has.

Great White's lead singer got out (they're going to have quotes from him on MSNBC in a moment) but the guitarist is still missing.

[capt. america]

i was born and raised in warwick. i've never been to the club but i know a lot of people who have. they usually had a bunch of 80's leftover bands playing there. i just hope that they can find more survivors.

[Dr. Wankler]

My wife and I are in Newport dealing with family matters, and we had a scare when we saw the TV this morning (it's all the Providence stations are showing) because her sister went to Warwick to visit a friend last night, and that's the kind of show her friend might've gone to. We're lucky, since they were nowhere near the club.

They have video footage of pyrotechnics in this low-ceilinged place, and the back of the stage catches fire. The place went up in a flash. There were no sprinklers, as the place was small enough that they weren't mandated.

Local news reports that there is a possibility of a criminal investigation to determine whether the band or the management (or both) are responsible, as no permit was issued for the pyro.

Also, a local metal station may have lost a DJ, who was hosting the event.

[3stripe]

did it say how the fire was started?

[Dante]

Originally posted by 3stripe
did it say how the fire was started?

Read the article, the link was provided.

Pyrotechnics...

[Michael K.]

Originally posted by 3stripe
did it say how the fire was started?

Pyrotechnics.

As far as the threat of possible legal action against the owner of the club, it's been reported that the owner is a big time television reporter up around those parts (can't remember his name).

Death toll up to 54.

[capt. america]

i can't believe there was a cameraman in there, how bizzare. the pyro went off and all of a sudden the soundproof foam caught behind the stage. it was small at first and you can see the bass player looking in astonishment and then within 30 seconds the place was filled with smoke as you see the cameraman trying to get out. then the place just went up real fast. people broke windows to get out. it was horrifying.

[obie]

Really terrible scene, but frankly I'm surprised that this sort of thing doesn't happen more. They apparently had no permit to run pyro at the club, no pyro technician, and no sprinkler system.

Side note: NPR reported this as a fire at a concert of "heavy metal group Great White", which made me wonder if there was another band called Great White out there somewhere.

[Ugluk]

The irony is that they're saying a reporter was there for a piece about clubs because of the club incident in Chicago. He ended up with a bigger story than anyone wanted.

[Michael K.]

Originally posted by obie
Really terrible scene, but frankly I'm surprised that this sort of thing doesn't happen more. They apparently had no permit to run pyro at the club, no pyro technician, and no sprinkler system.


Might this be the end of ALL pyro at shows, at least at any venue smaller than an arena?
I'd bet there will be a movement for that post haste, in Rhode Island if nowhere else.

[RevFan17]

Originally posted by capt. america
i can't believe there was a cameraman in there, how bizzare. the pyro went off and all of a sudden the soundproof foam caught behind the stage. it was small at first and you can see the bass player looking in astonishment and then within 30 seconds the place was filled with smoke as you see the cameraman trying to get out. then the place just went up real fast. people broke windows to get out. it was horrifying.

Yeah, I'm over in East Providence. Very weird.

Channel 12 had a cameraman in the club doing a piece on crowded clubs and safety (based on the Chicago club tragedy last week) and then this ends up happening and he gets it all on film. Irony just oozing out of that.

I guess the band / club didn't have a permit for the pyrotechnics - I'm sure there will be more info. coming in later

[obie]

Originally posted by Michael K.
Might this be the end of ALL pyro at shows, at least at any venue smaller than an arena?
I'd bet there will be a movement for that post haste, in Rhode Island if nowhere else. There will be a knee-jerk reaction to this as there always is, but in the long-term and nationally I'm not sure. There are laws in place that the band & the venue broke. The issue is not necessarily pyro, it's knowing how to use it safely. In an extreme example, Rammstein sets off enough explosives to blow up a small city every night and they've never killed anyone. The difference is that they apparently have more technicians for their pyro than for their music. (Insert obligatory Rammstein music joke here)

[SportBoy321]

Why is pyro really needed for club shows. It should only be used at stadiums and arenas.

[LeperKhan]

There was a similar fire at a club here in Minneapolis just a couple days age where a band's pyrotechnics caught the ceiling on fire. Apparently no one at the club knew the band planned to set anything off. Fortunately in that instance there were sprinklers in place, and everyone got out safely, although the interior of the club was pretty much completely destroyed.

[ross from st paul]

yeah, LK, i was very happy to see that no one was hurt. i really can't stand the fine line, though, so i can't convince myself it's any huge loss (the entry or the 400 being damaged...THOSE would be huge losses!).
still, i don't understand the need for pyro, either. seems just a flimsy excuse to distract short-attention-spans from the fact that your music sucks.....

[3stripe]

Originally posted by Dante
Read the article, the link was provided.


i have the flu. sorry for being lazy.

[BlueMeanie]

Originally posted by obie
There will be a knee-jerk reaction to this as there always is, but in the long-term and nationally I'm not sure. There are laws in place that the band & the venue broke. The issue is not necessarily pyro, it's knowing how to use it safely.
IMHO, the issue is communication between club managers, promoters and band managers. There's no way the band should have been able to set off pyro without the club knowing they were going to do so. Great White had apparently been doing just that all tour.

I agree with you that there may be a kneejerk overreaction at first, but in the long run what I see being impacted the most is wording in the venue-artist contracts.

It's up to 75 now, BTW. :(

[Footix]

I just heard Dominic, the owner of the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, state on the radio that Great White used the same pyro at their show recently in NJ without any clearance from the venue whatsoever.

[champmanager]

Can anyone tell me what song or songs Great White did that I ever would have heard?

[obie]

Originally posted by Footix
I just heard Dominic, the owner of the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, state on the radio that Great White used the same pyro at their show recently in NJ without any clearance from the venue whatsoever. So did Dominic (great food at Hard Grove Cafe, btw) shut them down? No, probably not, because that would be bad business. Both the club owner and the band are liable here -- the band for having unsafe props, but also the club for allowing it. The owner has to know and enforce what's legal, as you can't expect any band to roll into every town with fire codes under their arms.

"Once Bitten Twice Shy" is about the only song anyone would know.