I just got back from the complete nightmare that was the Radiohead show in Toronto. I witnessed the mess that occurred when we all realized that, not only had the show been cancelled, but that the stage had collapsed and that someone had died.
First off, rest in peace, Scott. His family and Radiohead have suffered the loss of a friend and great crew member. I hope that peace will come to them, too.
My friend and I got to Downsview Park at around 9am. They were numbering us in the order of our arrival so that entry would be fair. We were #122 and 123. Out of 44,000, that was pretty good. Obviously we were both very excited. After all, we had driven 8 hours to see this show! I saw Radiohead for the first time about a week and a half ago at Bonnaroo (amazing). It was my friend's first time. We waited for what seemed like forever (but really was 7 hours) before they started to line us up.
At around 4pm, some commotion started to go through the crowd. We were standing next to some smart-phone wielding Canadians. Twitter was reporting that the stage had collapsed. We hadn't heard anything destructive, so we assumed it was a minor issue; a pole had snapped. We were bracing for a delay and more waiting. Then word got out that three people were hurt. Then a picture came up. What we saw was shocking--the entirety of the roof of the stage had caved. I was trying to remain optimistic, but it was clearthat the damage was devastating, and not likely to be fixed in the near future. Those stages are set up days in advance. Still, we stayed in line in hopes that everything would work out. Cancellation rumors were growing on social media.
Unfortunately, around 4:30pm, security started coming around and shouting "The show's been cancelled. Please go home." My friend and I stood completely frozen, mouths agape. This was the worst possible thing that could have happened. Our trip, which we had been anticipating for months, was now shot to shit. We weren't going to see Radiohead. Immense disappointment and frustration lingered. But mostly it was shock. I hugged a girl who was queuing in front of me and was sharing her phone for information. It was going to be her first Radiohead show. As we walked out, I saw so much disbelief and anger. One man dropped to his knees and wept. It was one of the clearest moments of realization of how much this band means to its fans.
We were back at our car, calling our friends and family to let them know that we were okay. It was during a phone conversation with my father that a fan had walked by and told us, "Someone died." I couldn't believe it. Again, a complete nightmare. While we were standing in excitement, someone had lost their life in the background.
We sat in the car for a little while, waiting for the crowds to dissipate. Tears were shed. We had put so much time and money into this experience, and were devastated at the loss of it. But I was even more upset that this was the way that it happened. It would be one thing if Thom had lost his voice or if their tour bus had broken down somewhere. Destruction and death ruined this show instead. It was all just so, so unbelievably sad.
On our way home, we realized something sobering: we were at the front of the line, and were going to be in one of the first groups to be let onto the field. If we had been let in, we would have been under that rubble. We could be the ones still in the Toronto hospital. We could be dead. So could anyone else on the crew, or Caribou, or Radiohead. We were very fortunate that there was not more devastation than there already was. At that point I was counting my lucky stars.
I guess we're a very sad part of Radiohead history. Hopefully they'll be able to pull through as a team and continue on the stellar tour that they've been putting on up to this point.
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