Church stage collapses during Christian rock concert at Abbotsford, B.C.
Last Updated: Saturday, April 26, 2008 | 1:42 AM ET CBC News
At least four police cruisers and three ambulances are at an Abbotsford, B.C., church after a lighting system reportedly collapsed onto the stage at a packed concert late Friday night, a witness told CBC News.
Karen Thiessen and her eight-year-old-son were at the concert when “the heavy lights above the auditorium started to fall towards the crowd,” she said.
It’s not known how many people were hurt but at least several concert-goers — most of whom were teenagers — were seen being cared for by paramedics, Thiessen said. She and her son, Isaac, were not hurt.
The sold-out event was a concert by a contemporary Christian rock band, Starfield, and a couple of warm-up bands were playing their music when the accident happened, Thiessen said.
A mosh pit in front of the stage was filled with teenagers, she said, and they were jumping and dancing. After the lighting fell, the floor beneath the mosh pit collapsed, she said, and the people on it fell through to the basement about three metres below.
Police were not available to comment.
Christian Band Starfield
Read the comments on moshing etc. under the YouTube Starfield video
Full Story Here
Frightening. I’m glad that there were no serious injuries, and pray that those hurt will have a speedy recovery…
Plea by Matthew — April 27, 2008 @ 8:34 am
Well, at least I got my mosh pit injuries at a Kiss concert…
Plea by John — April 27, 2008 @ 2:30 pm
I’m just choking a bit on the phrase “Christian mosh pit.”
Plea by Bibliosteve — April 27, 2008 @ 3:36 pm
According to the YouTube comments of people who know much better than I, “Christian” moshing is jumping up and down, whereas “secular” moshing is slamming into each other. Ah…the good old days when you could face disciplinary action at a Christian college for moving your feet outside a 1-foot radius at an “Imperials” concert.
Plea by Chris Wilde — April 27, 2008 @ 4:50 pm
well, in the video I don’t see anyone “moshing,” and wonder if that is just a sensationalization ploy by the reporters… OTOH, I’ve played in bands where the kids (college) liked to jump around a lot — this was in the nightmare CCM pop-music era of the 80’s — and don’t mind that sort of thing as it isn’t really “moshing,” per se. “Moshing” as I knew it, tended to have a large violence factor in it, where one was actively trying to lash out / hurt one’s fellow moshers.
I never saw the attraction in it.
Hope everyone’s okay; I’ve done lighting and sound set up and have seen a light tree go over, that wasn’t properly anchored. Not fun in any sense, even when they miss.
Plea by Wry Mouth — April 27, 2008 @ 4:55 pm
Wry,
The concert footage of Starfield is from a different concert.
Plea by Marc — April 27, 2008 @ 4:58 pm
I blame poor bible literacy.
1 Peter says, “Greet one another with the kiss of love”, not “Greet one another with the ‘Love of KISS’”.
Plea by Nonc Hilare — April 27, 2008 @ 6:23 pm
I’m glad there were no serious injuries.
With Bibliosteve, however, I am fascinated to learn of the existence of this Christian mosh pit. Praises be, I never knew there was such a thing! Obviously, I had made the mistake of considering all mosh pits irretrievably lost, so you can imagine how thankful I am for this reminder that all things truly are possible! Still, so many questions…
I wonder, does the mosh pit know the Four Spiritual Laws? How many Kinkades? Immersed or sprinkled? What kind of Study Bible does it read? Has the mosh pit rewritten its testimony in light of recent events? The possibilities are endless.
Plea by Aaron — April 28, 2008 @ 8:35 am
“Christian” and “mosh pit”??? in the same sentence? You nailed it bro.
BTW-That looks like a pic from any Wrestlemania. All I could think of is Chris Jericho “superslamming” The Undertaker through the stage structure and breaking all the props…or fill in your own favorite wrestler.
Plea by Shred — April 28, 2008 @ 10:15 am
Maybe “Starfield” or whatever other soon-to-be has-been band was playing should have taken a lesson from Van Halen and required a snifter of brown M & M’s as part of the contract to see if the facility would pay attention to the weight requirements of the equipment? I’m thinking noady was all that smart…
(and no-I’m not talking about the Wayne’s World2 story about Ozzy Osbourne and the M & M’s, either.)
Plea by Shred — April 28, 2008 @ 10:21 am
The King James Only People were RIGHT!!!
Plea by Grant — April 28, 2008 @ 10:22 am
Still chuckling at Abelard’s response…FYI, #9, Undertaker would totally demolish Jericho. Seriously.
Plea by John — April 28, 2008 @ 12:51 pm
I admit I was disappointed that the video wasn’t the actual footage of the lights falling down….I kept waiting, and nothing!!!!
It looked pretty moshless to me. But then again, it happened during the warm-up bands…so, you never know about those warm-up bands….
Maybe the term “mosh pit” has changed since the 1980s to simply mean “the part of the audience near the stage that dances instead of sits during a concert.”
Plea by kristie — April 28, 2008 @ 2:13 pm
Well, there is a short snippet of the collapse in this youtube from a local new channel.
The term “mosh pit” comes from the pastor who is interviewed in the story—it was a mosh pit, mind you, built in the late 1980s!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVErIZ8ksFY&feature=related
Plea by kristie — April 28, 2008 @ 2:22 pm
This event redefines “Mosh Pit” to mean something very bad, a worse term now than its previous connotation.
Plea by Brent — April 28, 2008 @ 4:33 pm
“Deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters. Let not the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the pit close its mouth over me.” Psalm 69:14-15
Plea by Brent — April 28, 2008 @ 4:42 pm
Having been to a handful of Christian rock concerts back when I thought that secular music was evil, I can say that yes, there is a such thing as mosh pits at Christian concerts, and yes, people jumping up and down and headbanging is about as “wild” as they get. Well, that is, except for the concert when the band tried to get the crowd a little more excited by having the mosh pit crowd-surf this large fake buffalo.
Plea by Amanda — April 28, 2008 @ 8:36 pm
A part of the floor where kids jump up and down might be more accurate than “mosh pit.” Starfield is not a really radical group.
My brother in law was at that concert with some of his youth group. I’m thankful that no one was killed.
I went to a Michael Card concert in that church in about 1989. Not much dancing then.
Plea by Terry Stauffer — April 28, 2008 @ 9:22 pm
NoncH, Christian moshers prefer to greet each other with a holy kick.
Shred, I’m tracking with you and Del Preston.
Plea by Joe Mama — April 29, 2008 @ 9:22 am
This is what comes from imitating the world. Thank God no one was seriously hurt.
Plea by Pat McGee — April 29, 2008 @ 7:43 pm
I’m an hour east of Toronto, so Abbotsford, BC might as well be the other side of the world; but from what we’re hearing, it’s not true that there were no injuries. A 41-year old woman is in a medically induced coma following spinal surgery. See www.canada.com/abbotsfordtimes/index.html
Plea by Paul in Canada — April 30, 2008 @ 6:15 pm