The band Cheap Trick is suing the Ottawa Bluesfest for $1 million after a 2011 stage collapse that injured a number of people including one of the band’s roadies.
According to a CBC News article, in a statement of claim dated July 4th, Cheap Trick Touring Inc. named the festival, stage company Groupe Berger and Project X Productions as defendants, along with a Bluesfest and Groupe Berger staffer. They say that the Bluesfest breached their contract by not providing a safe place to play on July 17, 2011, neglecting to properly evaluate the risks or monitor the weather before a wind storm and a 117 kilometre per hour gust of wind toppled the stage, which ended up injuring three people.
Organizers, who claim to have not yet seen the statement of claim from Cheap Trick, told Metro Ottawa: “All I can say is there was a fairly extensive Ministry of Labour investigation regarding the incident and that is available in terms on the public record and it assessed everything that went on that day and subsequently,” Monahan said.
According to the same news article, Sandy Sanderson, a roadie for Cheap Trick at the 2011 event, also launched a $100,000 lawsuit against Bluesfest on May 28th of this year, seeking damages for injuries he sustained after a stage fixture struck him during the stage collapse.
Photo: C.M. Wiggins/WENN.com
