Cheap Trick wants Bluesfest stage collapse explained

Cheap Trick, the band that left the Ottawa Bluesfest main stage just moments before it collapsed, says it wants a full accounting of what went wrong.

"We simply want to know: What are the companies and organizers doing to protect the next act and the next audience?" band manager Dave Frey said in a statement released Thursday. "Every act and every fan ought to be asking the same question."

'Was it a design flaw? Was it an implementation mistake? These are important questions that must be answered.' —Cheap Trick statement

Cheap Trick, along with other stage personnel, was performing at the popular festival July 17 when a sudden evening storm blew in. The U.S. rock band members had been playing for about 20 minutes when they hastily left the stage, which collapsed backward moments later, away from the audience.

No one was killed, but several people were treated for injuries. No one in the band was injured.

"While honoured by the concern and support expressed for their well-being, Cheap Trick is as interested in ensuring that no other band or crew experience the same potentially lethal hazard," the statement said.

Environment Canada said a downburst of air from a thunderstorm was likely the trigger for the collapse of the main stage, but the band's statement noted that other tents and temporary structures nearby stayed in place. "Was it a design flaw? Was it an implementation mistake? These are important questions that must be answered."

The statement said Cheap Trick is participating in the Ontario government investigation and urged everyone else involved to do the same.

The Ministry of Labour has asked Bluesfest organizers for any video of the collapse as well as any engineering documentation of the rental stage, such as technical drawings.

The band's demand for a full explanation comes shortly after a lawsuit was launched in Alberta over a similar collapse. The children of a woman killed by a stage collapse at the Camrose Big Valley Jamboree in 2009 are suing the promoter, the city and several companies for more than $5 million.