Indiana Fair Tragedy Weighs Heavy on IEBA

Premiere Networks Rick Murray moderates a crisis communications panel that includes Brian Andrews from Premier Global Productions, manager Jan Volz, promoter Glenn Smith and publicist Jules Wortman.

REPORTING FROM NASHVILLE — The tragic stage collapse that killed seven people prior to a Sugarland concert at the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis has brought a new focus to disaster preparedness. The International Entertainment Buyers Association convened a special keynote panel Tuesday to address crisis communications during their Oct. 3-4 meeting, with many industry professionals saying more needs to be done to spread awareness about dangerous weather.

“It’s really a numbers game — if you’re in the promoter field, eventually you’re going to have some type of safety issue or safety disaster,” said Rick Murray from Premiere Networks, a syndicated radio network that puts on dozens of events and concerts.

Promoter Glenn Smith said about one in 12 of his outdoor events will be affected by wind, lightning or rain during the summer months.

“Another one in 18 or 20 will have to be canceled and there’s really no way around it,” he said.

“The guy who thinks he’s lucky because the Farmers Almanac said it never rains on July 4 is the person who is going to get hit hard. We insure all our events — we don’t try to play the odds. That takes the pressure off you and allows you to know that money is not part of the decision when you decide not to carry on.”

He stressed that fairs need to have emergency plans that take revenue off the table and allow artists or promoters to cancel events without concerns over money.

“You have to have a plan,” he said. “Now everyone is talking — we haven’t had these discussions in the past. On Aug. 15 (a day after the Indiana State Fair accident), we had an artist agency contact us asking for staging documentation for an upcoming concert. We’ve got inspectors coming around that I haven’t seen in 20 years. We’ve done our jobs correctly, engineered drawings, engineered staging and drawn emergency plans, but nobody asked us about it until now. We’re not bulletproof from acts of God. Anything we build can be knocked down if there’s enough pressure on it, so it’s important we have these discussions.”

The size of many of the shows is also coming up, said Brian Andrews from Premier Global Productions, who noted that shows are getting heavier and heavier.

“Some shows hang 60,000 to 70,000 pounds in the roof without including the PA,” he said. “That has really changed the staging industry and moved it in another direction.”

He said it’s important that the promoter has a clear understanding of the derigging system so stage technicians can react to changes in the weather. He also said more events have weather specialists on hand at showtime, either to interpret weather conditions in the sky or to track Doppler radar.

Andrews called wind “the biggest problem for any staging company.” It was a 60-70 mph wind gust that toppled the stage in Indianapolis and many states require an engineer to rate a stage at 67.5 miles per hour.

Weather-related safety issues are also attracting the attention of artists, and many are stipulating a clear chain of command to deal with emergencies, said tour manager Jan Volz.

“Nine times out of 10, there’s some committee involved and committees take time to make decisions,” he said. “Seconds are crucial — you’ve got to get it down to one person and, in a perfect world, I would like to be that person. If I’m not, I want to know who is.”

Will the increase in physical demands on staging mean increased insurance costs and higher rates? Not necessarily, said independent risk management expert Robert Frost.

“Rates have been pretty soft for the last five to seven years, so we’re currently seeing rates coming down,” he said. That drop in rates could drive certain companies out of the market, which might in turn shrink competition and drive up rates, he said.

“Regardless, it’s really a matter of showing the insurance companies that you’re trying to do the right thing and keep your contracts in order,” he said.

Attorney David Crow noted that beyond guarantees and tour riders, contracts now “allocate risks between the parties. What used to be markups going back and forth between the agent and the promoter is now a discussion about the changes in indemnification, and usually the business manager and the artist's lawyer have to sign off on those. We’ve seen a much more formalized process – the underlying mechanics haven’t changed, but the way we’ve gotten there has.”

Interviewed for this article: Rick Murray, (818) 461-8057; Glenn Smith, (830) 598-1121; Brian Andrews, (615) 315-0802; Jan Volz, (615) 324-2380; Robert Frost, (615) 322-9171; David Crow, (615) 255-6161