Under pressure from the media Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels has announced an independent investigation into the stage collapse in at the Stat Fair after questions were raised about the State Fair's ability to investigate itself and be forthcoming. To see all the news available on Google about the stage collapse in Indiana click here.
The death toll from the European concert tragedy in Belgium has risen to 5 and the Festival itself has been canceled as European music fans were stunned by the storm that also injured 150 on Thursday. Among the acts who had been scheduled to perform included the Foo Fighters, Eminem, and 30 Seconds to Mars. To see all the news on this tragedy from Google click here.
"Three different storms, three different cities – and, crucially, three different stages, built by different companies using different specs and different safety standards." An article by Steve Pond at TheWrap and posted through Reuters reports that there are no universal standards for concert stages. "These collapses highlight the fact that there are no enforced guidelines for temporary structures in the concert business," said Gary Bongiovanni, the publisher of the concert-industry trade journal Pollstar and quoted in the article. "There are some guidelines," "but they're voluntary. And it'll be hard to put enforced rules in place, because on a concert tour you're dealing with the local laws in every city."
We have contacted the City of Austin and when they respond some of our questions will be what are the rules and laws, what inspections are made and by who, and what permits are required to erect temporary stages at Austin events such as the upcoming ACL Festival, Fun Fun Fun Fest, and SXSW, all of which occur all or in part on City of Austin parkland and property.
