Members Black Frog Posted August 11, 2003 Members Share Posted August 11, 2003 Christina Aguilera truss collapse during setup at Convention Hall, Atlantic City NJ: From what I've heard nobody was seriously hurt..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Black Frog Posted August 11, 2003 Author Members Share Posted August 11, 2003 brings a new definition to the phrase, "Bringin' down the house..." Quite a few bucks came crashing down there, eh? I wonder if they'll have a scratch-and-dent sale? They said that it was being suspended from a "false ceiling" that was part of a renovation project. I wouldn't want to cover that insurance claim. And I bet some structural engineering firm somewhere is shaking in their boots over this....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Black Frog Posted August 11, 2003 Author Members Share Posted August 11, 2003 From the Atlantic City Press: The show does not go on at A.C.'s Boardwalk HallJustin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera were to performBy DAN P. LEE Staff Writer, (609) 272-7209ATLANTIC CITY - The North American tour of pop music stars Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera might have ended Saturday afternoon when electronic and other equipment the tour's crew was raising for an evening show came crashing down inside Boardwalk Hall. The estimated 30 people working below were able to move out of the way as the large steel rigging structure on which the equipment was being raised buckled violently and lurched downward before collapsing completely, authorities and members of the crew said shortly after the 12:45 p.m. incident.Authorities said three unidentified people sustained minor injuries as they scrambled to avoid being struck. Two were taken to the nearby Atlantic City Medical Center, City Division, for treatment of cuts and bruises, authorities said.The rigging structure had hung from a false ceiling, which apparently sustained some damage in the incident. The ceiling and the structure - called a "supergrid" - were added as part of the nearly 75-year-old historic hall's recent $90 million refurbishment. Federal, state and local officials were immediately summoned to the scene to begin an investigation. The cause of the crash remained uncertain Saturday night, as did how officials would remove the mangled supergrid, which remained partially suspended several feet above the ground amid substantial amounts of smashed equipment.Boardwalk Hall officials quickly locked the building down after the incident and announced that Saturday's sold-out show was being postponed. Several crewmembers speculated that the remainder of the tour also would have to be postponed or canceled due to the extent of damage to the multimillion-dollar equipment, which included stage set pieces, giant video screens, lighting and speakers.Tour officials did not make a formal announcement about whether the tour's eight other scheduled shows would go on. Neither Aguilera nor Timberlake - who were not in the building at the time of the collapse - issued any kind of statement.Fans arriving at the hall's box office were crushed to find notes affixed to the windows shortly after the collapse informing them that the show had been postponed. Some cried."I'm so sad," said Michelle Ackerman, 14, of Fairfax, Va., who had come to Atlantic City with her mother and friend specifically for the show. Her mother, also almost crying, appeared as upset as she.Authorities and crewmembers said the collapse occurred as the equipment was being raised on the supergrid. They said the procedure involved lowering the supergrid first, connecting the equipment to it, raising the supergrid into position and then raising the equipment.Dozens of the crewmembers gathered outside a side exit minutes after the collapse, some of them smoking down cigarettes, virtually all of them visibly upset. The mangled grid and equipment could be seen through the open doors.A tour official emerged from the hall to call the crew into another part of the building for an emergency meeting. As the group walked back into the building, he urged everyone to refrain from talking to the news media.Two workers who witnessed the incident agreed to be interviewed so long as their names were not published, however."It seemed like (the collapse) lasted an eternity but then again it seemed like it happened in a flash," said a 38-year-old electrician from Margate who had been standing beneath the grid as it began falling. "It was nerve-wracking. My heart's still beating."A 33-year-old engineer from out of state who is part of the touring company said Saturday's events almost certainly would force the tour to end."Tour's over," he said. "Every bit of equipment is crushed. Tour's over."He said the crew prepares individual plans for each venue well in advance and had begun setting up Boardwalk Hall early Saturday morning. "This is a high-end cazillion-dollar business," he said. "This isn't fly-by-night."The tour had been among the biggest, most expensive and most elaborately produced of the summer concert season. More than 20 trucks transported the sets and other equipment from venue to venue, a crewmember said. The tour had played in more than 30 cities and had a few more weeks remaining.Boardwalk Hall, which hosted a Beatles concert in 1964, the 1964 Democratic National Convention and decades of Miss America pageants, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has received similar recognition from the state of New Jersey. The $90 million renovation project, which began in late 1998 and was completed in October 2001, included significant work to modernize the hall so that big concerts such as recent ones by Bruce Springsteen and Cher could be held there. To that end, the supergrid was suspended from a false ceiling over the stage area to accommodate customized light-and-sound system. The structure replaced an old-fashioned system of attaching lights to motorized chains dropped from holes in the ceiling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dirtyragamuffin Posted August 11, 2003 Members Share Posted August 11, 2003 Originally posted by Black Frog I wonder if they'll have a scratch-and-dent sale? Good god. I'd take the line arrays off their hands I'll bet the lighting engineer and ops have some suspicious lumps in their underpants right about now.... Hope the injured turn out OK... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members L. Ron Hoover Posted August 11, 2003 Members Share Posted August 11, 2003 Wow. That's really scary. Someone obviously made a grave error somewhere along the way. The building's subgrid came down, right? That's what it looks like. Hard to trust the newspaper story as reporters probably wouldn't know the permanent stuff from the touring stuff. Have they had other acts use the subgrid prior to this incident? The question is why did this happen? Above assignment of blame, liability issues, whatever. The cause needs to be identified so that future events like this don't happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Black Frog Posted August 11, 2003 Author Members Share Posted August 11, 2003 Well, Cher was there in July so I would imagine that that show had some hefty rigging as well. Bruce was there back in March. And the Miss America pageant is scheduled for September. I'm sure promoters and organizers for that event are scrambling now as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted August 11, 2003 Members Share Posted August 11, 2003 This raises more questions than answers... 1. What were the point load limits that supported the flying grid? 2. What was the distributed loading allowed by the grid? 3. What was the weight of the load, and how was it diistributed? 4. What were the accelerations involved when raising and lowering the loaded structure? Impulse loading (inerta & momentum) can really alter the dynamics of a structure. 5. I noticed that the sound was still flying high! 6. This may alter the way some of the large shows manage their lighting and staging, just like Great White's fire alteren fire code enforcement country wide. Maybe a good thing in the long run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ATOMICDOG1 Posted August 11, 2003 Members Share Posted August 11, 2003 Yep, that's gonna be really spendy for someone... You can see in the photo that the line arrays are picked seperately from the substructure that collapsed. I hope it wasn't Mountain that was doing the gig, I have some friends that work for them as riggers. I know that they have to be certified for these kind of rigs, and an engineer has to sign off on the plans. I'd really hate to be that engineer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members drummer_jay Posted August 11, 2003 Members Share Posted August 11, 2003 WOW... See, it's even more amazing for me because I took my girlfriend to the this concert in St Louis. So I know what it's suppose to look like. Let me tell ya, if they had half of that set up, they lost allot of money. They had 6 of those huge flat screen TVs.. and they had ONE MASSIVE huge bigscreen in the back. Plus, all those screens moved around to combine or disapear far above the stage. If you look, you see some rectangular looking objects on the ground in front of the rigging. Those are picture frames that went around the screens. So maybe they hadn't gotten them done yet??? It does look like some of thier side fills are damaged. The had some small side fill arrays hanging off to the side. I'd say 4 cabs or so per side. That was a massively complex setup. It had allot of moving features as well as a few layers. That really sucks.... Thanks god it didn't happen during a show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zeromus-X Posted August 12, 2003 Members Share Posted August 12, 2003 There's a picture from an older tour... if this one was even bigger, I can't imagine how much they lost there! Look at where that {censored} crashed though... that wasn't the stage, that was the first dozen rows of people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tommy Tune Posted August 12, 2003 Members Share Posted August 12, 2003 The sick part of it is that the money that they lost is probably nothing on a tour like that. I'm sure that they have insurance on all that stuff too. It is a butt load of rubble, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members theelmsrock Posted August 12, 2003 Members Share Posted August 12, 2003 I bet the band was happy that their equipment wasn't setup yet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steelyD Posted August 12, 2003 Members Share Posted August 12, 2003 Originally posted by agedhorse 6. This may alter the way some of the large shows manage their lighting and staging, just like Great White's fire alteren fire code enforcement country wide. Maybe a good thing in the long run. It's definitely a good thing when we get a chance to learn from a catastrophic building failure and nobody is killed in the process. Anybody remember the skybridges at the KC Hyatt Regency? I still use it as a teaching example just about every time I advise a young architect regarding a structural detail. Peace,D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members drummer_jay Posted August 12, 2003 Members Share Posted August 12, 2003 Originally posted by Zeromus-X There's a picture from an older tour... if this one was even bigger, I can't imagine how much they lost there! Look at where that {censored} crashed though... that wasn't the stage, that was the first dozen rows of people. Yeah, that set is way smaller than the one they have now. Maybe not smaller, but this one is very very complex. Allot of movement and odd structures. Also, it is a good thing the band wasn't set up. Especially the drummer and percussionist. The drummer for aguliera (who plays first) uses a massive kit.. It's sick... has a GOOD 25000 in it. The percussionist is probably pretty close to that too. The guitar, bass, keyboards and etc, were not to massive. Also, the Black Eyed Peas open up, If thier stuff would have been set up, that mess of crap would be right on them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Serj Posted August 12, 2003 Members Share Posted August 12, 2003 Originally posted by mackoid I bet the band was happy that their equipment wasn't setup yet! You mean CD player? I'd like to see the kind of riot Timberlake and Aguilera crowdgoers would have after finding out the concert wasn't going up. Teeniebopper: Look, mom, I knocked over a garbage can! Mother: That's nice, dear, now pick it up. Teeniebopper: Yes, mother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted August 12, 2003 Members Share Posted August 12, 2003 Originally posted by steelyD It's definitely a good thing when we get a chance to learn from a catastrophic building failure and nobody is killed in the process. Anybody remember the skybridges at the KC Hyatt Regency? I still use it as a teaching example just about every time I advise a young architect regarding a structural detail.Peace,D When taking one of my civil engineering courses, the first thing we were shown was the footage from the Tacoma Narrows Bridge failure... sure impressed on me that statics aren't always static! Left a lasting impression on me that I still remember to this day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members drummer_jay Posted August 12, 2003 Members Share Posted August 12, 2003 Originally posted by Serj You mean CD player? I'd like to see the kind of riot Timberlake and Aguilera crowdgoers would have after finding out the concert wasn't going up. Teeniebopper: Look, mom, I knocked over a garbage can! Mother: That's nice, dear, now pick it up. Teeniebopper: Yes, mother. Hey, not everyone can be a bad ass rock star like you! What the hell dude. Have you seen THIS show? NO... I don't doubt that allot of pop concerts are indeed just a CD player playing and a few dancing artists mouthing the lyrics. HOWEVER, this was not one. UNLESS they recorded both of them while performing some other time. Because you could hear the jumps and shakes in thier voices while they were dancing. You could tell they were hurting for air. It DID NOT sound like a CD. Christina missed a few notes here and there, which with some of the complex parts she has, is understandable. Also, your tenniebobber comment. I'm a 21 year old MALE who happens to think Justin Timberlake is a great artist. I always thought he was talented while with N Sync but wouldn't allow myself to like a boy band out of fear of being called gay. Which is sad..... Now that he's on his own he was earned the respect of allot of other artist... pop artists, r&B, hip hop, rock.... etc..... Not to meantion that I was fully expecting to see allot of 13 year old girls screaming... BUT NO.. instead it was 21 and UP girls screaming... all dressed up like britney spears.... NOT A BAD CONCERT TO GO SEE.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members theelmsrock Posted August 12, 2003 Members Share Posted August 12, 2003 Originally posted by Audiopile What band equipment? You mean their own personal wireless mic thing? I guess there is somebody there holding a guitar... maybe... you sure that isn't a cardboard cut-out or a hologram? LOL:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Old Steve Posted August 12, 2003 Members Share Posted August 12, 2003 Originally posted by steelyD It's definitely a good thing when we get a chance to learn from a catastrophic building failure and nobody is killed in the process. Anybody remember the skybridges at the KC Hyatt Regency? I still use it as a teaching example just about every time I advise a young architect regarding a structural detail.Peace,D I was a kid growing up in Kansas City at the time that happened. When those skywalks collapsed they were in the middle of a weekly "tea dance" event that usually drew a few hundred bored suburbanites each week. LOTS of people from right around where I lived were killed and injured. Pretty bizarre stuff seeing a highly noticeable uptick in funeral processions for about a week after the event. As for this collapse, thankfully nobody was killed. Obviously this kind of thing is a rare occurance because of all the certifications (the building, the equipment, the people doing the rigging) that are involved. Remember, you can get killed just as easily by a 10 ton line array falling from 100 feet as you can from a 80lb speaker on a stick that hits you from 10 feet. Something to keep in mind the next time you see somebody flying a speaker by the handles, or doing something else that may be a little sketchy from a safety perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteelyD2 Posted August 12, 2003 Members Share Posted August 12, 2003 Originally posted by agedhorse When taking one of my civil engineering courses, the first thing we were shown was the footage from the Tacoma Narrows Bridge failure... sure impressed on me that statics aren't always static! Left a lasting impression on me that I still remember to this day. Another great example. That has to be the most spectacular and bizarre failure ever captured on film or tape. Before seeing that I would never have believed that concrete could bend like that. D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vanlatte Posted August 12, 2003 Members Share Posted August 12, 2003 :eek: Thank God that was not during a show! That would have been catastrophic! I mean not just the first few rows, as if that was not bad enough but just imgaine the ensuing panic. Wow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Craken Posted August 12, 2003 Members Share Posted August 12, 2003 Originally posted by Audiopile that sort of thing's not suspose to happen No {censored}! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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