The American band "Cheap Trick" has pulled out of a Vancouver performance because the company providing the stage is the same one whose structure collapsed on them at the Ottawa Bluesfest in July.
The power-pop band, whose greatest hits include "Surrender", "I Want You to Want Me", "Dream Police", and "The Flame," was slated to play a free show at the Pacific National Exhibition on Sept. 1.
On its website, the band says that Berger, the company that provides the staging for the PNE, is the same company that constructed the stage that crumpled 20 minutes into their performance in Ottawa on July 17. The accident was blamed on a freak summer storm rolling through the area.
Four people were hurt. Cheap Trick has since been very vocal about the safety of its band members, crew and fans after "narrowly averting death."
On Twitter, Death Cab for Cutie lead singer Benjamin Gibbard expressed relief to his own Twitter followers that no one died after seeing the stage collapse, right before his band was suppose to go on stage.
"It was a miracle no one was killed," Gibbard said.
Cheap Trick says the band and promoters have explored "all potential alternatives," but they have been left with no other option than to cancel the show.
"Unless current investigation(s) prove otherwise, the band will not, as a matter of principle, but more importantly, as a matter of safety, appear on a Berger stage in the future," the message reads.
After the Ottawa incident, band manager Dave Frey questioned whether the companies and organizers of the Bluesfest did enough to protect the audience, and noted that the multi-ton stage roof fell when other nearby tents and temporary structures were untouched.
"Was it a design flaw? Was it an implementation mistake? These are important questions that must be answered," Frey wrote in a message on the band website on July 28.
Even though the incident is being probed by Ontario government organizations, Cheap Trick promised a full accounting of what happened, saying it would ensure proper safety measures would be taken at its future shows.
PNE spokesperson Laura Ballance is confident that the Vancouver stage adheres to the highest safety standards in B.C.
"The stage that's used at the PNE is engineered, is inspected, and is signed-off by an engineer before any performers get onto that stage," she said.
Ballance said although both stages are constructed by the same company they are very different.
The Vancouver stage is a single unit with a permanently attached roof, whereas the one used in Ottawa had a removable top.
The PNE said it is not worried about other acts cancelling over stage concerns.
