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Bryan J. Wagner,
age 17 Ft. Thomas |
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David J. Heck,
age 19 Highland Heights |
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Connie Sue Burns,
age 21 (mother of two) Miamisburg, OH |
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Jacqueline L. Eckerle,
age 15 Finneytown |
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James Theodore Warmoth,
age 21 Franklin Township |
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Karen L. Morrison,
age 15 Finneytown |
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Peter Douglas Bowes,
age 18 Wyoming |
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Phillip K. Snyder,
age 20 Franklin Township |
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Stephen McGhee Preston,
age 19 Finneytown |
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Teva Rae Ladd,
age 24 (mother of two) Newtown |
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Walter H. Adams, Jr.,
age 22 Trotwood, Ohio |
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complete program audio |
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 Listen here for the complete interview with WVXU's Kevin Reynolds who attended the concert. |
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Sunday, November 29 at 8:00 PM
December 3, 1979 became an infamous night in Cincinnati history as the deaths of eleven concertgoers forever changed crowd control and emergency preparedness. The Who concert has never been forgotten, and there has never been such a complete look at that tragedy and its aftermath as The Who Concert: 30 Years Later. This one hour special, produced by Lee Hay and hosted by Brian O’Donnell, will air on Sunday, November 29 at 8:00 p.m., immediately following “Around Cincinnati.”
Leading in to the 8:00 p.m. special will be an extended interview on Around Cincinnati as Brian O’Donnell talks with Cal Levy, the on-site promoter at Riverfront Coliseum that night for Electric Factory Concerts. This is the first interview he has given since the night of the tragedy. There will be excerpts of this interview included during Cincinnati Edition Sunday morning, between 7:00 – 8:00 a.m. and during The Who Concert: 30 Years Later special.
The guests appearing in The Who Concert: 30 Years Later represent concert-goers, police, lawyers, first-responders, reporters and others directly impacted by the event.
Included in the program are:
- Cliff Radel will talk about the concert from his viewpoint as a writer and pop music critic. He describes the crowd and how he covered the concert for the Cincinnati Enquirer.
- Karol Brown and Jay Patterson talk about being pushed by the crowd towards the doors and how terrifying the experience was.
- Jay Aronoff discusses being at the concert and his friend, Peter Bowes, who passed away that night.
- Michael Ladd talks about being at the concert with his wife, Teva Ladd, (who was one of the victims) and getting separated from her.
- Gary Miller talks about the response by the Red Cross that evening and how the event changed disaster responses for future events.
- Craig Kopp remembers his role that night covering the tragedy for WEBN and his contacts with news organizations around the world.
- Johnny Schott reviews some of the safety techniques now in place since the concert.
- Cal Levy opens up about his memories of an evening which impacted him for years after the concert.
- Dennis Miller (lawyer for The Who) discusses The Who's visit to Cincinnati in 1980 to give depositions in the lawsuits which had been filed.
- Dale Menkhaus reviews the police response to the tragedy that evening.
- Paul Wertheimer talks about the Task Force report to the City of Cincinnati which he worked on, the positive impact of this report on other crowd management issues around the world even today, and the need for a memorial marker for the victims at US Bank Arena.
The special will also incorporate songs played by The Who during that night’s concert. The audio from that evening is only available as a bootleg called "Stampede." So, the music for the special will come from various The Who cd releases. |
Listener Comments
 Steve from Cincinnati says:
That was a nice report, but the main thing I think should be emphasized more is that it was most definitely NOT a "stampede"
I was there.
We got there when the crowd was halfway from the door (singular, not plural since they only had one open eventually) back to the first flagpole.
An hour later is was back to the flagpole.
As time went on it just slowly got more compacted. I can not say what the people in the very back were doing, but the way it compacted inside the crowd was a slow and constant process. If you picture being at a grocery store with 50 people in line behind you. Then the person in front of you moves up a bit and you do the same and the person behind you does the same as do all 50 people. Then someone in the chain realizes they stepped too far forward....and there is nothing anyone can do. It is not the fault of anyone, but the line can't move. No one is stampeding, it is just closer. And that continued since every time the crowd would move people assumed (as we all had a right to) that doors were opening.
When people talk about the "waves" of people, if you go back and picture the grocery store analogy, just think if one of those people because they can't move their feet leans into the others, then it dominoes and turns into a wave.
A few people were being passed over the crowd to the back.
As I said, I can't speak for the people at the back, but in the center it wasn't pushing or anything else. It was NOT like those selfish immature morons that you see at a Walmart sale where they are running over people.
I got slowly separated from the guys I went with and the people that originally were close to us when we got there including 2 guys that were drifting off to my right. I watched them go off to the right and when I finally made it to the door (no "S" on the end of that word) there was a guy and a cop at the door, the guy was yelling "go around, there are other doors open", right then the two guys I was watching drift off to my right worked their way up on my left and said to him "no there aren't we just walked all the way around". They repeated that obviously hoping someone would go open up other doors.
I made it in and found one friend. He said he started to fall down out there and "this guy lifted me up" he was referencing a tall black guy next to him. I only mention he was black because I remember thinking at the time that it was great that in a moment of need people can show that color doesn't matter. We watched the concert. While it was surreal seeing all those shoes, once we were in, since we didn't know of the deaths, we just watched the concert and then went to go home. News crews outside the concert but it was the Who and we just thought it was as big event as we thought it was, so news crews weren't a surprise. We had all ridden down in one car and one friend and I decided to take the bus instead of riding home with them. He goes home, I go home, my poor Mom was freaking out and wanted to know why I hadn't called. It is then that I heard of the 11 people that had died.
It was and still is a very sad thing and while we can't change the past, we can try to make sure some of the truth is made public and the idea of a "stampede" is absurd and it's totally disrespectful of the 11 that died, those that were injured and the huge majority of those that were there.
While I did not know anyone that was killed down there, my friend that I rode home on the bus with has since passed and I just need to add that I miss you Rob.
Cherish every moment you have. Tell those you love that you love them.
Thursday, December 03, 2009 |
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Jay from Tucker says:
Just wanted to say that I remember this horrific tragedy, and it's hard to believe it's already been 3 very long decades, as I remember it very, very well. I was a 14 year-old 8th grader, and I remember very vividly waking up the next morning by my mother. On Tuesday AM, Dec. 4, 1979, my mother asked me,"Did you hear about those kids at that concert last night?" Not having a clue as to what she was talking about, she went on to explain,"Some kids at a concert were rushing to get good seats, they fell and got trampled to death, and I was like WTH! Then, as I was eating my breakfast that mom gave me that morning, it was on all over the news: I first remember just before the stampede occurred that I thought I saw someone throw either a brick or a bottle through one of the unopened doors since they didn't open. Then, after the crush I saw a huge pile of shoes and clothing lost, and I was like, "Good God"! This was a very sad day in Rock n' Roll history, and my heart just goes out to the victims' families who lost their loved ones way too soon, and just how young they died, and what a horrible way to go! At a rock concert being asphyxiated!
Thursday, December 03, 2009 |
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Preston from Dayton says:
Obviously,this is a tragedy that never should have happened. I guess that everyone who was there is a little to blame. These eleven innocent lives were taken only because they were just out for a good time and to see some of their musical heroes. This has been a very costly lesson in how major concert events should be conducted throughout the entire world. One thing is for sure that you'll never see "Festival" seating being allowed at a show of the magnitude such as an act like The Who. I would have to say that the ignorance and carelessness of many of those concert goers contributed directly to these 11 deaths. Individuals not caring and/or respecting enough of their fellow human beings to allow enough space for each and every person to have a good and safe experience. Pure selfishness!
I just wonder if sweet Jesus Christ were going to appear at Riverfront Coliseum,if folks would be so aggressive at trying to be the first in line,etc.
May God bless the families of these eleven lives that were ended much too soon.
Tuesday, December 01, 2009 |
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Sam from Highland Heights says:
I want to express my appreciation for your outstanding piece on the Who concert tragedy. I teach History of Rock & Roll for NKU, and when I cover the event in class, I find that less than half of my students have even heard of it. I will require my students to listen to the program on your web page and write a reaction. Learning about this tragedy is vital to preventing something like it from happening again, and you provided a vital service to the community by creating this program.
Sam Lapin
Rock & Roll History Professor
Northern Kentucky University
Monday, November 30, 2009 |
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The Who Concert: 30 Years Later Images |
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The Who Concert: 30 Years Later Links |
 Are the Kids All Right?: The Rock Generation and its Hidden Death Wish
by John G. Fuller |
Cincinnati Enquirer Blog
cincinnati.com/blogs/whoconcert/
Crowd Management Strategies Task Force Report
www.crowdsafe.com
Crowd Management Strategies: A Trust Betrayed
www.crowdsafe.com
Time Magazine, Monday, Dec. 17, 1979:
www.time.com
TV Guide: WKRP in Cincinnati Who concert episode
www.tvguide.com
Cincinnati Enquirer, Tuesday, December 4, 1979
Part 1
Part 2
Larry Nager’s award-winning Cincinnati Enquirer 20th Anniversary article:
The XPN "All About the Music" Blog
wxpn.blogspot.com
"In the News"
www.youtube.com
The Who, Buffalo, NY: Tuesday, December 4, 1979
www.youtube.com |
The Who Concert Setlist for December 3, 1979 |
| Substitute |
| I Can't Explain |
| Baba O'Riley |
| The Punk and the Godfather |
| My Wife |
| Sister Disco |
| Behind Blue Eyes |
| Music Must Change |
| Drowned |
| Who Are You |
| 5:15 |
| Pinball Wizard |
| See Me, Feel Me |
| Long Live Rock |
| My Generation |
| I Can See for Miles |
| Sparks |
| Won't Get Fooled Again |
| Encore: |
| Summertime Blues |
| The Real Me |
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The Who Concert: 30 Years Later Soundtrack |
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 The Ohio Associated Press Broadcasters Awards
The Who Concert: 30 Years Later (Lee Hay, Brian O’Donnell) recently won The Ohio Associated Press Broadcasters Awards First Place award for Best Documentary in a Large Market.
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Finneytown Friends Honor Who Concert Victims
From Cincinnati.com, August 14, 2010
More than 30 years later, Finneytown High alums John Hutchins and Steve Bentz still remember the Who concert tragedy that killed 11 people, including three of their classmates. Now Hutchins and Bentz want something hopeful to come from such sad memories.
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Vigil Walk on 30th Anniversary
of The Who Concert
Kasey Ladd, son of Teva Ladd, one of the eleven who died at The Who show asked Patti Collins if something could be done on the 30th anniversary. With Cincinnati librarian Brian Powers, they have lined-up blessings from the Mayor's office and US Bank arena to hold a vigil procession from the plaza to Christ Church on 4th street.
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Friday, September 03, 2010 
