Radiohead Returns To Toronto Six Years After Fatal Stage Collapse
After a stage collapse tragedy six years ago, Radiohead is finally making their way back to Toronto, Canada, to perform. According to The Star, before their concert on June 16, 2012, in Toronto’s Downsview Park, the stage collapsed onto itself, killing the band’s drum technician, Scott Johnson. Johnson was only 33-years-old.
Since the accident, nobody has come out to accept responsibility or apologize for it. The Ontario police and legal system did not find anyone at fault. Two trials from the incident have gone nowhere, the last one was just this past September. The judge stated that they will lay the trial to rest, but unfortunately it will still be “incomprehensible to Mr. Johnson’s family, who can justifiably complain that justice has not been done.”
Although many are shocked that Radiohead will be returning to Toronto, it didn’t stop fans from selling out both of the tour dates in the Scotiabank Arena.
Johnson’s family is still left with an unsolved, heartbreaking mystery. According to CTV News, the Johnson’s father expects a coroner’s inquest on the incident to begin early next year – nearly seven years after the tragedy.
Ken Johnson, Scott’s father, said he spoke with Ontario’s chief coroner on Wednesday, the day before the band returned to Toronto for their first concert since the fatal collapse in 2012. He was told the tentative date for the inquest has been set for between February or March, but no specific date has been set. A representative for the coroner’s office declined to confirm the timeline.
Ken Johnson also alluded that the crew isn’t too happy about showing up in Toronto again, because of the unsolved sadness lurking in the air. Johnson told The Star,
“I’ve had a message from some of the crew and I don’t think that they’re looking forward to being there, you know?”
Johnson also went on to say that Radiohead has been nothing but supportive since the death of his son. He continued telling The Star, “To be quite honest, they’ve been like family. Radiohead have been excellent. They really have been incredibly supportive. It’s above and beyond the call. They’ve been there if I needed it and I know that they’re there and, for me, I’ve probably found some new friends in them. … But they’ve been smashing, really. So I’m hoping, for them, that the Toronto shows will, perhaps, draw a line.”
According to The Globe and Mail, Live Nation, the engineer who designed the Domenic Cugliari, and the contractor, Optex Staging, were charged a year after the accident with 13 offenses under provincial health and safety laws. Johnson hopes maybe their names will be brought up in the inquest, so his family can finally have closure.
