Wild At Heart
Last time I talked to you I was on my way to see Radiohead in Toronto. After years of avoiding Detroit, they of course decided to play at the Palace where I could have easily walked to the venue. Instead, I planned a trip to Toronto to see them at Downsview Park. After leaving the hotel after stretching out my pool time as long as I could, I got within a few blocks of the venue and stopped at the local Downsview Library for advice on 1) the best way to get out of the area with all the construction going on and 2) a good place to eat.
I got my directions and got recommended to a nice Chinese Buffet place called the Mandarin about 1 block north of the Park. The place was a little different (chicken sushi???) but had a beautiful looking buffet, esp the dessert table. I was put in a room with 3 huge glass fish tanks that was very relaxing to sit in. After eating, I drove to the venue. There is a big market in the park similar to Gibraltar Trade Center which I walked around for a bit before finding a nice shady tree to lie down under and get a bit of rest (being tired by staying up so late thanks to the losing internet at the hotel business center). After about an hour I heard people walking by and catching words like “cancelled” and “collapsed”. I sat up and saw there was a mass exodus back to the parking lot and tracked down a security person about what was going on.
Apparently, part of the stage collapsed killing their drum tech, Scott Johnson, and sending another to the hospital with a head injury. You could barely see the top of the stage bent down but being from the back it was hard to tell the actual damage until I saw pictures later that night on the news. From just outside you could hardly tell any damage had taken place.
Radiohead drum tech killed in Toronto stage collapse | CTV News
Luckily,fans had not been let into the event at this time and were escorted out by the police. It looks like the show is being refunded instead of rescheduled which is understandable considering that the person who died was tied so closely to the band. I hope I get another chance to see them perform and my heart goes out to the band.
I ended up going back to the Sounds Of Music Festival for some more pictures which I hope to start posting later in the week. After getting home late Saturday night and working Sunday along with attending another concert Festival in Rochester I haven’t had time to go through my pictures yet so stay tuned.
Keeping with tradition though, here are some concert choices for the week:
Tuesday (6/19) – Chris Duarte Group @ Callahans
Wednesday (6/20) – Great Lake Swimmers @ the Ark, Stanley Clark @ Chene Park
Thursday (6/21) – Esperanza Spalding @ Ann Arbor Summer Festival, Ragbirds @ Ann Arbor Summer Festival (Top Of The Park), Sonic Lunch featuring Mitch Ryder @ Liberty Plaza (Ann Arbor)
Friday (6/22) – English Beat @ Soundboard Motorcity Casino, Aretha Franklin @ Fox Theatre
Saturday (6/23) – Insane Clown Posse @ Emerald Theatre, Blueflowers @ Magic Bag, 1592 & Sun Messengers @ Ann Arbor Summer Festival (Top Of The Park), Jackyl @ Machine Shop (Flint)
Sunday (6/24) – Billy Bragg @ the Ark, Collective Soul @ St Andrews Hall, Jimmie Vaughn @ Callahans, Puddle Of Mudd @ machine Shop (Flint), Bootsy Collins @ Chene Park
Have a good week and check back for Sound Of Music pictures.