As the annual summer celebration of youth culture rolled across the Australian Continent in January / February for the 10th annual 'Big Day Out' tour, serious questions were being asked about the future of summer time, mega-scale outdoor music festivals, both in Australia and around the world. In recent years there have been numerous injuries and concerns about crowd behaviour and safety at mega-outdoor gigs. The volatile mix of a massive amount of bodies in a limited amount of space, combined with heat, decibels and aggro; drawn like lemmings to the immovable barrier of the stage, has made the tragedies of the last two years seem almost inevitable

[At the 2000 'Roskilde' festival in Denmark, when Pearl Jam were playing, nine people died from suffocation] In 2001 at Sydney's Big Day Out' a girl, Jessica Michalik*, died in hospital 5 days after the event and six people were taken to hospital in a serious condition, as well as about 600 people treated for minor injuries at the scene.

The Sydney crowd of approx 55,000-strong started surging forward while the band Limp Bizkit was on stage. The teenager's heart had stopped when security guards pulled her from the crowd. Ambulance volunteers and paramedics took several minutes to revive her before she was taken to hospital, where she never recovered from her ordeal.]

In all these cases, the majority of these injuries were caused by crowd surges and excessive heat.

A Fresh Approach.

From the very start of pre-production for the 2002 BDO carnival, producer Peter West has been touring the world's festivals and consulting with all stakeholders in trying to find a solution to the problem of crowd behaviour.

This attempt to control crowd behaviour has resulted in the first time use of a 'D-barrier' surrounding the mosh pit. This barrier was used to monitor the entry and exit points into the mosh pit, and to isolate this group from the threat of massive crowd surges during the show.

This buffer zone also served to help those who were tiring from the stresses of the mosh to easily escape to a 'breather zone' in the safety of the barrier area.

I spent some time amongst the 'great unwashed' near the entry point to the secure zone, observing the interaction between the security guards and the crowd, before heading upstairs to the FOH tower. The attitude and actions of the security crew contributed to the smooth operation and success of the concept.

The view from the tower allowed me to see how effective this new innovation was during the show. I was upstairs during 'System of a Down's' set when they burst into the crowd favourite 'Chop Suey.'

There was a crowd surge during this set - peaking at the intro to this song - but it was effectively localised in the D-barrier area with no danger of those at the very front being smothered by the vast crowd behind the FOH / D-barrier enclosure area.

The barrier also worked in the opposite direction, helping to stop the outward expansion of the mosh during crowd favourites, a situation as potentially dangerous as a full-on crowd surge. (A few years ago at BDO I was on the periphery of the mosh pit during 'Rage Against the Machines' set. All was going well until the opening bars of their mega-hit 'Killing in the Name Of.' Then all-hell-broke-loose! The mosh expanded rapidly, and suddenly I found myself smack in the middle of the seething masses!! It was a case of jumping in time with the crowd or risk falling over and being squashed!)

During band change-overs there were continual announcements and information concerning crowd surges, heat management and adequate re-hydration.

Finally, the biggest contributor to the smooth running and safety of the event was behaviour and attitude of the punters. From my vantage point it appeared to me that the crowd was acutely aware of the tragedies of the last few years and how 'mob mentality' can have disastrous consequences. The mood of the crowd was 'amped', yet all seemed to be aware of the safety and welfare of others.

A great way to celebrate live music and the summer!!

In the meantime, if you've got any audio questions give me a yell. Send me an email or post a message on ROADTALKZ. [I'm not the font of all knowledge, but if I don't know the answer to your questions, I know enough tech guru's who will!!]

Until then, have-a-good-one!!

Willy T.

mailto:willyt-downunderdesk@roadogz.com

* The promoters of the event - in tune with her parents wishes - organised a moving tribute to Jessica at this year's Sydney BDO. They scheduled 'one minute hour of noise', including yelling Jessica's name at 4 PM. - Return