Radiohead Returns To Toronto After 2012 Fatal Stage Collapse, Demands Justice

John Davisson – Thom Yorke of Radiohead
Thom Yorke and Radiohead kept its poise through sound problems during its headline set at Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival at Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif., April 14.

When Radiohead took the stage July 19 for its first of two nights at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, it marked the band’s first performance in the city since the 2012 stage collapse at Downsview Park that killed drum technician Scott Johnson. Johnson was on the band members’ minds as the group and his family are still waiting for answers about the tragedy. 

Frontman Thom Yorke addressed the incident before Radiohead’s encore, calling the silence on the matter “deafening” and saying that “the people who should be held accountable are still not being held accountable,” according to The Canadian Press. 

The band held a moment of silence in Johnson’s honor before playing the song “Karma Police,” according to the Guardian.  

Charges against Live Nation, engineer Domenic Cugliari, and Optex Staging over the stage collapse that killed Johnson and injured three other workers were dropped in September 2017 by Justice Ann Nelson, who determined that delays in the case had deprived the defendants of their right to a speedy trial. The defendants faced 13 charges of violating the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The case was opened by Canada’s Ministry of Labor in 2013 and took a long time to process because of its technical nature. The previous judge overseeing the case, Justice Shaun Nakatsuru, had allowed the trial to extend well past the 18-month limit originally set for it but a mistrial was declared earlier in 2017 after his appointment to the Ontario Superior Court.

In November the government of Ontario called for an inquest into Johnson’s death.

 

Johnson’s father said he spoke with Ontario’s chief coroner this week and the inquest is expected to begin in February or March, according to the Canadian Press.

Pollstar previously reported that Ontario’s Ministry of Labor conducted a yearlong investigation into the collapse but never made its findings public. The CBC filed a freedom of information request for the documents but hadn’t received a response.

Drummer Philip Selway spoke to BBC Newsnight July 18, saying, “It’s very frustrating. The court case broke down on a technicality. There were 13 charges brought against Live Nation, Optex Staging and the engineer Domenic Cugliari. So with that court case breaking down there have been no real answers. Without the answers we can’t ensure that an accident like this doesn’t happen again. So yes, there’s real frustration.”