Are Patrons Or Promoters To Blame For Deaths At Shows?

Although we’ve had reports of drug related deaths at Coachella this past year along with other Electronic music festivals, Mysteryland, which is hosted in the same premise as the original Woodstock, Sunset Music Festival, Detroit Electronic Music Festival and EDC NY this past Memorial day weekend reported no deaths and slim to no difficulties with patrons.

As 50,000 fans were forced to evacuate EDC NY, no one trampled, no one stampeded over their fellow ravers. The huge congregation of EDM fans managed to maintain a delicate and respectful evacuation for the duration of the evacuation before the show recommenced later that afternoon. During Mysteryland, a local sheriff stated, “They were a very well mannered crowd, I walked through the crowd; I saw the kids. They were just there to have a good time. It was just wonderful to see.” But those are two completely different cases in comparison to Detroit, obviously something had to happen at Detroit’s Electronic Music Festival right? No.

Now people overheated, patrons were hurt and hospitalized but no one lost their lives. I don’t know if it is just the luck of the draw or if the promoters and high-ups of these music festivals have their ducks in a row. It doesn’t matter, the facts are that these shows have something in common that needs to be shared with all other show promoters as no one should have to pay, in some cases, absurd amounts of money to attend a show, all in halfhearted faith that they will make it out of there in one piece.

-Chris Wood-