Official Bluesfest 2011 Lineup

[Freeker]

Reports of one broken leg and that's it. Thank god.

[Big Wooly Mammoth]

The Sunday evening programming at Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest was cancelled after a violent storm caused the main stage to collapse and forced thousands to seek shelter in the Canadian War Museum.

Bluesfest videographer Alex Gebethner, 24, was atop the tower in front of the main stage with a group of people, including Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, when the tornado-force winds hit around 7:20 p.m.

Cheap Trick was about 20 minutes into their performance, but was able to get off the stage safely.

Another videographer was about to descend the steep stairs when a gust of wind nearly swept him off the 50-foot tower. Gebethner said someone, likely a mayor’s aide, grabbed him, and probably saved his life. “I haven’t been this close to death in a while,†said an obviously rattled Gebethner.

Bluesfest official Joe Reilly said one person suffered a broken leg. He said there were no serious injuries.

Reporters on the scene say the festival grounds outside the Canadian War Museum are being evacuated and police have surrounded the fallen stage. People are taking cover inside the museum.

The scene is one of panic, as family members are trying desperately to re-connect with each other.

Citizen reporter Chris Cobb was on scene and said the storm came in the form of dark clouds and violent wins from the Ottawa River, blew into the MBNA stage and it collapsed immediately.

The band Cheap Trick ran from the stage seconds before the stage collapsed and their road crews emerged minutes later to rescue instruments. The drum kit appeared to be holding up, Cobb said.

Concertgoer Tayleigh Armstrong witnessed the stage collapse.

“Cheap Trick was playing and they kind of just finished playing ‘I want you to want me’ and then … the storm came out of nowhere, like two minutes it started looking cloudy and then the stage just like crumbled and collapsed backwards,†she said.

The storm wreaked havoc in other parts of the city, with multiple power outages and water rescues being reported.

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Bluesfest+stage+collapses+storm/5116446/story.html#ixzz1SPedXCV9

Edited July 18, 2011 by Guest

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Pretty scary. I was in Aylmer when the front hit, and saw the thing traveling down the river, lifting water into the air; people on the beach were drenched before it even started raining. Branches and even trees started flying, a boat was flipped upside down, and then I thought the entertainment value of the thing was pretty much exhausted. Thank God nobody was seriously hurt.

[Freeker]

http://youtu.be/rh2Y7rG-24M

Here is what the aftermath looked like.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

The drum kit appeared to be holding up

[Freeker]

It was weird to see the drum kit unscathed in the middle of all that twisted metal.

[Cosmic ChrisC]

Seeing that stage collapse was heart-wrenching.

When the rain started and the speakers were dying during Cheap Trick, Ollie and I decided to go in the beer tent on stage right of the main stage, but when the wind picked up dramatically, we figured that being under a tent was not a good idea so we exited and I looked back to see the collapse of the stage. And I felt like crying.

We stayed on the grounds for a while, looking for friendly faces and ran into Freak By Night, Marnie and Whitey in the merch tent and not long after, security announced the end of the festival.

So many people put their heart and soul in this festival; I can't imagine how they must feel right now, on the last day of another terrific year.

I'm very happy to hear that nobody died.

Who else feels like they need proper closure?

[phorbesie]

That was the the worst thing I have ever witness with my own eyes.

[Freeker]

http://adietrich.wordpress.com/2011/07/18/main-stage-collapse/

[Freeker]

Here is the actual collapse.

http://ottawastart.blogspot.com/2011/07/main-stage-collapses-at-bluesfest-photo.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FsBHK+%28OttawaStart+Blog%29&utm_content=Twitter

[Im going home Donny]

Holy crap! That is some sweet goodluck that folks are okay after some real shit bad luck. I wonder if the stage had faults or just..what was that?!

[ollie]

Nice job on the news Freaker!

[Esau.]

Global (I believe) news last night said one person was in critical condition after having something from the stage pierce their stomach. Not sure how accurate that all is, but it appeared they were at the festival reporting.

[Booche]

During the sweet sounds of Blue Rodeo at Bluesfest on Friday night, marriage proposals flashed across the big screen next to the stage.

“Gentlemonkey, will you marry me?†tweeted b0uch3. It was one of the many tweets—including a handful of marriage proposals—that Bluesfest organizers posted to the video screens during the show.

Romantics who were in the crowd that might be disappointed to learn that b0uch3, whose real name is Mike Bouchard, says the proposal was tweeted “in jest.â€

It was sent, not to a lover, but to a close friend named Jay who he shares hairy manbutt sex with.

“I was at home, exhausted and thought since I knew he'd be at the show likely watching Blue Rodeo, I would catch his attention by sending a proposal tweet,†said Bouchard.

Another proposal tweet posted during Blue Rodeo’s set, from Max Lamothe to Jessica Degrasse, also didn’t end in an engagement, according to Lamothe’s Twitter feed.

“Whoa twitter world I'm not engaged...made it on the big screen a couple dozen times tho,†he tweeted later in the night.

The person who proposed to Jim Cuddy via Twitter while he sang onstage may also be out of luck, as the Blue Rodeo singer isn't single.

[ollie]

Freaker made ABC World News!

[mister slippery]

Jeez!

Glad those of you I know seem to be OK.

Wishing swift healing to the injured, sounds awful.

[Freeker]

Dang it, I knew I was going to regret talking to that reporter.

[SaggyBalls]

Freaky.

[Davey Boy 2.0]

I slipped in the mud and got a wet bottom so you can add one more minor injury the total, my pride.

[Tungsten Gruvsten]

I slipped in the mud and got a wet bottom....

Yeah but those two events were unrelated....

[phishtaper]

wow. thats fucked.

thoughts with all those injured and traumatized.

[Tungsten Gruvsten]

That is a big stage to come down - considering the biggest stage i've ever worked on would fit comfortably inside it... - all the anchoring, heavy duty bolts and forethought won't prevent physics or nature having their way with a big sail...

[bouche]

Dang it, I knew I was going to regret talking to that reporter.

of all the people they could have been talking to, they found freaker. if you yelled out "Baba Booey" you could have made the stern show as well

I only saw this news after our power went out last night. I was checking twitter for power outage news, and my recent #ottawabluesfest search had pulled up the stage collapse news. When the storm hit our place in gatineau, I joked that I should tweet something to the big screens...knowing that apparently my big screen tweets had been noticed before (see above). I'm so glad to read that Monahan evacuated the stage in time. Considering the amount of people involved in running the main stage, it's very nice to know that mostly everyone cleared out in time.

[rubberdinghy]

I was in the cafeteria in the museum.

By the time I got to the bar all the beer and wine was done.

Anyways waited until about 8:30 to leave and biked around the site.

It was a war zone! Jesus...Thankfully I was able to down my last meatball sub just before the storm hit.

And thoughts are with the gentleman in critical condition. Get well.

[Im going home Donny]

Freaker made ABC World News!

!!!!