Observations of crowd conditions at rock concert in Exhibition Stadium, Toronto, 16 July 1980

Publisher’s version / Version de l'éditeur:

Vous avez des questions? Nous pouvons vous aider. Pour communiquer directement avec un auteur, consultez la première page de la revue dans laquelle son article a été publié afin de trouver ses coordonnées. Si vous n’arrivez pas à les repérer, communiquez avec nous à PublicationsArchive-ArchivesPublications@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca.

Questions? Contact the NRC Publications Archive team at

PublicationsArchive-ArchivesPublications@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca. If you wish to email the authors directly, please see the first page of the publication for their contact information.

https://publications-cnrc.canada.ca/fra/droits

L’accès à ce site Web et l’utilisation de son contenu sont assujettis aux conditions présentées dans le site LISEZ CES CONDITIONS ATTENTIVEMENT AVANT D’UTILISER CE SITE WEB.

Building Research Note, 1982-04

READ THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS WEBSITE. https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/copyright

NRC Publications Archive Record / Notice des Archives des publications du CNRC :

https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/object/?id=83d50e23-9a5c-442d-8521-7d9a30e245bd https://publications-cnrc.canada.ca/fra/voir/objet/?id=83d50e23-9a5c-442d-8521-7d9a30e245bd

NRC Publications Archive

Archives des publications du CNRC

This publication could be one of several versions: author’s original, accepted manuscript or the publisher’s version. / La version de cette publication peut être l’une des suivantes : la version prépublication de l’auteur, la version acceptée du manuscrit ou la version de l’éditeur.

For the publisher’s version, please access the DOI link below./ Pour consulter la version de l’éditeur, utilisez le lien DOI ci-dessous.

https://doi.org/10.4224/40000528

Access and use of this website and the material on it are subject to the Terms and Conditions set forth at

Observations of crowd conditions at rock concert in Exhibition

Stadium, Toronto, 16 July 1980

OBSERVATIONS OF CROWD CONDITIONS AT ROCK CONCERT

IN

EXHIBITION STADIUT.I, TORONTO, 16 JULY 1980 by

J.L. P a u l s

INTRODUCT 1 ON

Crowd i n c i d e n t s ,

i n

which people are seriously i n j u r e d or k i l l e d due to

crushing o r trampling, are n o t r e s t r i c t e d t o emergencies such as f i r e OT to c o n d i t i o n s of crowd violence or even simply exuberance of some members of a crowd. Such events can occur, and have occurred, at sports events, religious gatherings and rock music concerts. Serious i n j u r y and even death can occur

during e n t r y to, or during occupancy and evacuation of a building. It can

happen under conditions that might, i n every o t h e r r e s ~ e c t , appear t o be normal even to persons in closc proximity to those h u r t in the Incident.

Two major crowd incidents in North America and Britain during the last decade have led to intensive investigation of design and operating measures that might be useful in reducing t h e chance of serious crowd i n c i d e n t s . The first occurred i n 1971 at Ibrox Park, a stadium in Glasgow, S c o t l a n d , as spectators left near the end of a soccer match. Here 66 people d i e d in a crowd crush on a wide s t a i r . This l e d to an i n q u i r y described in

Lord Wheatleygs Report / I ) , including a study by a Technical Support Group described in part in the SCICON report, Safety in Football Stadia (2). From

this came a new s t a n d a ~ d f o r crowd safety at football grounds ( 3 ) , legislation on crowd safety 143, and regulations f o r implementing crowd safety measures

(53. One of the findings of she technical study commissioned f o r

Lord Wheatleyls I n q u i ~ y was t h a t , between 1902 and 1972, 125 people had been killed and over a thousand injured in accidents at football matches in Great B r i t a i n . Included were four serious incidents at Ibrox Park stadium,

three of them resulting i n 68 )deaths and 219 i n j u r i e s during egress on a

s t a i r { 2 ) .

In December 1979, 11 young people were k i l l e d and about t h e same number

were i n j u r e d in a crowd attempting to enter R i v e r f r o n t Coliseum in Cincinnati f o r a rock concert by the group, The Who. No official comprehensive report on

this i n c i d e n t h a s been published. Among published accounts t h e extensive one in t h e magazine Rolling Stone, 24 January 1980, t r e a t e d the incident from the p o i n t o f view of parricipants ( 6 ) . An o f f i c i a l r e p o r t of t h e Task Force on Crowd Control and Safety, s e t up by t h e C i t y of C i n c i n n a t i , does n o t deal with

the specific incident but rather provides a general discussion a n d s e t of recommendations r e l a t i n g to crowd management, seating, police services, architectural planning and design, emergency medical and ambulance services,

crowd management t e c h n i q u e s , national crowd management standards, plus e x i s t i n g and proposed laws and guidelines for Cincinnati (7).

The Cincinnati Task Force report was released o n l y a week before a major concert by The lzrho and ether rock music groups was to be held on 16 J u l y 1980

in Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. In addition to a general concern about problems of entry to the stadium shcre was m a j o r concern by the Department o f Buildings and I n s p e c t i o n s of the City o f Toronto regarding the adequacy of e x i t facilities from the playing f i e l d area to be used, in addition t o

permanent grandstands, f o r t h e unusually l a r g e crowd expected for the concert.

A court i n j u n c t i o n sought by t h e C i t y , to limit t h e number of people on the playing f i e l d , was

n o t

granted. On the morning of the concert, an invitation

was extended by representatives of the show promoter and the C i t y to the author t o conduct observations of crowd conditions at the concert with a view t o providing technical information that might assist in establishing s a f e t y

guidelines for f u t u r e rock concerts in E x h i b i t i o n Stadium.

The following report records observations by the author during the event.

Because of the s h o r t time a v a i l a b l e , it was not possible to arrange detailed

documentation techniques. Fortunately i t was possible to conduct observations in conjunction w i t h several s t a f f from the City of T o r o n t o Department of

b u i l d i n g s and Lnspcctions. Qnc of thcsc f i l m e d crowd behaviour u s i n g 3

h a n d h e l d Super-8 film camera, thus providing a useful record of several important aspects of the event - a record t h a t was subsequently e d i t e d into a 12-minute Super-8 film held by t h e C i t y Departmens of Buildings and

Inspections. T h i s f i l m complements other photographic, audio tape and w r i t t e n

records made by the author.

Before c o n s i d e r i n g the observations it is useful to n o t e what management, p o l i c e and first a i d r e s o u r c e s were present i n and around Exhibition Stadium during thc concert. Providing most of the ticket control service were

84 usllers and usherettes p l u s S O security guards. All of these wore uniforms o f a p r i v a t e security firm. There were 125 Toronto police, in normal uniform and plainclothes, inside the stadium and around its perimeter.

S t . John Ambulance had two first aid posts in the stadium along with many volunteers. T h e r e were, in a d d i t i o n , r e g u l a r ambulance services standing by inside t h c stadium and immediately outside its gates. (These were used to take some 30 concert attendees to hospital before the event: ended.) The sliow promoter provided approximately 100 personnel. Many of these were peer

s e c u r i t y - individuals who work c l o s e l y and somewhat informally with t h e crowd to manage security particularly in the f o r e s t a g e and back stage areas. T h e i r background and appearance i n f l u e n c e their acceptance by spectators as peers.

In this case members of the peer s e c u r i t y f o r c e wore jeans and blue T-shirts

an which was p r i n t e d "Please f e e l secure'*

-

an ironic comment in view of t h e

tightly-jammed conditions t h a t occurred later i n franc of t h e stage.

The following observations cover a nine-hour period beginning several h o u r s a f t e r the gates opened at 13:00 through to 01:00 when the stadium was almost

c l e a r o f p a t r o n s . Until 20:30 observations were conducted from v a r i o u s places

in t h e s t a d i u m . A f t c - r this, w i t h movement t l ~ r o u g h the crowd difficult if not impossiblc, a l l observations were conducted from the press box on t h e roof of

of t h e n o r t h grandstand where a u s e f u l overview was obtained o f most of t h e stadium and its v i c i n i t y .

'I'hc show was schcdulcd to begin i~bout 1 8 : 0 0 w i t h t h r c c groups,

Nash t h e Slash, J . G c i l s Band, and lieart, preceding The Who. The last of the three groups, Heart, scheduled t o end at 21:15, finished at 21:57. The Who began its performance about o n e - h a l f hour late a t 22: 37 and

f i n i s h e d i t s encore at Q0:48.

CONDITIONS AT 1 6 : 0 0

The grandstands were almost empty. The i n i t i a l entry rush o f people

(who had been waiting a long time f o r the gates t o open) was long p a s t and

they were scattered at a fairly comfortable density i n t h e f i e l d area.

F i g u r e 1 shows a plan of the stadium; Figure 2 i s a photograph taken from

t h e south grandstand looking across the field taward the stage. Several tllousand people were able to s i r comfortably or even l i e down in the area between t w o lighting towers and t h e stage. (This i s s i m i l a ~ t o the

conditions shown in Figure 3 . ) A similar number af people might have been

scattered at lower density on the field behind the lighting towers ( F i g u r e 3 ) .

Not i n c l u d i n g c i r c u l a t i o n a m a s to each s i d e , the t o t a l area of f i e l d

available for t h o s e holding " f e s t i v a l seating" admission t i c k e t s was approximately 3,350 m2 [36,000 sq ft) in f r o n t of the t w o l i g h t i n g towers and 8 , 3 6 0 m2 (90,000 sq Et) behind the towers. Adding 1,500 m2

(16,000 sq ft) f o r c i r c u l a t i o n paths and barricades adjacent to the s i d e grandstands gives a t o t a l a f 1 3 , 2 0 0 m2 (142,000 sq ft) f o r playing f i e l d occupancy. (Mot included in this t o t a l is the area on and around the baseball diamond at the southwest corner of the f i e l d ; it was fenced o f f and not available f o r occupancy. )

Figure 4 shows an area approximately 9

m

[30 ft) deep immediately in

front o f the stage t h a t was being maintained clear at t h i s time by peer security. Two r e l a t i v e l y unoccupied areas, with obstructed views of t h e

stage, were behind each lighting tower. Between t h e f i e l d area and t h e

t w o s i d e grandstands, barricades were e ~ e c t e d w i t h several openings

permitting control of movement between t h e field and the grandstands where washrooms and almost all concessions were l o c a t e d . A movement c o r r i d o r was left on the f i e l d side of these barricades.

A few instances were noted of people who had passed out or were o t h e ~ w i d e su f f e r i n g from the effects of drugs, alcohol, the heat, and perhaps food (singly or i n combination]. St. John Ambulance volunteers sent some of these people to hospital. Late in the afternoon a short discussion, held w i t h the person who headed the operations of

S t . John Ambulance personnel at t h e event, revealed that most of the cases they dealt w i t h were due to such " s e l f - i n f l i c t e d " c o n d i t i o n s .

Several o t h e r informal discussions w i t h S t . John Ambulance personnel and

people working wit11 the Stadium Corporation stressed t h e different behaviour t h a t could be expected from d i f f e r e n s groups o f patrons depending on the p a r t icul ;ir rock groups p e r f o r ~ n i n g

.

I'hc relatively rowdy and dcstructivc

nature sf football s p e c t a t o r s was a l s o noted; t h e use of alcohol is apparently

more prevalent a t football games. CONDITIONS AT 1&:20

There were more people in the grandstands at t h i s t i m e and movement along the cross aisle in the new south grandstand was becoming d i f f i c u l t due to the congestion, The clear area i n f r o n t of t h e stage had disappeared about an hour earlier and peer s e c u r i t y had moved to a narrow barricaded area

immediately in f r o n t of the s t a g e .

The density, where it could be assessed at t h e edge o f zhe crowd, was

judged by the author to be about one person f o r every 0.3 rn2 (3 s q E t ) of f i e l d

area. The density appeared to be greater immediately in front of the stage. Of course people were sranding at this d e n s i t y , whereas previously many had been sitting or l y i n g down. Figure 5 is a phatagrapl~, taken f r o m the stage,

showing t h e dangerously dense crowd condition t h a t was maintained here for up to seven hours.

The general mood of tIlc crowd appeased to be q u i t e good. Frisbees and large inflated balls were being tossed around the f i e l d and the grandstands. An exception to t h i s ~ e l a t i v e l y safe play occurred when someone in t h e

southeast corner fired a smoke flare low across the heads o f the patrons in the d i r e c t i o n BE the south lighting tower. T h i s appeared to be a dangerous p r o j e c t i l e capable of seriously i n j u r i n g people.

Movement through the crowd was still on an Mexcuse-me" basis. WomaL

conventions such as the "keep-to-the-rightn rule were being adhered to in the

movement corridors that had been created on the f i e l d side of t h e barricades separating t h e s i d e grandstands from the f i e l d . Movement here was possible w i t h minor d i f f i c u l t y . Moreover there were s t i l l relatively clear areas on

the f i e l d immediately behind each l i g h t i n g tower.

A t least one instance was seen o f what appeared ta be small amounts of

drugs being sold on the field. The smoking of marijuana was prevalent

th~oughout the f i e l d and the grandstands. A very small amount of drinking was going on, sometimes f r o m 12 o z . (342 mL) size liquor bottles. There were

dazcd looks on the faces of some patrons. (It should be noted t h a t , o u t s i d e t h e stadium, there was much evidence of patrons drinking before entering the stadium.) Police searches for contraband were being conducted at the entry gates j u s t before patrons went t h r o u g h ticket control. T h i s search process at the w e s t gate (Gate A) was observed for approximately 20 minutes; inconsistencies were noted in t h e thoroughness of the searches. Most patrons were unaware of

t h e relative ease w i t h which t h e y could occasionally g e t by particular

o f f i c e r s . A few people, however, were observed to switch lanes and move

o t h e r gaps in t h e search system at gates for passholders where at least one large shoulder bag went through unchecked.

The checking of tickets at the openings between the grandstands and the f i e l d appeared to be inconsistent d u r i n g the afternoon and the early part

of t h e evening. This process, being done by peer security, appeared to break down completely during the evening and t h e r e was l i t t l e evidence over

most of t h e evening t h a t there was any control on the number of people allowed o n t o the f i e l d . A f t e r sunset, about an hour before The IVho were scheduled to begin, such t i c k e t control was almost impossible because of t h e darkness and t h e congestion of t h e crowd even in t h e r e l a t i v e l y accessible movement paths next t o t h e barricades adjoining t h e s i d e grandstands- There was effectively no control over the number or distribution of patrons on the f i e l d . Many of t h e peer security personnel seemed t o be concerned w i t h

protecting t h e stage area and pulling patrons out of t h e dense mass i n front

o f t h e stage. The people being pulled out at this time appea~ed t o be in

good condition b u t it was difficult to tell from a great distance.

Observations from the vantage point of t h e roof-top press box o v e r l o o k i n g the field near the stage, along w i t h closer observations earlier on t h e field l e v e l and a general knowledge of crowd behawiuur [from t h e literature and

from extensive experience with f i e l d studies), led to the following estimates

o f the distribution o f densities and populations on the f i e l d and in t h e

grandstands. These are described in terms of the areas set o u t in F i g u r e 1. Area 1 immediately in f r o n t of the stage, with approximately 300 m2

/7,500 sq ft),, was occupied by patrons who each had an area of

about 0 . 2 m2' (2 sq ft) o r less. Those closest t o centre stage were packed so r i g h t l y that any independent movement or egress from the

area was all but impossible (as shown In F i g u r e 5, a photograph taken earlier in t h e evening).

Area 2, between the two lighting towers, with 836 m2 (9,000 sq ft)

,

appeared to be occupied a t a d e n s i t y of one person for each 0.2 to 0.4 m2 (2 to 4 5q ft) o f area.

Area 3 , w i t h most o f the remaining area in front o f the l i g h t i n g

towers, had 1 , 8 6 0 m2 (20,000 s q ft) in area and held a crowd w i t h a density averaging one person for every 0 . 4 to 0.5 m2 (4 to 5 sq ft). Area 4, totalling around 8,360 m2 (90,000 sq ft), was occupied at a

wide range of d e n s i t y with patrons each having between 0.4 and 0 . 9 m 2 (4 and 10 sg ft] of area.

Additional areas totalling perhaps 1,500 m2 (16,000 sq ft)

,

at t h e sides near t h e grandstands, which e a r l i e r were r o u t e s o f movement,

had by t h i s t i m e become congested with p a t r o n s at a density of one

person f o r every 0.3 to 0.4 m2 (3 to 4 s q ft). One reason for the

elevated platform on t h e north side which was tightly packed with people wanting to get a better view over the f i e l d .

The population on the f i e l d at 21:00 i s estimated to be a s follows:

Area 1 held 3 , 8 0 0 persons Area 2 held 3,000 persons

Area 3 held 4,500 persons Area 4 held 15,000 persons

Remaining areas to the s i d e s h e l d 4,600 persons.

This estimate, ~ 5 t h a t o t a l of 31,000 persons on the field at 21:00, is subj e c t to error; t b e actual population could have been about 20 per cent smaller o r l a r g e r (25,000 ta 37,000 persons]. There was no way to v e r i f y directly t h e densities at the f i e l d e x c e p t in the area immediately in front of the stage where there were indications t h a t people were at crirical packing density where each person h a s l e s s t h a n 0 . 2 m2 ( 2 sq ft) available. There were many empty seats i n the grandstands, including of course t h e large areas at the e a s t e n d s of the g r a n d s t a n d s where t h e stage could no2 be seen.

On tllc .assumption that there wcrc 71,UDO persons i n the stadium the

occupancy of the grandstands was c s t i a a t c d t o b c 34,000 to 46,000 persons at

21: 00.

In t h e area immediately in f r o n t of t h e stage the human wave or surge phenomenon was evident occasionally from 21;00 until t h e end of the concert nearly four hours later. Photographs such as Figure 5 make clear that even before sunset, when earlier sock groups were on s t a g e and nearly t w o hours before The Who appeared, densities were at t h i s packing or crushing l e v e l

where i n d i v i d u a l s are not capable of independent movement. Judging from the

extent of the wave phenomenon, seen from the press box overhead, between one

tl~ousand and two thousand patrons were in t h i s area of critical d e n s i t y

f o r

at least several hours. F o r these persons t h e r e appeared to be only one w a y out of the area and that was to be pulled up and o u t of t h e crowd at or near t h e stage. This c o n t i n u e d througJiouc the evening and at times ]nore t h a n one person per minute was pulled out. This removal process was observed to

require great e f f o r t on t h e part o f those doing the pulling and could easily

have r e s u l t e d in i n j u r i e s in addition to any suffered because of the crowd

crush.

Other indications of distress by those in this crush s i t u a t i o n included t h e frequent dousings with buckets of water and on one occasion a small hose was used to h e l p cool them down and relieve thirst. The f i e l d area was hot

even without the b o d i e s packed t o g e t h e r f o r up to seven hours. Another

indication t h a t the density had reached extreme conditions was seen at t h e end of the evening as many shoes and miscellaneous personal a r t i c l e s littered

the area immediately in f r o n t o f -the stage. The l o s s o f shoes has been

CONDITIONS AROUND 22:00

Owing t o growing concern about t h e crowd crush conditions in front af t h e stage someone from a local r a d i o s t a t i o n came on stage during the break before

The Who performance. Using the public address system he appealed t o people to move back. His tone was somewhat condescending and, for t h e most p a r t , h i s

urgings either were ignored or were followed by so few people t h a t these was no significant change in t h e crowd c o n d i t i o n .

Following this, at approximately 2 2 : 1 0 , another person used the public

address microphone t o appeal again t o t h e crowd.

He

sounded q u i t e agitated

and was obviously concerned about t h e c r i t i c a l nature of the crowd d e n s i t y .

The following is a t r a n s c r i p t of h i s announcements taken from an audio recording made as part of t h e evening's observations. The gaps in the transcript i n d i c a t e that t h e announcements could not be clearly understood even when heard from the roof of the north grandstand far above the noisy crowd.

As well as i n d i c a t i n g the frustration, perhaps even some feeling of helplessness on the p a r t of the announcers, this transcript g i v e s some i d e a of the important background to the concert i t s e l f . Because of their

potentially l a r g e importance

in

crowd management t h e announcements are reproduced h e ~ e as faithfully as possible.

"I'm n o t from CHUM IN. I ' m w i t h

.

,

.

productions and t o g e t h e r with

C P I we've been bringing some nice concerts to Toronto f o r a long

time. We're going to continue to bring spectaculars l i k e The Who to t h i s stadium but we're asking you f o r a l i t t l e cooperation right now. To continue t o bring the kind o f acts t h a t Michael and everybody else at C P I would love to

.

. .

get you to cooperate now. The building

peoplc, the C i t y Police, a l l t h o s e people in the court are looking at you right now. They t r i c d to stop thc c o n c e r t . Welvc g o t to sllow them now t h a t they have no jurisdication and no reason t o do anything

l i k e it. I've got to ask you to move back! F o r us and for f u t u r e concerts, take a step back and look out f o r your neighbour. Please be careful and please s t a r t to move back. It's going to be a g r e a t

show and a g r e a t f i n a l a c t

.

,

. .

Please start to move back.

[Loud cheering here.) We a r e going t o prove to t h e rest of t h e world

t h a t a majar musical event can take place i n Toronto and work. J u s t a s t e p back. J u s t keep taking a step back. Keep an eye on your

neighbaus. Some of you people are getting really crowded. There are some seats in the stands. Be conscious o f t h a t . The l i g h t s t h a t

The Who have b s o u g l ~ t w i t h them you'll be able to see from anywhere in

this stadium so you can j u s t move back a l i t t l e b i t

-

.

.

Just

keep moving back, a step, an inch, keep moving back!"

This series

of

announcements had some effect and there was a movement back,

totalling several steps. Another announcer, apparently the one from the

r a d i o station who had attempted t h e first set of announcements, followed

"Ladies and gentlemen, help your f e l l o w

. . .

you're standing beside and move back

. . .

m i d d l e . Come on. Listen t h e y tried to s t o p this

show but you people wanted to see it!'"At this p o i n t he was a l l but drowned out by rythmic applause, w h i s t l i n g and cheering or jeering a s he continued in a very tense voice to coax people to move back,)

"Come

on.

G e t yourself together. All you people at the back

. . .

now

come on. J u s t move back a couple of s t e p s . Watch out f o r each o t h e r . You don't have t o trample each other, You don" have to push; y o u don't have t o shove; you don't have to punch." (Continued clapping and cheering, almost drowning out the announcer.) "Ladies and gentlemen, this is t h e largest audience this stadium has seen." (Very l o u d

cheering and whistling.) "I'm not

. . .

down here to tell you t h a t if

we d o n i t g e t people back here tlne City fathers, the bureaucrats, the people who have a say in this are going to refuse the

. . .

and we can't ever have a b i g c o n c e r t like this here again- We're s t a r t i n g t o

get a l i t t l e b i t more room up f r o n t here. How about a Little b i t

more

.

. . .

Move back a l i t t l e bit. Come on! [Unintelligible sentence.] Come on! We're going t o t r y it again. We're going t o t r y it a g a i n . Everybody move back one s t e p at t h e count of t h r e e . I t w i l l make it casicr that way. Arc you ready? IIelp me out if you want to. One! l'wo! Three! One s t e p ? That's the s t u f f . T h a t ' s it. L e t t s t r y it again. Everybody now. One! Two! Three! Move back! I t ' s happening

in the f r o n t . IVevve got to make it happen in the back here. All of you guys standing around t h e middle, around the scaffoldings there,

that's r i g h t , you guys s t a n d i n g r i g h t t h e r e , you g o t to h e l p us o u t

here. On the count o f three let's t r y it one more time- Everybody. One! Two! Three! Step back!

. . . .

We're not too f--- g great eh?

Come on, one more time. I know t h a t you can count t o three and you're not stupid. One! Two! Three! Move back!"

This series of announcements, l i k e t h e first series h e gave earlier, had

l i t t l e effect. There was ne large-scale, simultaneous stepping back at the c o u n t of t h r e e . The change i n densixy was q u i t e small i n t h e most crowded section (labelled 1 on Figure I) where there was less than 0.2 rn2 (2 s q f-t;) for each person. If t h e r e had been 3 m (10 ft) of movement to the back here

(and this i s unlikely) each person's area would only have been enlarged by between L O and 20 per cent. T h i s might be enough to reduce significantly the chance of injury.

The t a p e recording f o r t h e above t r a n s c r i p t was made

in

t h e press box high

above the crowd. Within the crowd i t s e l f t h e r e was a great deal of n o i s e ,

making the announcements even more d i f f i c u l t to hear clearly. Respect f o r t h e announcer and clear announcements are needed for such crowd control measures to work. The announcer not from the radio s t a t i o n had more rapport with t h e

audience and was more successful i n g e t t i n g people t o move back. Later in the evening, someone from t h e group The i h o asked the crowd to move two s t e p s

backwards. This had some e f f e c t .

During and shortly after t h e break between the t h i r d rock group, H e a r t , and the f i n a l group, The Who, the aisle stairs and the cross aisles i n t h e newer

grandstand on the south side of the field were filled with people, Looking across the field it was d i f f f i c u l t to dc-Lett where the aisles were. The area appeared to be one undivided mass of people. This d i d not mean t h a t this grandstand was f u l l y occupied. Apparently many people who should have been

in

the grandstand were

on

t h e f i e l d adding to t h e pressures there. (An e s t i m a t e of t h e number of people in t h e grandstands was made at 00:OQ; this is discussed belaw.)

CONDITIONS AT 22:40. WEN 'ITHE WHOrt BEGAN PERFORMING

The wave phenomenon signifying extreme crowd density, which was noticeable during t h e previous group's performance, was occurring again in t h e area

w i t h i n approximately 1 2 m (40 ft) of the s t a g e . It may well have been that

any small reduction in density t h a t was achieved w i t h t h e small steps back during the break was reversed as people again crowded closer to t h e stage. The d e n s i t y on the f i e l d appeared t o be more uniform than it was earlier

[as noted u n d e r the conditions a t 21:00) and at this t i m e it may have been occupied by as many as 35,000 persons. This condition continued until around 00: 00.

CONDITIONS AT 00:OO

A t this time some people s t a r t e d to leave. The grandstands were estimated to have the following occupancies: n o r t h and south s i d e g r a n d s t a n d s were 7 5 per cent to 90 p e r cent f u l l [including the l a r g e l y empty areas b e s i d e the s t a g e ) . The far end grandstand to the west, over 150 m (500 ft) from t h e

stage, was about 40 p e r cent full. This estimate suggests that at t h e i r most crowded c o n d i t i o n the grandstands h e l d 35,000 to 40,000 persons while the field h e l d approximately 30,000 to 35,000 persons, i,e., a t o t a l audience s i z e of approximately 70,000 persons. (At 21:00 the field had been estimated to have approximately 31,000 persons on it,)

CONDITIONS AT 00 : 20. AS ''THE 1WO" BEGAN ENCORE

Toward t h e end o f rheir main performance and just before the encore t h e r e

was more obvious egress flow from t h e field and the grandstands. Many from the n o r t h corner of t h e field, n e a r the s t a g e , used an aisle in the n o r t h

grandstand to leave. At t h i s time the aisle carried a maximum flow of approximately one person per second. Gate A, t h e main entry to the field, was also used for egress from the field. These egress flows almost stopped when The Who reappeared for the encore but picked up again a few minutes

later.

The average t o t a l f l a w from the stadium could easily have been a s h i g h as 200 persons per minute during t h e 2 0 minutes preceding the encore and 500 per minute during the next 28 minutes of the show which ended at 00:48. Thus the population i n the stadium at t h e concertfs end could have been down to

between 55,000 and 60,000. The crowd d e n s i t y in the f i e l d area behind the lighting towers was considerably reduced during t h e encore. The field population could have been down t o fewer t h a n 25,OQO at the end of the concert.

EGRESS CONDITIONS

AT

THE END OF THE CONCERT AT 00:48

A t t h e end o f t h e concert patrons on the field attempted to l e a v e via t h r e e main routes, i n addition to the grandstandsH a i s l e s and vomitories:

Gate A, t h e main e n t r y g a t e for many of people on the f i e l d , had a

width of 9.1 m (30 ft). Beside it was an egress gate with a width of 7 . 3 m (24 ft]. The r o u t e to both gates narrowed t o approximately 15 m (50 ft) between grandstands.

Gate 2, with a width of 6.1 m /20 ft), was reached via a route n o r t h o f t h e stage w i t h access through a 5.5 m 118-ft] gap in barricades. The third (potential) route, to a gate 6 . 7 m (22 ft) wide, was

l o c a t e d southeast of t h e stage and w a s narrowed t o approximately

5.5 rn (18 ft) beside t h e stage (Figure 4 ) .

The route to the north of the stage was opened immediately when t h e

concert ended and barricades prevented people from getting into the backstage area. Thc route t o the s o u t h e a s t o f t h e stage was never opened. It is unlikely t h a t the concert organizers would allow its use because egressing patrons would then move between t h e stage and dressing rooms as well as gaing

t h r o u g h a barbecue area with a t e n t set up apparently for a post-show party.

Several minutes passed before many patrons, waiting for barricades to be removed here, realized the route was not available and they moved t o o t h e r

e g r e s s r o u t e s .

Intensive movement through the barricade opening t o t h e north of the stage lasted for approximately 6 minutes. The route's capacity is estimated t o be a p p r o x h a t e l y 600 persons per minute f o r t h e young able-bodied patrons at this event. It is thus estimated to have been the egress route for up to 3600 persons during the first G minutes of egress.

T h i s north route had defects that campounded the problem of lack of familiarity by patrons. One a f t h e large floodlights used in the l i g h t show was parked in this route. The walking surface was somewhat poor due to cables and o t h e r m a t e r i a l on the ground. Lighting was relatively poor. The main field l i g h t s which added a lot of light to the f i e l d and surrounding areas d i d not come on u n t i l nearly seven minutes a f t e r the end of t h e show. 1Yhen chis egress route f i r s t became available at the end of the rock concert someone collapsed in the middle of t h e dark egress path. Quick-acting

security personnel p u l l e d t h e person out of the way of the crowd that Eol lowed.

The largest entry and egress r o u t e , between t h e old and new grandstands at the west corner of t h e f i e l d , provided a capacity estimated to be about 2000 persons per minute for the young able-bodied p e o p l e present on the field. I t

was extensively used for about 11 minutes by as many as 22,000 persons.

I n the n e w south grandstand the cross a i s l e took about 8 minutes t o clear (except for stragglers). The older grandstand on the north side was not

entirely v i s i b l c from the press box overhead and i t s egress was not

documented; it likely was clear, however, within the same time as the new

grandstand.

These egress times are q u i t e good but not surprising c o n s i d e r i n g the ~ltlturc of t h e crowd which was composed predominantly of y w n g and r e l a t i v e l y fit p e o p l e . D c s p i l e t h c widespread use of drugs and marijuana, w i t h a very small amount of alcohol [the effect of which would have been small later in t h e concert), t h e r e was little evidence of people being unsteady on t h e i r f e e t , weaving or needing assistance when l e a v i n g . The fact that many had

been packed at the very h i g h d e n s i t i e s during t h e preceding six hours or more may have meant t h a t the usual relationships between density and flow perhaps d i d n o t apply here. Therefore the capacity flows estimated above could

e a s i l y have been aotained and perhaps exceeded.

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Although t h e r e were some flaws w i t h the egress system (in terms o f

unavailable g a t e s and r e l a t i v e l y poor lighting in some areas) the b i g g e s t flaw t o be r e c t i f i e d wish future e v e n t s o f this kind is the lack of control

of the number and distribution of patrons on the f i e l d . Those r e s p o n s i b l e

f o r t h i s event should be very t h a n k f u l for the absence of s e r i o u s injuries o r loss of life. Those managing t h e

event

were not able t o r e c t i f y the

crowd crush condition in front of the s t a g e after they had failed t o cxercise control over the number of pcoplc congregating there.

It h a s already been painted o u t that this arrangement, c a l l e d " f e s t i v a l s e a t i n g , ' ' is by no means "seating." The word "f e s l i v a l m ' does not apply

either. If t h e comfortable crowd densities observed i n the f i e l d area around 16:00 could have been maintained somehow, the term "festival seating" m i g h t apply. [See Figure 3.) A t t h i s d e n s i t y , w i t h each person being able to s i t w i t h at least S sq ft o f area, the Exhibition Stadium f i e l d can comfortably hold 20,000 to 25,000 persons. There could be adequate space for

circulation. Moreover, s i g h t l i n e s would be improved far a l l .

Some means must be found for l i m i t i n g t h e number and density of persons immediately i n f r o n t o f the stage. Convenient c i r c u l a t i o n routes around t h a t

area should be maintained. A combination of design and management techniques

might work here i n conjunction with improved awareness by rock show audiences

of the hazards of high crowd d e n s i t i e s such as were encountered during t h i s show and found in tragic crowd incidents.

A d e s i g n feature that apparently has been used successfully in rock

concerts is an increased h e i g h t for the stage so t h a t anyone coming t o o close will not be able to see all the performers on the s t a g e . A refinement might be to cantilever t h e forestage i n such a way t h a t any s p e c t a t o r s who a r e

pushed forward by those behind will simply end up i n a circulation space

under the stage i n s t e a d of being crushed against a b a r r i e r or wall.

A crowd management technique that might be considered is to use closed- c i r c u i t television technology to help s o l v e a classic problem in crowd crush

situations, namely t h e lack of front-to-back comunication. The people a t t h e back have an inadequate idea of t h e trouble they are causing for t h e i r ca1lc;lgucs at t t ~ c front. IIcrc consideration might bc g i v c n to displaying for those at t h e back a closed-circuit t e l e v i s i o n image showing the conditions at t h e f r o n t . In o t h e r words, an attempt should be made to utilize patronsf concern for t h e i r fellows rather than their obedience o f the i n s t r u c t i o n s of

a u t h o r i t i e s .

L i g h t i n g facilities permanently i n s t a l l e d f o r general illumination, p l u s some of t h e complex temporary systems used for l i g h t shews accompanying t h e musical performances, could be used to advantage to h e l p solve problems o f

crowd safety i n c l u d i n g Crowd egress. Exit routes should not be l e f t in relative darkness.

It is n o t w i t h i n the scope of t h i s report to list a large numger of

recommendations for improved crowd safety in events such as t h e observed rock concert. Such reports may come from t h e c u r r e n t work of a committee s e t up by t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l Association of Auditorium Managers to examine crowd safety and management and to propose standards. One currently available set

of recommendations is found i n the report by the Task Force on Crowd Control

and S a f e t y s e t up by the City ef Cincinnati following the tragic crowd i n c i d c n t at t h e rack concert on 3 December 1979 (73.

In conclusion it is worthwhile e c h o i n g one broad recommendation of the

r e p o r t by the City o f Cincinnati Task Force. P u b l i c assembly f a c i l i t i e s and

e v e n t s d e s e r v e more technical attention than has been s e e n to date. We must

f i n d out what d e s i g n and operating measures work in such f a c i l i t i e s and events, as well a s find out what does n o t work, if we a r e t a m a i n t a i n o r

improve the comfort and safety of t h e p u b l i c . The observations reported

above were organized on v e r y - s h o r t n o t i c e and they leave mucIr to be d e s i r e d by way of scope and precision. They are a c o n t r i b u t i o n to a larger e f f o r t t o improvc knowledge and technology of crowd safety.

Gratitude is expressed for the co-operation of management and staff of the

C i t y of Toronto Department of Buildings and Inspections, p a r t i c u l a r l y Arnold Park, Ron Alderson and Werner Sommer who p a r t i c i p a t e d i n field

observations. S p e c i a l thanks go t o Werner Sommer who produced the Super-8

film record and w i t h whom valuable discussions were h e l d a f t e r t h e event. 'The co-operation of E x h i b i t i o n Stadium management during and a f t e r rhc event is a l s o acknowledged with thanks.

REFERENCES

(1) The Right Honourable Lord Wheatley. Report of the I n q u i r y i n t o crowd s a f e t y at s p o r t s grounds. London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, May 1972.

(2) SGICON (Scientific Control Systems L i m i t e d ) . Safety in football s t a d i a : a method of assessment. S c i e n t i f i c Control Systems L i m i t e d , London, 1972.

(3) Home OfficeJScottish Home and Health Department. Guide to s a f e t y a t

sports grounds (Football). London, Her M a j e s t y ' s Stationery Office, 1976.

(4) B r i t i s h Parliament. Safety of Sports Grounds A c t , 1975, Chapter 52.

London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1975,

[5) B r i t i s h Secretary of State. The safety of sports grounds regulations 1976, No. 1263. London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1976.

( 6 ) C h e t Flippo. Why eleven died i n Cincinnati. Rolling Stone, January 24, 1980, p. 10.

(73 Crowd management: r e p o r t of the Task Force on Crowd Control and

Figure 1. P l a n of Exhibition Stadium showing t w o lighting

towers [small black squares), egress routes

from f i e l d and areas occupied by crowd at various densities d u r i n g the rock concert.

F i g . 2 . View from new south grandstand to stage

and o l d north grandstand at about 1 6 : 0 0 , two hours

b e f o r e the concert began. The press box, from which

most of the r e p o r t e d obser-

vations were conducted,

extends across t h e roof o f

t h e n o r t h grandstand.

F i g . 3. Two hours before

the concert began, people were able to s i t a t a comfortable density

on

t h e f i e l d which was covered with a tarpaulin p r o t e c t i n g

t h e artificial turf.

F i g . 4 . Peer security

maintained a

clear area separating the audience and s t a g e (to the sight, off t h e photo- graph) two hours b e f o r e

t h e concert began.

Barricades, blocking t h e s o u t h e a s t egress rouTe

f r o m t h e f i e l d , a r e shorn at the lower right. These

remained in place even

if-

Figure 5. Toronto S t a r newspaper photograph, taken from

the stage, shows the dangerously dense crowd c o n d i t i o n that was maintained f o r up t o seven

hours. Cooling thirst-quenching water, fre-

quently thrown by t h e bucket at these people,

contributed to t h e i r unkempt appearance as t h e evening progressed.