News - The Damageplan Concert Tragedy: Who Was Responsible For Protecting The Artists?

A week and a half ago, alleged shooter Nathan Gale entered the Alrosa Villa concert hall and shot dead three people, including popular former Pantera guitarist Darrell “Dimebag” Abbott while he was performing. Many questions remain unanswered about that horrible tragedy.

A lot has been made public about Mr. Gale since the shooting disaster. Mr. Gale has been described as a tortured soul with psychological problems. The public also knows a lot about the brave concert staff and concertgoers who tried to come to the aid of Mr. Abbott and the heroic Columbus police officer who was forced to shoot dead Mr. Gale before he did anymore damage.

But, much less information is known about the persons or agencies responsible for protecting Mr. Abbott, concertgoers or Damageplan band members he was performing with that night. None of the parties involved with the promotion and production of the December 8, concert has publicly discussed their duties or contractual arrangements. Tour management Pinnacle Entertainment, Damageplan and Alrosa Villa’s manager Rick “Rock-N-Roll Reverend” Cautela certainly would know who are the responsible parties.

In general, in concert security contract language (See circa 2000 heavy metal band contract example), artists have final say in the number, qualifications and location of concert security. Contract language is similar from one concert to another. Variances are a result of such things as event crowd size, crowd profile and stage configuration. But, the need to secure the stage area and access to it, remain a primary focus of artists. Either the tour manager, production head, or tour security of a major act will customarily have the authority to approve the final security and crowd safety plan. That said, the promoter and/or venue management are still responsible for how security performs. The missing link to Alrosa Villa’s apparent failed concert security may be found in the Damageplan concert tour contract. That contract has not as yet been made public.

Knowing who was responsible for protecting the artists and concertgoers will bring little solace to anyone at the Alrosa Villa on December 8. Neither will it diminish the courageous efforts of the innocent victims killed and wounded who tried to come to the aid of Mr. Abbott or escape the insanity. Knowing what when wrong---where, when, how and by whom---will help us understand the missteps that gave Mr. Gale such a clear path to the stage.

More importantly, this information could help strengthen future concert security and crowd safety efforts. That may be the legacy of this tragedy. That is, if local authorities---or the concert industry---step forward to seize this opportunity.