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Andrea Berninger column: The A List: Poison’s actions irresponsible, dangerous

The Forum - 06/28/2001
Missy Nord expected to have a blast at last Saturday’s Poison concert, an event she’d planned to attend months earlier.

Instead, the Rothsay, Minn., woman has a severely sprained ankle that hurts so much she was unable to sleep or go to work earlier this week.

Her injury happened when the band, after playing two songs, told VIP ticket-holders to move forward to a small standing area in front of the stage. Then singer Bret Michaels instructed general-admission fans to fill up the area vacated by the VIP section, “so we can have a real party.”

Nord and her friends had arrived early to secure standing spots at the front of the general admission area, against a wooden fence. With excited fans rushing forward, their only escape was straight over the fence. Nord came down hard, and another fan who clambered over landed on her ankle.

In the VIP section, where I was sitting, things also got chaotic. People started spilling over the fence as soon as Michaels gave word. My friend and I avoided kicked-over plastic chairs and got shoved as we scurried to find our new spots. Since I’m not very comfortable in crowds to begin with, it was pretty alarming.

The rest of the show, spent in front of an amp, was deafening but otherwise undeniably great.

Not so for Nord and her friend Nancy Kemper, Moorhead. They listened to the concert from a picnic table in the VIP reception area. Nord said she wanted to hear the music despite her throbbing and swollen ankle. Both paramedics and fair employees were very attentive, she said, but her concert experience was soured.

“I was very emotional. I kept going back and forth,” she said. “I had a good time for a while, and then I was crying for a while.”

After the show, Nord went to the emergency room. She’ll wear a cast and use crutches for several weeks.

When told about Nord’s injury, fair manager Bruce Olson responded “You always hate to see that happen.” He said he wasn’t aware of any severe injuries or other incidents.

Fair management, Poison and fans were lucky Saturday night. The Red River Valley Fair is no poorly run Woodstock 1999, where some fans started riots and were sexually assaulted. Still, the concert had the potential for trouble.

I understand why Michaels and company wanted people to move forward: They obviously wanted to offer the best view for as many fans as possible.

Still, Poison’s seating “plan” would have worked better if the fair’s stage set-up didn’t include obvious barriers like fences, or if a regular emcee – rather than the charismatic Poison frontman – had told people to move before the concert started and fans got excited.

Fans shouldn’t have climbed the fence, Olson said. But when you’re surrounded in a crowd, you can’t see the side exit that led into the VIP section. And Michaels wasn’t exactly pointing out directions.

With a crowd of about 15,000, Poison gave the best-attended concert of this year’s fair. Olson said he plans to include more rock shows in future years.

I hope the bands are more responsible than Poison.

It’s good Poison brought out strong attendance for the fair, which has suffered the whims of Mother Nature in past years. But the same number of people would have bought tickets and refreshments whether or not the band spontaneously rearranged seating.

Part of the fun of a concert is letting loose for an evening, but everyone who goes is still entitled to a level of safety that wasn’t present Saturday.

Poison’s publicist declined to comment on the incident.

Overall, I’m sure more people enjoyed the show than not. But for all the concerts Poison’s played, the band doesn’t appear to be very well-rehearsed in crowd control.

Poison’s action was irresponsible at best; dangerous at worst. I wonder: Is the risk of injury and melee worth a little more rowdiness and a better party atmosphere?

Readers can reach Forum reporter Andrea Berninger at (701) 241-5533

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