One Killed, 15 Injured After Storm Causes Stage Collapse at Country Music Festival

One woman was killed and at least 15 were injured August 1st when a stage collapsed following a powerful storm at Alberta, Canada's Big Valley Jamboree, a popular country music festival. Two people remained in critical condition as of yesterday, CNN reports. The stage collapse occurred at around 6pm local time in front of a crowd of 15,000.

A country singer named Billy Currington was on stage when the storm hit and he suffered a mild concussion among other injuries. Currington's bassist, Alex Stevens was trapped under the stage after the collapse, crushing his arm in an injury that required surgery yesterday. Actor Kevin Costner and his band Modern West were scheduled to be the next band to perform on the stage before it collapsed, CNN reports.

A severe storm warning was issued at 6:04pm local time in the Camrose, Alberta area, roughly seven minutes after the stage had collapsed, says the Edmonton Journal. Witness accounts tell stories of speakers crushing bleachers and scaffolding buckling. According to reports, officials were in the process of evacuating the area when the stage collapsed.

See video of the stage collapse here

As evidenced by the video above, filmed by CISN FM, winds whipped through the festival grounds, reaching more than 100 kilometers per hour. The Edmonton Journal identifies Donna Moore of Lloydminster as the woman killed in the stage collapse. While police say 15 people were hurt in the incident, the festival's production company Panhandle Productions estimated that at least 75 people required medical assistance. The Big Valley Jamboree canceled all performances scheduled for Sunday, August 2nd, following the incident.

Currington, in a statement posted on Twitter today, wrote "The boys and I are very grateful to be home and for life itself. We thank you for your prayers and concern and will see you on the road again soon. My heart goes out to the family of Donna Moore who was killed and all of the other fans who were hurt on Saturday."

As Rock Daily reported just last month, a stage collapsed in preparation of a Madonna concert in Marseilles, France. Two crew members were killed in that accident.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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