Cheap Trick Barely Survives Severe Thunderstorm

Courtesy of frequent commentator, Jill Sixpack (http://jillsixpack.blogspot.com/ ) and the Guardian: Cheap Trick are "so thankful" to be alive after the sudden collapse of their stage at a festival in Canada. A violent thunderstorm tore through the Ottawa Bluesfest on Sunday night, demolishing the main stage and destroying all of Cheap Trick's equipment. As the final notes of I Want You To Want Me rang out, "it just started coming down," recalled manager Dave Frey. "It was like the Titanic or something."
"It was complete pandemonium," Frey told Rolling Stone yesterday. From his vantage point behind the drummer, Frey felt the "still and humid" air change "out of nowhere" at around 8.00pm. "This wind hit that was just huge. The local news sources are saying 96 miles per hour, another one said like a hundred and something. It just blew everything back, cymbals are flying and everything. And we're just like 'get off the stage!' And then I heard the rivets in the truss just starting to pop. BAP! BAP! BAP! BAP! BAP! ... The roof fell, it hit our truck, which was parked behind the stage and that kept it about five feet off of the deck, and that gave us room to run. We were running as fast as we could."
Luckily for the Bluesfest audience – including Ottawa mayor Jim Watson – the stage fell backwards, toward the backstage, not out into the crowd. "There were thousands of people running," reported the Globe and Mail's Jeremy Torobin. "The rain was pounding, pouring down sideways. It was insane." Most of the Cheap Trick's gear was either crushed or soaked-through, with other bits and pieces seized by the police and fire departments for their investigation into the collapse. "Everything is gone," complained Frey. "We're trying to get gear set up for our show [Tuesday] in Buffalo. Do you know where we can rent a five-neck guitar?"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jul/19/cheap-trick-stage-collapse

Cheap Trick just finished a run at the Paris hotel and casino here in Las Vegas late last year and the family went to a bunch of their concerts while they were at the Paris in Las Vegas. Their show was fantastic and the family was lucky enough to sit in seats within 20 feet of the stage. When in Vegas, they played the Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band album along with Cheap Trick's hits. They played with a full orchestra, which made their music sound great.
So, I am glad their are alive and I hope they make it back to the much safer Las Vegas.