And you wanted everyone to know that you were listening to The Who. And when The Who was on the radio, you cranked your radio up and you drove around Finneytown. Matt Wergers: “They were one of the biggest bands that everybody wanted to see. And it just didn’t get any bigger than The Who.” Mike Simkin: “The Who spoke directly to us. Also included are their painful memories and those of family members of their three young friends - Preston, Eckerle and Morrison - and 18-year-old Peter Bowes of Wyoming, who didn’t come home. This story tells what happened on that horrific night in their own words - what Wergers, Hart Fales, Upson and a fourth Finneytown survivor, Mike Simkin, saw and felt. “Festival seating got a lot of the blame, but to me, it was more they didn’t open enough doors.” “I would never have imagined people getting killed just getting into a concert,” Upson said. “I suspect they were all gone before the doors were opened.” “Everyone was just squeezed to death,” said David Votaw, Preston’s stepfather. And he went down to help her up and never made it up,” Votaw said. “I think Jackie went down in front of him. Preston’s mother said she thinks her son saw Eckerle in trouble and tried to save her. Rock legends Peter Townshend and Roger Daltrey of The Who, and the band’s manager, Bill Curbishley, also spoke to WCPO to mark the anniversary. 3, 1979, along with family members of four of the 11 victims - three from Finneytown - recently shared their stories to mark the anniversary. They were among the lucky ones that night.įorty years later, four Finneytown schoolmates who survived the tragedy outside The Who concert on Dec. And multiple people running through that same glass window.” “Got her seated,” Wergers said, “and I came back down looking for the rest of the group and that’s when I found one of our friends, Cindy Meade, lying on the floor with no shoes, her purse gone, her coat gone, crying on the floor with a pile of other people’s belongings laying everywhere. But he didn’t foresee what he would encounter next. The 18-year-old Wergers had just survived a life-or-death drama on the plaza. “I hate to say this today - sorry, police officer - I slammed a cop to get us out of the way and we went running into the show,” said Wergers, who was one of several friends from Finneytown High School gathered at the coliseum for the highly anticipated concert. Then, Wergers remembers, the duo ran through the turnstiles into the arena, where they thought British rock legends The Who had started playing. The crush of an anxious crowd pressed Matt Wergers and his girlfriend through a glass door on the Riverfront Coliseum plaza in Cincinnati. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. scholarship awardees, as well as three current student musicians sat in with the orchestra that backed the band.įans described the show as not only emotional and historical, but also one that brought some closure to the events of that tragic day 43 years ago.This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Members of nine of the 11 families impacted by the tragedy were there, and photos of the 11 victims were shown on the screen during "Love, Reign O'er Me."ĭuring the final song of the show, "Baba O'Riley," The Who were then joined by seven members of the Finneytown Children's Choir, which is part of the scholarship program while one of the P.E.M. We're gonna go back and try to play the way we used to play in 1979 - loud, messy.here we go." Anyway, it's so lovely to be here in this brand new place. But, you are paying, and your money is going to great causes - many of which are related to what happened back here in Cincinnati in 1979, which is probably time for us to both remember and try to forget. Pete talked about the charitable aspect of the concert, saying, "As you probably know, we're not being paid for this so I'm not gonna work very hard. The scholarship goes to high school seniors who pursue degrees in the arts or music. Memorial Scholarship Fund, which was founded in memory of the three seniors from the city’s Finneytown High School killed that fateful evening – Stephan Preston, Jackie Eckerle and Karen Morrison. Sunday night's concert was a benefit for the P.E.M. He said, "You know, I've been trying to think of what to say, what would be cool to say, what would be uncool to say, and really, there's no words that we can say that can meet with the fact that you guys have come out tonight and supported this event. While performing at TQL Stadiumi, Pete Townshend talked with the crowd following a few songs. The Who returned to Cincinnati, Ohio Sunday night for their first show there since Decemwhen 11 fans were trampled to death rushing the gate at their show at Riverfront Coliseum.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |