Man Falls To His Death At Wembley Oasis Concert

[RabbitsRock]

Just reading a thread on Redditt about this. Terrible situation. The thing that sticks with you the most is the insane amount of alcohol that was being consumed ( it hasn’t been stated that the man who fell was drunk but a lot of people were) & apparently Wembley Stadium proudly claimed they’d sold 250K pints. Not sure if that was in one night. Many concertgoers had been drinking all day & some could hardly stand up, plus the stadium floors were like ice rinks from spilt beer (it was being thrown everywhere). I don’t drink anymore but even when I did, I couldn’t get my head round why people feel the need to get absolutely steaming drunk to have a good time.

I was there the other week in the first row of the top tier and it really is very high. I was sober but caught myself leaning against the railing mindlessly a few times throughout and thought a few times about how easy they would be to topple over. The view from that high up also provided a view throughout of intoxicated people in the standing area being thrown out/taken to medical every couple of minutes. There were SO many and that was only one side! Disaster waiting to happen and very sad regardless of circumstances.

I hope your DC and their friends are OK, I can’t imagine how traumatising it must be to witness something like this.

I agree op. I don't understand why the need to get so drunk. I went to a small, seated gig recently and the couple next to me drank so much they could barely stand. I don't understand why they drank so much at a gig. They were in their 50s.

RIP. His poor family.

I’m surprised this doesn’t happen more. Concerts are such huge, built up events now and people are drinking way more. Mixing that amount of people, with all the steps and high seating and alcohol. It’s deadly.

Slane Castle in Ireland is the worst, both times I went to a concert I felt lucky to be alive after it. 😁

I went to loads of concerts the last few years and can feel them getting progressively more uncomfortable so don’t think I will be going to any again for a long while.

I was there on Wednesday night - high up in the Gods seating. I was sober. The three people below me, especially the man, were absolutely hammered. He was swaying from side to side, staggering forward. I said to DH “what if he falls?”. I kept feeling like I needed to grab his shoulders, ready to save him.

it crossed my mind many times that we were all dancing and could fall. It was an incredible atmosphere but we were dancing like we were on the pitch.

when it was time to almost leave, we left before the fireworks as I was generally scared of that many people leaving the venue and accidents.

They just feel incredibly sad for the man. But thanks - I think the people who were at the bottom rather than right at the top will definitely have been badly affected.

What I find astonishing is that no-one else was hurt.

Sorry I meant Wembley. I don't know why I wrote O2!

But there was a thread, as I said. I think the OP was thinking about not going.

Eta link to thread:

www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5380455-to-not-go-to-oasis-despite-having-tickets?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

I appreciate why posters are focusing on the alcohol because so much has been sold.

But surely stadium design shouldnt allow for this to happen in any circumstances. People trip, get jostled etc. the design should allow for that.

This is what I am trying to work out. I really don’t want to speculate as to what may or may not have happened but I have been to several football matches and gigs at Wembley and I can’t work out how you would accidentally fall from the seats (no matter how drunk you were) without your fall being broken by the rows of people in front of you. I think there may be more to this story than is currently being reported (and that’s fair enough, I don’t think the public need to hear the gory details).

Thank god for some sense and not silly hyperbole!

I was at a big concert at a large venue packed to the rafters on very steep balcony seating last year. The amount of booze flowing and very drunk people and puking going on was incredible. I am surprised these things don't happen more often.

Yeah it’s the combination of the steepness and some people being drunk makes it doubly dangerous .

I went to a stadium in my early 20s, I think Manchester arena perhaps but not sure. Anyway I felt light headed and dizzy as we walked up the steps to our seats, and to be clear I wasn’t drinking lol. It was the height that made me dizzy!

I’m not good with heights so I thought I was just being over dramatic, but hearing about this tragedy tells me I was right to be wary.

I don’t understand why safety glass can’t be put as an extra height barrier not just between the rows of seats but also on top of the wall at the edge.
We have safety glass for balconies so why not in these seating areas

Also why is there no safety netting under these barriers if they are so low.

Sometimes it might seem like no safety netting is required because a barrier conforms to certain height standards but accidents happen and for peace of mind I do think architects when building these places. need to think about worse possible outcomes and add safety features. Even the stadiums should have put safety features (netting at the very least in)
It’s not as though people haven’t been complaining about how low the barriers seem up in the top levels of these big stadiums from the day that they opened.

I agree, I wouldn’t drink at a concert but I still feel it could be unsafe for me despite being sober and alert.

A terrible thing to have happened to that man.
I am going g to oasis in a few weeks. When we bought the tickets I didn't know what seats we had got then o realised they were high up and I've actually been dreading the concert since. I'm not really afraid of heights but I hate the thought of climbing up to get there.

Honestly I’ve been in level 4 at the 02 and nearly had a panic attack. I remember going to see Dolly Parton, and the lady next to me had a full attack and had to be escorted elsewhere.

I’ve also sat in block 516 a few times for various football games at Wembley and it’s fucking high and insanely steep. I was terrified standing up and making my way up/down the stairs because like others say, it feels like you could topple off. It’s literally my biggest fear in life, so condolences to the man’s family and friends, it’s heartbreaking,

Me neither. I don't understand all.the drinking.

I remember when I was 11 (last Year of Primary) and we went to a Theatre in Central London and we were up in the Gods, so to speak
I was absolutely terrified .
I don't go to the Theatre much but if I do I make sure I am not right up there

This is awful, poor guy, do not expect something like this to be the outcome of a night out that he was presumably enjoying himself at.
Both DDs and DH were there on Saturday and they said there were so many people there completely off their face. It’s so high and steep, it was also very slippery because so many ‘drinks’ (sure it wasn’t the expensive beer) being thrown around. Lots of pushing to get out at the end because there’s 90,000 trying to get home on time. And they were there from 5pm to 10.30pm so plenty of time for insane amounts of drinking to take place. They could see various fights break out in the standing area and one person was stretchered out. Gigs like this really need a rethink at such enormous venues. They’re taking my mum to Coldplay at Wembley at the end of the month - hopefully it won’t be quite as bad but then again they saw a fight break out in Cardiff at the Stevie Wonder gig last month, so who knows.

@Bananachimp clearly it isn’t the point of the thread, however people have pointed out both the cost of alcohol and the amount consumed. I can point out my surprise at the numbers able to do it. I felt the same way about the Eras tour. Extraordinary money, and no shortage of people able to pay the prices.

I've been to lots of football games at Wembley. You can't drink alcohol within view of the pitch, but you can on the concourse.

In one of the Euro 2020 games at Wembley (in 2021) a fan fell from the upper tier. He was quite badly injured (broken pelvis + more) but survived.

I wouldn’t call it tittle tattle as the folks posting had either been at Wembley that night, another night or at a different Oasis venue. Plus they were discussing concertgoers’ behaviour in pubs etc during the day, not solely at Wembley

Sweden introduced strict restrictions on alcohol almost 100 years ago, influenced by the Temperance movement which was v popular over there. It’s debatable how severe the problems were vs how convenient a moral panic was for the movement’s objectives.

Their venue licensing is similar to ours but generally time is called earlier (maybe 1am in most places?). The biggest difference is the systembolaget which are state run off licences, giving the govt a monopoly on retail sales of alcohol. They’re not open late or on Sundays and only open for a half day Saturdays.

The people who profit from the event would like to spend as little money as possible on the safety of the cash cows who attend the event 🤷🏻‍♀️