san diego at jack murphy the crowd squeezed to the stage like I've never seen in hundreds of large concerts like that, mick noticed but played it up then saw panic on peoples faces and asked everyone to take a step back after the song and everything was good from there- ive seen lots of squeezing, its part of GA, but NOT like this

Rome 2007. My Dear Lady Anne suffers from MS. She's not in a wheelchair, she can walk and stand but not for a long time. So we always get seats for every show we go to. Anne and I had great seats for this show, very close to the stage. And we were able to find our seats. But then a couple of thousands of "fans" decided to take over the field. Not only were they standing in front of everybody, but they were also standing on the chairs to get an even better view, totally ignoring everybody else. All that Anne could see were the backs and bottoms of those people. This was all before the show started. Therefore we decided to leave our seats and try to get to the back of the stadium, out of the crowd. But this was also impossible, because the rows and isles were totally blocked by thousands of people. I could have forced my way out, but for Anne this was impossible because already the 1st group of people simply refused to step back a little. So we had no other choice then to stay where we were. We didn't panic, but it was very scary. I know I posted this story before, but I think it fits well in this thread.





-------------------
Keep On Rolling

I was in Rome and I can see myself in the video.I have never been to a concert like that and I traveled many,many hours just for them.They said that arena tickets were sold , and when I arrived in the stadium they wouldn't let us in because they told us that our tickets were fake.
However they left us and I was dissapointed to be that far away.I was thinking to go there to the yellow door to wave the security guard extra money to let me in.
THey tried to go in several time and half an hour I think before the concert, they let us from both sides to pass.Of course the crowd who was on the seats in the Arena was frightened because they were so relaxed and we @#$%& what they've paid for but I couldn't do something different back then.At least now I get tickets earlier.

Twicks during the ABB tour. Got held up with a crowd in the tube. A white guy wanted to get ahead of the crowd but the black attendant wouldn't let him. Ended up with the white guy screaming racist stuff at him. Needless to say he got moved on very quickly.....

Yes,at Rich Stadium in Buffalo, 1978. A guy OD'd right in front of me during the show. Ambulances and all arrived. I panicked at that moment.

Also, at Keith's CNIB concert in Oshawa,Canada, 1979.When the Stones hit the stage everyone pushed forward. It was chaos.

My first stones show. I was 16 and my dad gave me his station wagon to drive to Pontiac. So I picked up my buddies and we hit the road around midnight the day of the show. It was general admission so our novice concert instinct told us to be there early and go hard core. Its the Stones you know. So we hit the road. Finally, after arriving we parked across the street from the dome, and soon there after a cop pulled up. All doobies were quickly extinguished and our straight faces were put on. The cop actually was quite cool. "Guys I know your here for the show, but you can't hang out here all night. Hit the road and don't come back until the morning." So dejected and desperate we drove around in a neighborhood near the Dome. Finally we found a dark and deserted area, and we parked. Then partying, trying to sleep, talking bull, the sun started to rise and we knew we had to hit it. Oh, and this was in November! And it was freezing, a typical Michigan day. So we parked and saw we were not the only ones, and ran to the outer rim of the stadium parking lot. And we were met with a barrier with guards. We had to stand there for about two hours, and then bam! They opened the gate and we ran, or tried to run with frozen and tired feet, that was my first glimpse of concert nerves. I thought, "oh boy, if I fall, I am done, trampled under foot!" But we made it to a cordon in front of one of the main entrances into the stadium. And that is where we waited for 8 hours before they opened the doors. And that is when my education began. Every type of freak was there, hard core bikers, stoners, drunks, a rock and circus. And some of the sights were not pretty. Around 3pm the crowd started getting oppressive. Very tightly packed, people stoned, drunk, and now starting to yell and push. And when you push in such a tightly knit group it is like a wave of panic. And soon bottles started flying, fights broke out and general mayhem, with five pathetic, stoned, and tired teenagers looking on in wide eyed wonder. Well the guards woke up to the looming potential disaster, and they opened the doors. And a wave of humanity started clawing its way towards the door to grab the seat of their dreams. Well we made it! And it was about 4pm and we waited, waited, and waited until finally around 8pm and Iggy Pop came on. At that time I was still learning about him and not much of a fan, and he nearly caused a riot when he came out in a mini-skirt! Cups of beer, and a barrage of projectiles rained on poor Iggy, until he quickly ended his set and retreated. Next, Santana! And the tore it up. The Stones ended up finally hitting the stage around 10pm! Our dreams came true, and our teenage surge of energy came to life and we rocked out for the next two and half hours. The rest is history.

Quote
mickscarey
Crowd leaving Wembley 89. Thru a tunnel. Bad news/no crowd control

...Wembley '90, you mean?!
Yeah, was there too.

Quote
moonchild57
Louisiana Superdome New Orleans 1978. Thousands crowed around outside waiting and not enough doors were opened in that area to get inside. Could have easily been another Who Concert situation.

Somewhere I have a photo of the crowd outside the dome just before the doors opened.

Quote
Filip020169

Quote
mickscarey
Crowd leaving Wembley 89. Thru a tunnel. Bad news/no crowd control

...Wembley '90, you mean?!
Yeah, was there too.

Sorry, yes, 1990. Urban Jungle indeed.

i was on stage at charlotte seeing the stones all rushed in to their cars and cops and dogs coming up the stairs was mildly unsettling

OLDKR

Attending one of the great Mozart operas is surely far more relaxed but on the other hand just as exciting (musically) as my first Stones concert with Taylor in 1973.

not at a Stones concert but (believe or not) at a Huey Lewis concert.

it was 1984...his album had just hit #1....it was at a jam-packed festival (general admission - standing)
and we were all packed in like sardines. Crowd was probably 35,000...and I was in the 4th row....
if anyone moved at all..the crowd rippled because it was so tightly packed. Luckily I'm tall but a small
person could have easily been smothered if there was major pushing & falling etc.... There was definitely
a sense of panic in the crowd. Not a good way to go either...at a Huey Lewis show.


IORR............but I like it!

During A Bigger Bang tour I always panicked after the introductions, ´cause then I knew the rest of the show would consist of pretty much war horses only. In the same order also....

No.

Quote
Koen

Quote
Havo
i remember the "urban Jungle"-show in cologne 1990. They opened the gates and everybody wanted to be the first in FOS. I was afraid.

I was at that show. We were up in the seats, and I could see clearly on the field a bunch of guys beating up one or more guys. Pretty badly. No danger at all for us, but scary to look at.

That bomb threat was in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Charlottsville is correct. I was in row 35 center when the lights came on and the dogs came out. Mick stopped in mid verse. All the intros were skipped as well as Keith's part. Saw them two nights later at Duke in NC. One of the great shows in a high school sized stadium.

Quote
baxlap
I was at the Charlottesville bomb threat show. I figured it was just some right-wing twerp who was pissed about Neo Con and wanted to throw a wrench in the Stones show. What sucked was that I couldn't get a beer during the "intermission."

The panic situation I recall was getting into JFK Stadium when the gates opened on the morning of June 17, 1978. Thousands of people crushing one another trying to get through a doorway that was no wider than that of a typical house. The palookas who promoted the JFK show, Electric Factory Concerts, were the same people who promoted the Who show in Cincinnati 18 months where a bunch of people were trampled in a preshow stampede.

Shadoobee, trampled, trampled. No fun. Festival seating blows.

I was with all the right wingers so it wasn't us. It looked more like a bunch of tree huggars wanting to save energy and shut the place down.

Lately, whenever Keith approaches a microphone.

Quote
71Tele
Lately, whenever Keith approaches a microphone.

Yeah the last time they were at Verizon Center in DC and he did his little set it almost didn't sound human. 'The Worst' - you got that right. Btw, I love that song, it just sounded so much better on the album.

I haven't had a panic situation but my ex girlfriend did one time at RFK stadium w/Living Colour Steel Wheels '89. Freaked out, split, couldn't find her, waited at the car for her afterwards, nothing. She hitchikes home, which is 20 miles at the time, shows up at my place standing over me covered in dirt, shirt ripped, and a tire iron in her hands. I'm like, 'so you made it home!'. She was wacked. I think the Stones were a little too much for her or something because she never gave me a good reason why she did it.

Quote
Brue
standing over me covered in dirt, shirt ripped, and a tire iron in her hands. I'm like, 'so you made it home!'.

LOL man, I admire your guts

-------------------
Keep On Rolling

Always...it's impossible to reach the Saloon...

82 Wembley was scary near the front with the crowd, i moved about 9m sideways in a second when the Stones came on the first night, but I was young and didn't care. For the second night I was an old hand !

Worst for me was the Sex Pistols Crystal Palace 2002. The crowd got packed in tighter and tighter, I was about 1m from the front. The crowd were really aggressive and hated all the opening acts (and bizarrely shouted abuse at the Pistols when they came on). At one point I took my feet off the ground and didn't go down due to the density of the crowd, just stayed there, almost floating, hardly able to breathe. When the Pistols came on the security were pulling out people from the crowd (some were surfers, but most just wanted out and were puhing forward rather than back). I ended up front row centre crushed against the barrier. After 20 minutes I asked security to pull me out because I wasn't watching a concert, I was helping security lift people out from behind me all the time. It took them 2 attempts to lift me out, I'm tall but light (6ft and 150 lbs). I watched the rest of the show from far stage left but the mood was spoilt (I caught the Pistols at Hammersmith in 2008, stood at the back of the floor so finally got to see them as a concert band). Back in 2002....I got back to the coach home, I was bruised pretty badly from the waist up and had a black eye from when a surfer some how managed to kick me in the face. But i lived and I guess thats rock n roll baby.

Quote
Roadster32
Rome 2007
What a horrible crowd.

Yeah I was at that show, that was then there was a massive surge to the front that completely overwhelmed the seating and all the aisles and walkways - and security just stood back and let it all happen. It was getting a bit rough in places, I just spent the whole show standing on my seat - I was in row 2. Had a lot of beer bottles thrown at me ... they all missed !!

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]

Quote
CousinC
99 London Sheph. Bush Empire: Place was really packed at the front and when the Stones came on even more drunken came from behind and audience was swaying back and forth. Women were screaming, some fainting and you just had to keep standing on your feet.

Agree with you there, CousinC, throughout the first 2 or 3 songs the whole crowd was moving left and right, then things seemed to calm down and we could enjoy the show. There was a great photo in the Evening Standard the following night, taken from the balcony, of the band and the packed crowd in which we spotted ourselves amongst the crush.

no, it´s certainly no oasis or red hot chili peppers concert.

Naples 1982, a couple of days after italy won the soccer championship.Stadium was overcrowded because thousands of tickets went to the black market. We stood in middle of the crowd when the intro music started and the people close to the stage stood up. All of a sudden people from the back threw bottles, cans everything they got to make them sit down again. Scary moment but it became even worse. When Jagger entered the stage wrapped in an italy flag the people went nuts pushing towards the stage. My girl friend and me could hardly breath. Anyway, we survived.

I did have the opposite to a 'panic situation' where the organisers clearly weren't taking any chances.......

August '98, Moscow Luzhniki Stadium - we arrived by unofficial taxi to find the area outside the stadium fairly quiet, with concert-goers making their way to the entrance gates. We noticed a few police and military men standing around ready to quell any over exuberance. Anyway, once inside the stadium, there were rows of uniformed personnel all over the place to further ensure no-one misbehaved. There really was a huge number of them, not quite outnumbering the slightly meagre crowd, but certainly making everyone aware of their presence. I guess there was no shortage of volunteers for that tour of duty!

Brixton in 95 - I was already sick as a dog and everyone just piled forward when they come on. It was so tight I continually lifted my feet off the ground and was carried which was better than tripping. After queuing all afternoon and standing right near the front I ended up having to make my way back about half way through to get water and generally get my breath back

Quote
Roadster32
Rome 2007
What a horrible crowd.

Rome was crazy because the crowd from the upper seats stormed the ground, but security was to blame. They could have stopped people but they did nothing. Still, there was not a dangerous situation, only far too many people up front.

Being on the field at River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires is a challenge. If you are in the front you move but your feet are not on the ground. I have moved 30-50 meters without my feet, simply because the crowd moves. Like a wave. Then it is important to be sober and not end up under the feet.

Bjornulf

It was in Nice, in 1976, while waiting outside the venue, “Stade de l’Ouest”, before the opening of the gates. It was the first gig of the Stones in Nice.
People have been waiting in front of the gates for hours and hours since early morning, under hot summer sun and much dust all around.
In the middle of the afternoon, several thousands of waiting people were pushed and mashed against the gates by thousands of newcomers.
The stupid employees of the venue did not want to open the doors and were waiting unsafely. They messed up the access.
Suddenly, the fences and the doors were smashed down and shattered by the huge crowd.
I was in the first line. Right away, I took a run to the front of stage. Of course, my ticket was not checked. I am still keeping that ticket quite unchecked.
Unfortunately, at the gates, some people fell down to the floor and were trampled underfoot badly.
The management of the venue in Nice was really shitty.
However the gig of the Stones was great.

Any concert in River Plate ¡¡

If you're in the field,you can loose your breath. I mean it ¡¡¡