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Chaos at Monarto music festival
Article from: Sunday Mail (SA)
KATE KYRIACOU, SAM KELTON
April 11, 2009 10:17pm
EIGHT people were treated for suspected drug overdoses as the Live at the Zoo music event plunged into chaos at Monarto last night.
Organisers were forced to shut down live music after crowds pushed through a stage barrier, injuring several people, shortly after 9pm.
Soon afterwards, headline act Cut Copy are understood to have told organisers they would not perform as it was "too dangerous".
Lights were cut, plunging the area into darkness, and stage hands told the Sunday Mail they were leaving in fear of a crowd revolt.
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A spokesman for the SA Ambulance Service said eight people had been treated for suspected ecstasy overdoses, including a 21-year-old woman who was rushed to nearby Murray Bridge Hospital.
The spokesman said ambulance officers were "having a great deal of problems'' dealing with the number of drug overdoses.
"Someone sold a copious amount of ecstasy at the Live at the Zoo event,'' he said.
A stage hand said he and others were leaving before the crowd got wind that the headline act had walked. "The crowd is going to tear this place down,'' he said.
Rumours also circulated that another major act, hip-hop duo Bliss N Eso, had also pulled the pin after they failed to come on at the scheduled time. However, they began their set almost two hours late, after a concrete barrier was set up to keep fans back from the stage. The band warned fans to stay back or police would shut the event down.
Shortly before midnight, Cut Copy were reportedly preparing to return to the stage as the situation calmed.
Event spokeswoman Mia Dion said staff had been injured during the earlier chaos. "The site manager got a kick in the head because he was helping with crowd control,'' she said.
One music fan described how people were hurt when revellers pushed over security barriers during British India's hit song Russian Roulette.
"British India had taken a five-minute break and I guess they thought things had calmed down enough for them to play their hit song,'' Linda Hampton said.
"But the crowd just pushed through and some girls at the front got injured when their legs got caught up in the barricade. (The fence) had vertical bars and people just got stuck and crushed. The injured girls got carried away to the dressing rooms and the band just ... walked off.''
As staff worked to erect the concrete safety barrier, angry fans chanted "boring'' and "hurry up''.
The three-day camping and music festival had been dogged with problems from the outset. On Friday, frustrated fans reported that more than 300 cars were banked up outside closed gates at midday.
Some festival staff reportedly quit on the spot in protest at the disorganisation. Other staff failed to show up.
The event has already had to cancel acts due to "costs massively exceeding original budget expectations''.
Event director Hal Royce refused to comment. "I just don't trust the media so I'd rather not say anything at all,'' he said.
Additional reporting:Lauren Zwaans, Kate Mickan
Adelaide Now
