Man Jumps to Death at California Concert Venue

This past Thursday brought the sad news that a guest at a Swell Season show in Northern California committed suicide during the band's performance. The man apparently gained access to the roof covering the outdoor stage at the Mountain Winery, and jumped 20 feet to his death, landing on stage near the end of the band's set.

As I am not an employee of this venue, nor was I at the concert, I will not speculate as to what the security staffing plan for this event was. Nor how this guest gained entry to a (presumably) inaccessible area. I will say, however, that every professional concert venue places the security of their guests and artists above all other considerations, and the finger-pointing that occurs whenever any of these tragedies strike is both misguided and unproductive. In incidents such as this, a guest who is determined to cause harm to themselves will find a means to achieve those ends, regardless of the precautions we take. However, this incident should serve as a reminder that even the most unexpected of areas can quickly become a point of incident, and should be assessed when building your staffing and operations plans. You may not be able to staff every square inch of your event. However, your assessment may uncover a number of methods to minimize any potential hazards.

Most importantly, we should mourn those affected, then we should learn so as their loss can act as the barrier to future occurrences.

Man jumps to death onto stage at Calif concert  (AP)