Continuing our exploration of the Sugarland concert tragedy and live music mourning, we’d like to share news and a few videos about how the band and their fans continue to cope with their grief and other emotions since the tragic event happened back in August.
As Pollstar reports,Sugarland lead singer Jennifer Nettles said this to the crowd before the free tribute show began on Friday night:
“Obviously we are here in October – we were supposed to do this show in August. Obviously, the stage is different, you are different and we are different. We are all changed by what happened then,” she said. “But we are going to try to give you the best show that we can and to celebrate healing with you and to celebrate life and music with you here tonight.”
Pollstar also tells the story of one of the victims who attended the concert:
Indianapolis resident Sue Humphrey, whose 17-year-old son, Brad, was left partially paralyzed when he was struck by falling stage rigging that night, attended Friday’s concert with her son, who only decided Friday afternoon that he wanted to go.
Humphrey said Brad was unsure if the concert would be too emotional for him, but she said it was herself, and not her son, who got choked up at one point during the show as her mind cast back to August’s tragedy.
According to other reports over the last couple of months, several fans have “filed over 60 tort lawsuits with intentions to sue,” but unfortunately industry red tape will keep the victims from getting answers and seeing change until at least 2013.
But the ridiculous lag time in getting answers hasn’t stopped fans from expressing themselves. And several fans have also created YouTube video to pay tribute to the fans who died.
As we’ve explored before, videos like these videos are a major part of the mourning and grieving process and we’ve been moved and thought deeply about what these fans are experiencing and how they’re sharing their stories.
Here are two that we’ve found and if you’ve come across others, please do share links to them in the comments below.
Were You at the Sugarland show?
Were you at tribute concert in Indianapolis? Have thoughts about what happened at the state fair and regulating? Let us know what you think about experiencing grief at concerts, and we’ll share your story during a future episode of Live Fix Radio.