Scott’s story: Tragedy and lessons learned
By Ken Johnson
Most days for the past 13 years, I have thought about sharing Scott’s story. It is a constant desire to share his character with those who did not know him or may have done and enjoyed his company.
Scott was a happy smiley person passionate about drums and drumming. He used to swim competitively as a boy. He also enjoyed coming home at lunchtime when his mum Sue would collect him from school with his bike, scooter or go cart. He was often the only child to have lunch at home, reflecting Sue’s commitment and love. On the days he chose to stay at school his packed lunch would have a note in it from Sue and all the other kids would want to see or hear what she had to say to him. (You would have to ask her, I never knew!)
We used to take camping holidays that were very happy times. We played Roulette, Top trumps, Cluedo and any game at bedtime and they continued as I went to sleep. Scott and his mum one year wanted to stay in Dorset and not come home. Sue often looks back and wonders if we had stayed there, would his life have been different and would he still be here with us.
Scott had hoped to succeed in creating music. Schools in our town Rotherham in those days were well supported by a music department and many after-school activities. Having played viola and guitar up to 11 years old he then started with drums and played in our local Whiston Brass Band and later Rotherham Schools’ full orchestra. At 15 Scott auditioned to play with a band, called Purity – much older musicians writing their own music and hoping for success. A few years of touring did not bring those ambitions. We were with Scott always, his chauffeur and support.
While working in a drum department of a music store, Scott continued to play in bands, rock and soul music. He and a friend had an open mic night encouraging people to get up and play with them. His relationships and friendships were special to him as he started to tour with bands after seven years in the shop. His character evolved with his manager Paul Munday. He learned his craft and gained knowledge to allow him to work as drum tech and in stage management and studio work.
He worked with many bands: Keane, the Killers, Australian Pink Floyd and lastly Radiohead. He would often not tell me who he was with on the basis that I would have no clue who they were. His love for vehicles resulted in him owning three VolksWagens: a ’57 Beetle, a ’64 split screen and a newer 2.3 V5 Beetle, all just prior to the last tour. He had no faults that we knew of except a slight calcium deficiency on a front tooth, unless anyone wants to argue that point of course. This only touches on a few points of our love for him.
On June 16, 2012, the world changed for us and we did not even know. The phone rang into the night, and we answered to learn that a stage had collapsed at a show at Downsview Park in Toronto and Scott was “missing”. Production manager Richard Young had taken the responsibility to call us. (Sadly Richard and his brother are no longer with us; love to his family.) This was followed by a call from Toronto Police. A UK police officer arrived shortly afterwards and told us of Scott’s death. It was a storm of emotions that has not yet stopped. The news was hot, with links to the band and our door was knocked upon by the press who had a job to do. Our initial bombardment became more valued as it was all handled so well, but perhaps not welcome in those early days.
The stage at Downsview Park was overloaded and had collapsed. It had missing components and highlighted numerous aspects of the management of demountable stages. The death was and has been reported widely. Many lessons have been learned. The band did not play for almost a year, with massive loss of equipment and, I know, an ongoing doubt about anything floating above them. Drummer Clive Deamer had just been with Scott and gone off the stage to contemplate the start of the show when the stage collapsed. A rigger, Brian, was seriously injured and spent the best part of a year in hospital. The Ontario Ministry of Labour took charge promptly – what an immense responsibility and burden to the inspector. So many people affected long term by Scott’s death.
The funeral was well attended by over 800 guests with incredible support from Radiohead and Keane but maybe more importantly by Scott’s friends. It is difficult to pass the Minster St. Georges church in Doncaster where the music was too much for the speakers, especially ‘Nothing Else Matters’ by Metallica. However if you never listened to ‘Love You So’ by Free then have a listen to get a feel for the day and our mood now.
The MOL inspector and team looked into the causes, leading to a court case fragmented due to limited time. The preparation by the legal team and their presentation was incredible, with a structured breakdown of events to enable the judge to fully understand the circumstances. Sadly the judge changed his job, a new judge was appointed and the case was thrown out due to the delay in resolution. This was an especially difficult and expensive time for us with little clarity, but some financial resolution three or more years on. The band were quick to offer financial support on day one and availability of all their team for years to come. We were fortunate not to have short term financial difficulties which must be a big problem for many. Another two years on was an inquest, again well supported by MOL and legal representation from defendants managed by the court staff who gave personal support above and beyond the call of duty.
My work in construction helped me understand the nature of the work on the stage. The inquest jury made 26 recommendations for change, plus the formation of a group to effect that change and recommended that I be part of that. The group has had involvement of 40 people managed by the Ministry, meeting regularly with support from the Event Safety Alliance. Changes in regulation will be made to include demountable stages. We cannot emphasise enough the need for professional plans of work with clear method for all. There is no doubt that after any error it is always clear how it could have been prevented.
The impact of the case has been significant. Risk assessment for concerts and stages is now commonplace and I am keen to see further training and guidance. All of this of course was a major distraction for me while Sue had only the loss of her son, not knowing this detail. I describe, of course, just events but perhaps not enough of the emotions or describe Scott well enough for the person he was. We feel guilty that with the media attention, we appear to be the only people who ever lost a loved one and of course that is not the case. In fact towards the end of the case I heard of the death of a young man in Coachella who fell from a stage roof and had worked for 20 years with the company. Of course we did not know him nor could reach out to his family. In fact ‘reaching out’ has become a Canadian term to us, known to us in a song by Paul Rodgers, “Reaching Out”. Once back touring, Radiohead paid a beautiful tribute in Nimes to Scott.
I am surrounded with people who care but my wife does not see that so much as she finds it difficult to be involved. We are not much further forward with our grief as not a day goes by without a tear and a moment of sadness. Scott was an only child and we have no grandchildren. He is buried in our village so we are close to him. We are still in touch with many of his friends. They say it gets easier.
It is important to know that you are never alone even though that may not be obvious. There are so many good people out there if you can open your heart to them. We were introduced by MOL to Threads of Life. We have no faith but hope that we get to be with Scott again. If we knew that we could, we would go tomorrow.