festnoise | Music & Festivals

Security measures at music festivals, considered high-risk events due to the massive influx of people, have evolved a lot in the recent years, and currently there are hardly any serious incidents reported. But this has not always been the case, it turns out that advances in security usually occur as a result of some tragedy or accident.

On February 18, 2003, Pearl Jam released the song "Love Boat Captain" as a single from their seventh studio album, Riot Act (2002) and sadly the lyrics tackle the incident occurred at Roskilde festival on June 30, 2000 where many people were injured and 9 of them even lost their lives while Pearl Jam were performing on the main stage. "Love Boat Captain" references the tragedy with the line "Lost nine friends we'll never know two years ago today". And as a curiosity, when the song is performed in concert, Eddie Vedder modifies the lyrics to reflect the passage of time since the accident.

Back to that night, it was raining heavily in Roskilde and with a crowd of thousands, sure it was difficult to know what was going on; in fact it took some time until the organization realized that something terrible might have happened. It wasn ́t until Pearl Jam were playing “Daughter” when Dick Adams, band’s tour manager jumped onto the stage and talked to Eddie who immediately addressed the audience by saying:

“What will happen in the next five minutes has nothing to do with music. But it is important. Imagine that I am your friend and that you must step back so as not to hurt me. You all have friends up front. I will now count to three, and you will all take three steps back. All who agree say Yes now.”

But that was too late, the rain of that fateful night in Roskilde contributed to the ground being slippery, and many people felt down at one place. When they did not immediately get up, people in the crowd rushed to the stage, and 9 people at the bottom died of suffocation.

The image of an Eddie Vedder crying on his knees on stage shocked the world and even made the group consider its continuity, and although luckily for us it has continued to play, ever since the incident the band qualifies everything as pre Roskilde and post Roskilde. And about the festival itself, the accident at the Orange Stage led to the construction of a memorial ground on the festival site containing a stone with the inscription "How fragile we are" (a quote from the Sting song "Fragile") surrounded by nine trees.

In the following year, the accident led to significant changes in safety procedures in order to avoid similar situations, not just at Roskilde Festival whom back then was considered one of the safest festivals, but also at other festivals in Europe. Many other festivals have smaller safety systems than Roskilde Festival and revised their procedures even further. Glastonbury Festival in England chose to cancel its festival in 2001, in part to consider lessons from Roskilde. And each year Roskilde Festival makes an extensive health and safety assessment on the basis of which the festival is executed.

And today everything is a bit different, sometimes it even seems to be uncomfortable for the audience when you can't move forward due to cut areas. But if you have ever complained, remember the Roskilde incident and think that the organization controls the access to the first rows so that there is not so much pressure. But most important, remember to always keep an eye on those around you. Safety first!

“Love Boat Captain” (Lyrics)

Song by Eddie Vedder & Kenneth Gaspar (Pearl Jam)

Is this just another day, this God forgotten place?
First comes love, then comes pain let the games begin,
Questions rise and answers fall, insurmountable

Love boat captain
Take the reigns and steer us towards the clear, here
It's already been sung, but it can't be said enough
All you need is love

Is this just another phase, earthquakes making waves,
Trying to shake the cancer off, stupid human beings,
Once you hold the hand of love, it's all surmountable

Hold me, and make it the truth,
That when all is lost there will be you,
'Cause to the universe I don't mean a thing
And there's just one word I still believe
And it's love

It's an art to live with pain, mix the light into grey,
Lost nine friends we'll never know, two years ago today
And if our lives became too long, would it add to our regret?

And the young, they can lose hope 'cause they can't see beyond today,
The wisdom that the old can't give away
Hey,
Constant recoil, sometimes life
Don't leave you alone

Hold me, and make it the truth,
That when all is lost there will be you
'Cause to the universe I don't mean a thing
And there's just one word that I still believe and it's
Love, love love love love

Love boat captain take the reigns
Steer us towards the clear
I know it's already been sung, can't be said enough
Love is all you need, all you need is love,
Love, love

Cover photograph by Peter Troest