The Who Concert Tragedy

December 4th Cincinnati Enquirer Front page

Today marks the 35th anniversary of The Who concert tragedy in Cincinnati. This concert was a sellout event with over 18 thousand tickets sold.  Almost 15 thousand were for unassigned general admission, sometimes referred to as "festival seating." Those concert goers who wanted to be as close to the stage as possible could either arrive early and get in line first or push their way to the front.

Some entrances were locked to prevent gate crashing. Prior to the show a sizeable crowd gathered at one of the entrances. They heard The Who perform a late sound check and believed the concert had started. People began pushing their way in to the event. Some were trampled to death and some died of asphyxiation. Eleven people were killed and twenty-three were injured.

From Cincinnati Enquirer

Those killed were Teva Ladd, Walter Adams Jr., James Warmoth, Phillip Snyder, David Heck, Stephan Preston, Peter Bowes, Connie Burns, Bryan Wagner, Karen Morrison and Jacqueline Eckerle. The newspaper photograph above was taken by Ed Riemeke on that terrible evening.

.