13 People Injured During DISTURBED / STONE SOUR Concert In Cedar Rapids

Po Li Loo of Iowa's Gazette Online has issued the following report:

At least 13 people were injured during a "Music as a Weapon" concert Thursday night (Dec. 21),according to officials at two Cedar Rapids hospitals.

The concert drew a crowd of 7,186 people, almost maxing out the U.S. Cellular Center, which can fit up to 7,500 people.

Of the 10 people who were treated at St. Luke's Hospital for injuries suffered at the concert, one was taken into surgery, said Laura Rainey, director of marketing communications at St. Luke's. That patient was among two people who were admitted to the hospital. The others were treated and released.

Rainey said it's "fairly rare" that the hospital gets patients injured at a concert but that "at times it does happen."

Jason Barnd, 20, of Mount Vernon, was one of three men treated at Mercy Medical Center after the concert. His father, Dan Barnd, said his son's lower right leg snapped just above the ankle when he was pushed on top of the person next to him in the tight crowd.

The tightly packed crowd is what is known as a mosh pit, where people pack themselves as close as possible to the stage. They don't even have standing room — it's more like tip-toe room.

Often, people in the mosh pit express themselves by jumping up and down on the same spot, known as pogo-ing, and also by body-slamming — launching themselves into the air onto other people in the pit.

"Lots of people were getting hurt. They're not gladiators," said Dan Barnd, 50, of Mount Vernon. His son declined to be interviewed for this story.

Barnd was hoping to get some sort of compensation from the U.S. Cellular Center for his son's medical bills, but his lawyer told him that the center had a disclaimer written in fine print across the back of the concert ticket that absolves it of responsibility for his son's injuries.

"That's how they can put these things on. If not, however many people can sue them," he said.

During the concert, one of the four featured bands — DISTURBED, STONE SOUR, FLYLEAF and NONPOINT — stopped its set to ensure a fan suffering from heat exhaustion could be removed.

Christy Frost, U.S. Cellular Center's director of marketing and programming, said there weren't an unusual number of injuries Thursday night.

"It was nothing that you wouldn't see from a typical rock crowd of 7,000 people," she said. Frost said the center doesn't allow mosh pits at concerts.

The center informs the public of this policy by posting signs and playing a recording.

It also has put in place measures to control the crowd, Frost said. People who have been helped over the barricade in front of the stage the first time have their hands marked. The second time they get helped over, they're told to leave.

These measures, however, didn't stop people from getting hurt Thursday.

"Unless they do something totally different, things are not going to improve if they have mosh pits," Barnd said.

As many as 30 people were treated for various injuries at Tuesday night's (Dec. 19) "Music as a Weapon" tour concert at the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, according to the Ashwaubenon Public Safety Department.

Between 25 to 30 people suffered from either cuts, bruises, and overheating after participating in a mosh pit, officials said.