RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE: Melbourne Concert Turns Violent

January 29, 2008

Australia's Herald Sun reports that two casualties and a crowd surge left thousands of fans angry and confused as Melbourne's biggest musical festival, the Big Day Out, ended in mayhem Monday night (January 28).

One unconscious man had to be crowd-surfed to an ambulance, while another fell from a marquee as crowds pushed forward to see the final act, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE.

Organizers interrupted the American headliners towards the end to appeal to the 45,000-strong crowd for calm.

Revellers said they feared for their safety as the crowd surged towards the main stage and fans climbed every available vantage point at Flemington racecourse.

Organizers rushed the band off stage, and ordered people to climb down from the structures and trees before the band would resume.

One man who was on top of a marquee fell and was rushed to hospital by ambulance officers, who put him in neck brace.

The condition of the two injured people was unknown late last night.

Veteran attendee Cameron Oliver, 26, said he saw a lot of violence in the crowd.

"In nine Big Day Outs and numerous other festivals, this is the most violent and least policed I have been to," he said.

"We had to pull back from the stage — so far back we couldn't even see because we were afraid for our safety. And I'm a six-foot bloke."

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