The Who Tragedy in Cincinnati

Tonight marked the 30th anniversary of The Who concert tragedy in Cincinnati, Ohio. On December 3, 1979, eleven concert-goers were trampled to death in a crowd that rushed the entrance to the Riverfront Coliseum (now called US Bank Arena) building to get into The Who concert. Many of the details of the evening are still disputed, but this tragedy was a culmination of several unfortunate events with lethal results. WKRP, a popular television show at the time, even had a special and somber episode that paid tribute to the incident. Many safety practices and procedures guiding the operation of concerts to this day are a result of the breaches that occurred that deadly night in Cincinnati.

A glaring injustice is that thirty years after the fact, no memorial, plaque or other destination exists on the site of this great concert tragedy. It truly is a shame as the eleven people who lost their lives that evening were mainly just kids trying to see one of their favorite bands in concert. Here's to hoping that City Council and Hamilton County are able to work together to create some recognition for those who died unnecessarily that fateful night.