Posted on 02/21/2003 1:13:36 PM PST by Recovering_Democrat
Here is a quote from the above URL:
Owners of the Rhode Island nightclub where a fast-moving fire killed at least 86 people said they did not authorize the band's use of pyrotechnics, which ignited the blaze.
A statement released by the attorney for brothers Michael and Jeffrey Derderian read: "At no time did either owner have prior knowledge that pyrotechnics were going to be used by the band Great White."
Now check this out from the Providence Journal, the newspaper in the capital city of Rhode Island:
Some new faces at Channel 12.
News director Gary Brown announced the station has hired two new reporters, Jeff Derderian and Mark Zinni.
Derderian should be a familiar face to local viewers -- he worked at Channel 6 before he left for a reporting job with Channel 7 in Boston in 1997. (He was back in Providence over the summer, reporting on the Plunder Dome trial for Channel 7.) He'll start at Channel 12, Feb. 17.
The URL for the above quote:
http://www.projo.com/yourlife/content/projo_20030108_peop08.3f85c.html
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Another club owner about the (same?) band: Club owner says no expectation of fireworks. Says stage manager asked them to shutdown the act. By the time the owner got to the stage the firewords had "fizzled out". Quotes band member as saying "It is just sparklers, we do it all the time". State regret that he had not informed other clubs.
Two major tradegies this week and it was not even the weekend. A lot of clubs and bands will feel some fallout from this.
This has the potential to be one of those all-time great stupid lines- like "Hold muh beer and watch this!".
It's not funny, of course, but how dumb ARE people ??? This borders on criminal insanity.
I wonder if it was the Building Department, Health Department or the Fire Department. The rapid spread of the fire concerns me. Calif has very rigid rules on flammable building material inside a public place and the Fire Departments do yearly inspections in my town.
I think they are more worried about being taken to the pokey.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/02/21/deadly.nightclub.fire/index.html
"Fire Chief Charlie Hall said because the wooden structure was small and was built before 1976, it was not required to have a sprinkler system. But when asked if one would have helped the situation, he said, "If there were sprinklers in this building, we wouldn't be here right now."
"Great White did not have the required city permit for a pyrotechnics display, officials said Friday. Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch said he was dealing with "a potential criminal investigation." "
About this Great White group here are some interesting excerpts from another link:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/02/21/nightclub.pyro/index.html
The owner of a nightclub in Asbury Park, New Jersey, said Friday that Great White used pyrotechnics without permission during a show at his club on Valentine's Day.
Dominic Santana said Great White would not have taken the stage February 14 at his club, the Stone Pony, if management had known the band planned to use pyrotechnics.
"We do not allow pyrotechnics, and it got us by surprise," he said.
During a news conference Friday afternoon, Santana held a folder filled with the band's contract and the rider, a document that provides the all the details "from the color of M&Ms" for band members to the technical requirements of the performance. The document describes lighting and sound but does not mention the use of pyrotechnics, Santana said.
Jim MacDonald worked as a disc jockey the night of the Great White show in New Jersey and said he, too, was surprised to see the pyrotechnics as the group opened its set.
"The band was being showered with these sparks," MacDonald said. "I'm amazed at the carelessness of that."
The band apparently uses the sparklers only during the first song. They are not used again during performances.
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I doubt the owner would have given permission if he knew of this kind of display. His building was NOT geared for this nor would he want to literally kills his customers and end his livlihood. As it turns out the band was hurting financially and looking to add some excitement to their already bad act. Some excerpts from another link:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/02/21/great.white/index.html
"According to the Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, Great White formed in 1981 in Los Angeles, California, and recorded an EP and LP for EMI Records in the early 1980s. The lack of success of these two records prompted EMI to drop the group, and it signed to the smaller, idiosyncratic Los Angeles label Enigma Records. "
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