Concerts are supposed to be fun, but sometimes accidents happen. Whether caused by crowd surfers, an aggressive pit, or just a random slip-and-fall accident in the bathroom, injuries sustained at a concert can be serious. If you’ve been injured, figuring out who’s responsible is crucial.
Venue owner liability
Venue owners owe concert goers a duty to provide reasonably safe premises. This means they must regularly inspect the premises, fix hazards, and warn people about any existing hazards. Failure to meet their duty can open them up to liability and lawsuits.
When it comes to hazards, venue owners need to correct obvious and hidden dangers, even if it seems like nobody is going to be anywhere near the hazard. Music fans and people in general have a way of getting into places they shouldn’t be, so all bets are off.
Some common issues that make venues unsafe include defective stairs, missing handrails, and poor lighting. Some hazards are the result of outright negligence, like allowing too many people on a balcony with a railing that can’t support the pressure. For example, two people were killed at a concert in Mexico when a third floor barrier shattered and people fell 40 feet to the ground. The event wasn’t permitted, which implies liability for both the venue and the event organizer.
When venue owners neglect safety, even in small ways, they can be held legally accountable for injuries.
Event organizers and promoters
Concert promoters and event organizers need to consider the safety of their guests in addition to talent and entertainment. Crowds can get pretty intense, and when there are tens of thousands of fans present, injuries and deaths happen. From 1992 to 2002, nearly 67,000 people suffered serious injury and 232 people died at a total of 306 outdoor music concerts worldwide. Some of these incidents were caused by fights, and other times, it was an interrupted traffic flow that created a critical pressure point in the crowd. Either way, event organizers are responsible for ensuring crowd control and preventing those critical points of pressure.
Concert organizers are legally responsible for hiring security, emergency medical response teams, implementing crowd control, and creating safe exit routes. For this reason, event organizers are often held responsible in personal injury cases arising from concerts. There are plenty of situations event organizers can be held liable for:
- Trip and fall injuries. Organizers can be held responsible for a trip and fall injury.
- A stage collapse. The company that set up the stage can be held liable.
- Electrocution from a stage set. Production teams that overlook faulty wiring can be held liable.
- Sexual assault, violent attack, or mass shooting. All of these situations can be considered negligent security.
- Drunk driving. If a vendor serves alcohol to a guest who was clearly intoxicated, they can be held liable for injuries and damage caused in a drunk driving accident.
- Trampling. Poor crowd control measures and exits can make organizers responsible for trampling injuries and deaths.
These are just some of the incidents concert organizers can be held liable for. Unfortunately, the potential for injury at a concert is huge.
Security teams
A concert security team has a duty to prevent chaos and accidents by responding to threats of all kinds, including bottlenecked exits, increasing crowd densities, and stopping risky behavior like roughhousing. If a security team is negligent, it can lead to accidents that could have been avoided.
Third-party contractors
When a music event has temporary setups, like cables, tents, and booths, these must be set up safely. If anyone gets injured by a poorly anchored tent, legal liability can fall back on the third party who did the setup.
Attendees
Sometimes accidents are caused by patrons, but proving that can be tough. For example, a drunk or careless concertgoer who leaves items on a staircase that someone else trips over risks being held partially at fault.
For those who enjoy moshing, even though most people know what they’re getting into, if someone gets injured in the pit, the individuals involved can be held liable. Security guards will remove disruptions, but they won’t necessarily catch every problem.
Concert guests have a duty to act responsibly. Even when they’re injured, excessive drinking or reckless behavior can limit their right to full compensation.
Know where accountability lies
Injuries at a concert are common, but fault isn’t always clear. If you’ve been injured at a music event, talking to a lawyer can help you get justice. Whether responsibility lies with the venue, event organizers, security team, or another patron, a lawyer will help you sort it all out.