Radiohead's touring company asked to help Toronto collapse inquiry

Ticker Tape Touring, the company Radiohead tour through, is one of four that Ontario's Ministry of Labour has asked to cooperate with its investigation into the stage collapse at Downsview Park, the Toronto Star reported on Tuesday 19 June. The roof of the stage fell on Saturday before the band's Toronto show, killing their drum technician Scott Johnson, who was 33, and hurting three other crew.

Ticker Tape Touring is based in London, and company records list Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway on its board. The other three companies are Live Nation, which promoted the concert, Optex Staging and Services, a staging firm in Etobicoke, Toronto, and Nasco Staffing Solutions, which supplies riggers, stagehands and sound and lighting technicians for events.

Matt Blajer, the ministry's spokesman, said investigators had not yet established who owned the stage. We still haven't determined who owns the stage, so all of the orders regarding the stage are being given to Live Nation.⁶ One of those orders is a plan for taking down the wreckage, signed by an independent engineer, and a do-not-disturb order keeps the scene as it is. Stage drawings signed by a professional engineer are already with the investigators.

Radiohead's side says the band installs its production in the space the venue or promoter provides, and on Sunday the band's spokeswoman, Laura Eldeiry, told the Globe and Mail that Radiohead do not set up stages. Optex said by email that it did not own or operate the stage. Nasco did not answer questions, though a woman who picked up its phone said none of its staff were at the site on Saturday. Live Nation called the collapse a serious and tragic accident and would say no more while it was under investigation.

Blajer said the inquiry would take time to unravel, partly because so many companies and crews had worked on the site. We're still trying to figure out who owns what, who's responsible for what.¹