As Radiohead was preparing for a show in Toronto’s Downsview Park last Saturday, a drum technician for the band, Scott Johnson, was working on stage when it collapsed around him, killing him in the process and injuring three other crew members. On Thursday the band announced on their website that due to the accident, several of the band’s European tour dates would be postponed until at least July 9.

Understandably, the band and the rest of the crew need time to grieve and recover, but the band says that there are elements of the show that need to be taken into consideration as well.

The announcement regarding the cancelled dates was posted on the band’s website said, “This show was unique and will take many weeks to replace. The collapse also caused serious damage to our backline, some elements of which are decades old and therefore hard to replace. Whilst we all are dealing with the grief and shock ensuing from this terrible accident there are also many practical considerations to deal with and consequently we have to try and reschedule.”

A total of seven dates were cancelled in all, including the dates from June 30 — July 9. The band also announced on their website that dates for the new shows will be announced today; and that arrangements will be made for those who cannot attend the rescheduled shows.

Radiohead’s drummer Phil Selway released his own statement regarding his technician’s death saying Scott was “a lovely man, always positive, supportive and funny; a highly skilled and valued member of our great road crew. We will miss him very much.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 27th, 2012 at 5:25 pm and is filed under Concerts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.