System Of A Down Has Big Day Out Barrier Problem

01/21/2002 5:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Mark Armstrong

(1/21/02, 5 p.m. ET) -- System Of A Down had to stop its set on Friday (January 18) at the Big Day Out festival in Auckland, New Zealand due to problems with the barricades in front of the stage, which collapsed during the band's performance. Singer Serj Tankian told the crowd that the band had to stop its performance because a fan broke his legs due to crowd crush against the barrier. However, NME reported that no one was hurt in the incident.

System Of A Down resumed its set later in the night after a second-stage band, Shihad, played.

A statement by the organizers said that safety was their first concern, and immediately banned crowd surfing for the rest of the tour. Organizers are trying to avoid last year's situation at Big Day Out where a fan was trampled during Limp Bizkit's set. The fan died several days later.

-- Darren Davis, New York

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