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In 2000, the greatest misfortune at the Roskilde Festival still happened today: During Pearl Jam’s appearance, concert goers came to fall in front of the stage in front of the stage, the mass pressed.
Nine people died by suffocation or organ damage; Three Danes, three Swedes, one German, an Australian and a Dutchman. Even without knowing that there would be fatalities, the chaos in the audience was so visible that Pearl Jam broke off her headliner appearance after half of the set.
Festival was continued anyway
The Roskilde organizers decided to continue the festival. In a statement by the organizers, it said: “It is irresponsible to simply send the 90,000 shocked people home, even if you know whether there were friends among the dead”. A priest held the memorial event the day after.
In the following years, the security precautions have been improved: since then there have been new locked security zones, asphalting and extended training for the security forces.
Pearl Jam’s band members are still processing today, as singer Eddie Vedder said in interviews, the deaths during their appearance. The band met with the bereaved. In 2002 the song “Love Boat Captain” was created, which contains the Roskilde accident.
Six years no festival gigs for Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam also decided that after Roskilde they never wanted to play again at festivals. It was not until 2006 that they returned to the festival stages, the first stations were reading and Leeds.
In Leeds, Vedder asked the audience for reluctance and caution – a ritual that he has now repeated at every concert.
The tenth anniversary of the accident, June 30, 2010, came together with a performance by Pearl Jam in Berlin. Eddie Vedder gave a speech.