Cheap Trick's Stage Collapse and Four Other Massive Onstage Mishaps

Photo by John Gerritsen via cheaptrick.com

Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen.

​Yesterday, Cheap Trick narrowly averted a very-public demise.

The classic '80s power-pop quartet pulled the plug on its set at the Ottawa Bluesfest when an approaching storm created serious gusts of wind that made the band a little nervous. Rightfully so, as the stage deflated like a pathetic balloon shortly after they exited.

But this isn't the first time a seasoned act has fallen victim to technical difficulties of mammoth -- and life threatening -- proportions. See the cut for Crossfade's top five massive onstage mishaps.

5. The Great White Inferno at the Station 


Despite relative obscurity compared to the other entries on our list, this grizzly incident from 2003 -- in which pyrotechnics for retro glam rock act Great White started a blaze that killed fans and bandmates alike -- has got to make the cut for being the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in American history.

4. Black Sabbath's Plus-Sized Stonehenge


Remember the teeny tiny Stonehenge from mock rockumentary This Is Spinal Tap? Well, that was a riff on a real-life incident. A post-Ozzy, post-Dio 1980s Black Sabbath was struggling with its identity and spent $40,000 a day on a Stonehenge recreation that was too big to fit on the freaking stage. The spectacle also included a dwarf dressed like the evil baby on the cover of their Born Again LP and dry ice that produced so much smog singer Ian Gillan couldn't make his way around stage.

3. Nirvana's Krist Novolesic Bashes Own Face With Bass On TV


You could probably start a calendar series using images of Nirvana trashing their gear, and not run out till long after the Terminators have scrubbed clean whatever the 2012 Mayan Rapture leaves behind. Nine times out of ten, Kurt and company looked pretty hot destroying expensive musical equipment. But at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, Krist Novolesic's bass fought back.

2. Axl Rose Struts Off A Steep Stage


Next up are Nirvana's hair-metal rivals, Guns N Roses, whose notorious frontman straight-up plummets at the 13-second mark.

1. Cheap Trick's Stage Looks Like a Sad Trombone Sounds
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Look, we understand people got hurt. So Cheap Trick's cheap stage must have been a mighty collapse. But the YouTube video (which doesn't allow embedding) looks like the crowd at the Ottawa Bluesfest took a pie to the face.

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