Crowd crush by music fans outside John Cain Arena prompts internal review by precinct manager

November 23, 2022

Karen Sweaney

Entertainment / Events / Safety / Security / Venues /

Concerns around safety and event planning have prompted Melbourne and Olympic Parks - the manager of John Cain Arena - to initiate an internal review following a crowd crush by fans of American alternative R’n’B star Steve Lacy outside the Arena on Tuesday night.

Steve Lacy is touring Australia's east coast as part of his Give You the World Tour and his rise in popularity has apparently taken everyone by surprise.

The tour is being promoted by leading Australia and New Zealand concert promoter, Frontier Touring who along with Melbourne and Olympic Parks issued a statement following the event advising of the review.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that thousands of fans had been queuing for hours to secure a space in the mosh pit at the stadium on a first-come, first-served basis, however shortly after 7pm, the fans began to rush the venue en masse.

Ambulance Victoria confirmed it was called to an incident at John Cain Arena at 7.20pm but the call was cancelled because no serious injuries were reported.

However, Daily Mail has reported the chaos of fans rushing towards the front of the stage in a stampede resulted in some blacking out or getting crushed.

When Steve Lacy’s Australian tour was announced in September, he was booked to play the Forum, which has a capacity of around 2000 people, and two more shows – one each in Brisbane and Sydney – at similarly sized venues. But after tickets sold out in a matter of minutes, the promoter upgraded to larger venues and added a second show at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion.

Tuesday night’s Melbourne show, the first of the tour, was moved to John Cain Arena, which has a capacity of between 7500 and 10,900 guests, depending on configuration.

On 17th November, Ticketek and Frontier Touring emailed patrons to inform them that all tickets to the Melbourne show would be general admission.

Access to the floor was dependent upon patrons receiving a wristband, but numbers were limited. To secure one, some fans began lining up from 5am. However, SMH has been told that some ticket holders appeared to have forged wristbands to gain entry to the floor.

Social media was flooded with attendees complaining about what they saw as poor safety and organisation at the show.

“The worst organised concert I've ever been to, I almost fainted I swear to god. someone literally could've died just trying to get in the arena.”

“Embarrassingly and dangerous planning last night at Steve Lacy. You should be embarrassed and issue a public apology.”

“People blocking walkways and exits, stampede at the start and almost no security staff.”

“The Melbourne Steve lacy concert was the most poorly organised event I have ever been to, wtf John Cain arena, luckily Steve is a g (sic) and the concert was elite!”

“Went to Steve Lacy Melbourne with the most unorganised security, saw people get stomped on, couldn't breathe, security did nothing.”

“Whole heap of thugs, male and female, pushed in when the doors open. But security does nothing?”

In response to the events of Tuesday night, John Cain Arena manager Melbourne and Olympic Parks and Frontier Touring released a joint statement on Wednesday afternoon, which advised "our venue management team had a detailed plan in place to manage ingress into the venue.

“Unfortunately, once doors were open, a number of guests towards the back of the queue pushed forward, creating crowding near the entry.”

While saying “no injuries relating to crowding were reported”, the statement added that “Melbourne and Olympic Parks will review our ingress process for general admission events, to ensure we continue to meet our commitment to delivering a safe and enjoyable experience for all who attend our venues”.

Lacy is scheduled to play at Riverstage in Brisbane on Wednesday night before heading to Sydney to perform at the Hordern Pavilion this Sunday and next Monday.

Image credit: giulianic 111 Tik Tok

About the author

Karen Sweaney

Co-founder and Editor, Australasian Leisure Management

Artist, geoscientist and specialist writer on the leisure industry, Karen Sweaney is Editor and co-founder of Australasian Leisure Management.

Based in Sydney, Australia, her specific areas of interest include the arts, entertainment, the environment, fitness, tourism and wellness.

She has degrees in Fine Arts from the University of Sydney and Geological Oceanography from UNSW.

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