Storm Demolishes Cheap Trick's Stage

Cheap Trick was performing when stage collapsed
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 18, 2011 9:41 AM CDT

CNN video of the stage collapse.
(CNN)
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Audience members at the Ottawa Bluesfest got quite a scare last night when a violent storm blew across the main stage where Cheap Trick was performing, causing it to crumple. The tornado-sized gust of wind blew the stage backwards, sparking a 9,000-person stampede as fans fled, the Toronto Sun reports. Miraculously, no one, including the band, was seriously injured, CNN reports, but the festival was shut down for the evening. In the Ottawa Citizen, reporter Meghan Hurley describes her front-row view of the event, calling it "the longest few minutes" of her life. (More viral video stories.)