Rock N Roll Is a Dangerous Business
The music business can be fraught with all kinds of hidden dangers that can cause serious injury and even death. We have plenty of evidence just how difficult it can be to survive in the world of rock ‘n’ roll; we only have to think of Elvis, Keith Moon, Keith Richards, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain or Sir Cliff Richard.
Yes it’s true we must now add that lovable Christian songster to the list of victims of rock ‘n’ roll. For generations a big part of the live concert experience has been queuing up overnight in the pouring rain to get your hands on those precious tickets that will let you in to the event of a lifetime.
That is unless that stuff of which rock ‘n’ roll dreams are made happens to be happening at the Sheffield Arena. Diehard fans of Sir Cliff have been denied the God-given right of all concertgoers to be filmed by local TV news standing in line throughout the night, in the middle of winter, with only a bin bag to protect them from the elements.
Cliff has embarked on 50th anniversary tour with his old mate’s the Shadows, and the show rolls into Sheffield for the star’s 69th birthday next year. But fans have been told that they will not be allowed to queue for tickets after dark, because of health and safety issues.
Marketing manager Simon Bailey from the arena said that they were now implementing a policy that bans overnight queuing for all shows. This follows what he refers to as “incidents” during overnight line-ups waiting for the box office to open.
He would not indicate if the Health and Safety Executive were implementing these Draconian measures or if the arena was acting of its own accord. Management of all kinds of venues where the public visit need to be aware of official health and safety guidelines and should implement training through a recognised organisation. Find out more about the highly respected NEBOSH courses from Workplace Law Training.
