I've read almost everything I could on the Great White concert fire at a nightclub called The Station in the Rhode Island town of West Warwick. And I don't know what to think.
It is the worst disaster in the history of Rock 'n' Roll. Ninety-seven people, including the band's guitarist Ty Longley, died in the fire that was apparently ignited by Great White's use of pyrotechnics during the show on the night of Feb. 20. Another 200 were injured.
That number overshadows any rock-concert disaster that has happened since the beginning of the rock era in the 1950s.
The finger-pointing started Tuesday.
According to CNN, club owners Michael and Jeffrey Derderian, who had to be publicly asked by authorities to speak with investigators, issued a statement read by their lawyer that said the band did not have approval to use pyrotechnics in the club, which, by the way, didn't have a sprinkler system. The club was in an older building.
The band, on the other hand, said they had a "verbal agreement" that OK'd the use of the fireworks that allegedly caught the club's insulation on fire.
According to Great White's attorney, Ed McPherson, the band's manager discussed the gig with Michael Derderian when the band was booked for the show and explained the light and pyrotechnics effects. The band said Jeffrey Derderian was present when the band set up its equipment for the show.
Derderian said in his statement that he was never asked by the group or its manager for permission to use fireworks.
This statement jibes with Chris Glowicki, the stage manager of the Stone Pony, a club where Great White played the previous week. Glowicki told CNN the band surprised him when they lit off fireworks at the Stone Pony gig.
CNN failed to ask why Glowicki didn't call the Derderians to warn them about the dangerous surprise.
CNN spoke with a pyrotechnician named Pete "Pyro Pete" Cappadocia, who said it's "very possible" that Great White could have snuck the fixture into both clubs and set it up without anyone knowing.
In an interview with the Deseret News, Kincade Baum, who, through his company Darkhorse Entertainment, has booked club shows in Salt Lake City for seven years, said it's not possible for a responsible club owner or manager to overlook something like a pyrotechnics setup.
"The whole tragedy is negligence on the part of so many people, but a club owner who is on top of things could not have let that slip by," said Baum, who books shows at Club Xscape and Bricks. "To a large extent, the responsibility rests on club owners and promoters. It's their burden of responsibility to make sure bands follow the terms of agreement."
Before Baum books a band at any club, he attends the band's prior shows in other venues and knows exactly what to expect.
"I know what goes on," he said. "And before the doors are opened, I make a final walk-through and inspect everything. Even if there's a glass ashtray out of place, I don't open the doors until the problem is taken care of."
In Salt Lake, smaller local clubs don't allow pyrotechnics, said Baum. "There's not enough clearance like there are in arenas."
There are times when tour managers will disagree with some of the safety terms presented, said Baum. But that doesn't let the club owners and managers off the hook.
"I'm pretty anal about things like this. I have fought with tour managers and won't let a show go on unless everything is set up as agreed," Baum said. "And after this tragedy, I've received e-mails from those tour managers apologizing for being so hard to deal with."
It will be interesting to see what develops in the Great White/Station investigation. But the bottom line is the fact that it was a devastating event.
E-MAIL: scott@desnews.com