~ The Great White concert tragedy ~

There is no words to express the sorrow from Feb. 20ths Tragedy in Rhode Island..
Our deepest sympathies go out to all the families that are lost.. and that are still missing...
You are in our hearts!
It's a crazy think to think 2 weeks ago today I was sitting front row of Great White
and shooting pictures of Ty.. and Co. and now this....
I'm praying that he is o.k. and will show up soon....
We just have to stay positive......
Ty come home...

Lets not forget we lost another amazing musician in all this..
Ty needs allot more recognition then he is getting...

I have decided to post al the emails I have gotten about that night..
some nice.. then some mean.. but in a whole.. it's your feelings.. weather it's sorrow.. or anger..
it needs to be let out..
I have my own opinion of the situation.. and as far as I'm concerned..
I'm tired of hearing its the "bands fault" or "Jack Russell is an asshole"...
People just don't understand ..when your on tour, you are told where to be.. when to be there.. when to eat, where.. etc..
what time the sound check is.. and what time to go on stage.. then told when the show is over.. where to go. Weather it's the bus.. or the hotel.. then onto the next city.. and do it over again..
YOU PAY SOMEONE TO TAKE CARE OF THESE THINGS..
They are on the road to entertain.. PERIOD.
If someone didn't get clearance for the pyro.. it most certainly wouldn't be the bands fault.. even if they DIDN'T get permission..
it still ISN'T THE BANDS FAULT..... THEY PAY SOMEONE TO TAKE CARE OF THESE THINGS.
But like I said.. this is a time when someone has to shift blame on someone.. because that's what we do.. but it was an accident.. one that maybe could have been prevented.. but to me.. I'd rather be thinking about the family's and the recovering of everyone's identity then "who is going to pay for this" what would have happened if someone threw a lit cigarette on stage and the same thing happened..? Those sparks are about the tamest pyro you can use.. they are not flame pots.. a cigarette has more flame..
But anyway..
I'm going to posted everything I get even if I don't agree..
it's your feelings....

If you have any thoughts or words about the tragedy...
email me here.. I will be posting them..

MY THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS, TO ALL THE FAMILY'S AND MY THOUGHTS THAT JUST MAYBE WE WILL FIND TY, ITS AWFUL .. MY HUSBAND JUST PLAYED THE STATION A WEEK BEFORE GREAT WHITE ... TO GREAT WHITE AND ALL THE OTHER MEMBERS ESPECIALLY JACK ... WE PRAY FOR YOU AND HANG INT THERE

SINCERELY,
DENYCE S.

Dear J

I was so sorry to read about this. It's unbeliveable and tragic, and I can't start to imagine how the band are feeling.

I was bass guitarist with Slade until recently. The press did a number on me, and bought my life crashing down. Reading this just puts my problems into perspective.

If you can, please send my best to Jack, Mark and the band. I'm so sorry.

Dave Glover
Portsmouth, UK

Now that the whole tragedy is in the past tense the blaming is beginning
Is it the Band's Fault ?
Is it the Club's Fault?
Is it the tour Manager's Fault?

To a certain extent--Yes on all counts there is plenty of blame to go around.
But when all of the finger pointing is done nothing will change. THe tragedy still happened and the dead are still dead. It should be obvious to anyone that no one wanted such a thing to happen or even felt that it could. It appears that clubs look the other way as bands set up pyrotechnics figuring that they can deny giving permission if a fire starts--Is this the case here_ I dunno

But I feel terrible for (among many) the band themselves--all of them.
They did not want to hurt anyone--they are entertainers. They just wanted to do a show like they have done thousands of times before. To face a room full of chearing fans one moment and suddenly 3 minutes later be in an inferno and to come out with people accusing them of mass murder is a hard thing to imagine. What goes through the mind of the band after such a disaster? The personal guilt must be unbearable. We need to remember that this was an accident. Reguardless of who is at fault. But I hope that we can learn from this--We need to keep the pyrotechnics in the box if the show is indoors. A similar thing happened at the Fine Line in Minneapolis days before the Great White show--but no one died. In that case too the band and club are engaged in a "You said We could"/ "We said You couldn't" dispute. Let's get past that and save the sparklers for outdoors. That so many peple could die from a stupid stage prop accident is mind boggling. So club owners AND Bands be up front about this--The fireworks do not come in the building. NO one wants more death. The music should be enough. And Club owners--if you see the band bringing in boxes of pyrotechnics perhaps then would be a good time to say --take it outside (not after the fire).
Lessons Learned the hard Way. There will still be concerts There will still be shows But lets learn from this and not oversell the room AND keep the sparklers on the bus next time.

Those arrogant assholes in great white, especially fucking Jack Russell, doing pyro.. who gives a shit about that? I mean, the music sucks, ok.. so you need something, but now, Jacks going to face manslaughter charges, and , he's going to wind up some guys girlfriend in Jail for the rest of his life. You should have retired Jack. you murderer.. and if music mayhem has any balls... you will post this email.

murders and liers i hope it haunts you for the rest of your life

To the authors of the "...arrogant assholes...' and '...murderers and
liers...' (nice spelling) emails, consider this:

Have you ever driven while intoxicated? I assume yes. Guess was? A lot of
people are in prison getting f'***'d up the ass for doing exactly what YOU
did because they made the WRONG decision at the WRONG place at the WRONG
time.

Although justice will prevail, I stand at the very end of the
casting-judgment line knowing that I have made a lot of stupid decisions (as
I'm sure you have) and am VERY thankful that my decisions have not
unfortunately resulted as this one did.

Before you begin casting your dim-witted comments, be sure to first look at
all of the decisions that you have made in your life and which of those
could have resulted in at least ONE death.

I'm sure that you will find yourself looking UP at the face of justice.

My thoughts and prayers are with all of the victims, their families, Jack
Russell and Great White.

I hope that this tragedy will be a reminder to all bands and club owners on
fire safety!

My thoughts are that it is possible that Great White's tour manager was bullshitting the band about having asked the club for permission. Also, no matter what, the band doesn't set up their own equipment and therefore, have little control about their effects. Most importantly, we shouldn't be pointing fingers at anyone yet. We should all be praying for the friends and family of each victim. Let's not forget that Great White lost a loved one also.

I used to play in the same clubs in Denver. When Ty played in Vendetta. Back in the 90's. Great heart, great person. My prayers go out to his wife & family.

I also want to add. That if Jack knew about the policy of no pyro. He sure in the hell didn't show it on his interviews w/ the media that night. Or the day after. He looked as shocked as anyone who would've been there and witnessed this tradgedy. I believe that either the Road Mgr. lied or there are some half truths going on w/ the owners of the club. Let's remember they were over capacity.

Not to mention that there should be something in writing to cover the asses of the band in something like that. That's not the type of Management that went on here.

My prayers go out to the friends & families.

J,

I don't want to sound morbid or dramatic, but when I
first heard about the fire and the casualties, the
first thing I thought was that I could imagine being
there. We've all seen shows with pyro, part of the
rush of pyro and explosions at shows is the rush of
danger and the thrill that it provides. I can even
imaging myself stalling and wondering if it was part
of the show, then the panic, and the mad rush for the
exit.

On Friday night I went to a local club to see a band
and the first thing I did was look for the exits. I
have never been concerned about that type of thing in
the past. As much as I enjoy the element of danger
through the use of pyro or when I jump in the pit for
a song or two, I don't want to be killed while having
the experience. I think that the tragedy will serve
as a wake up call for club owneres to go the extra
mile to ensure safety. I feel like a parent saying
this, but it is better to be safe then sorry.

I will pray that the people who lost their lives will
pass on peacefully, the survivors will be able to move
on and truly live their lives, and that Jack and the
band are able to follow their hearts. If they still
love creating music, I hope that they are able to
continue to do so.

For the people who wrote in with their hateful
remarks, maybe you will have a greater understanding
of this situation when you lose someone you love or
care for, learn some compassion.

Kevin

I am so sorry for the recent tragedy. Ty was a valuable member and will be greatly missed. I know what an awful effect this must have on the other band members, especially you Jack. My thoughts and prayers are with you all. Please don't give up, you must carry on and get past this point, we want to hear you again. Great White has been a favorite of mine since the beginning. Don't let it end here!!!

Hugs and blessings,
Elaine

hey its shannon, i am a huge fan of yours and great white! I saw you in
action in lawton, okla. a few years ago. I liked your attitude and seemed to
appreitative of just the small crowd that was there. Best of luck to you and
hope to here from you soon. My prayers go out to all of you.

            Sincerly,                                           Shannon Murphy

I saw Great White on Aug. 17, 2002. It was a B day
present to myself. I grew up in Southern California
listening to the old group. So I had to see the new.
They ROCKED there ass off. Ty was an awesome guitarist
and with Jack on his side they made an another awesome
group, not to forget to mention Mark Kendall who also
kicked ass behind the strings. The horrible accident
that occurred last week is that a tragedy an accident.
I don't know what else to write, but that I have been
holding Jack and the rest of that band in my prayers
and when this is all over GET BACK ON THE ROAD. WE
TRUE SHARKIES LOVE YA.
Sincerely, Jeff Shelton
Colorado Springs, Colorado

i dont know if words can express the sorrow we feel for all the victims of this tragedy- however my thoughts and prayers are with all the family and friends who have lost someone that night- god needed angels and he picked te best that he could find- however we lost them in a horrorable way we need to know that god needed them to be guardian angels for the people in this world- good bless all of you. a. lonergan 21, providence ri

My name is Andrea i am 24 and i live in Taunton Mass, I am a big Great White fan. My heart goes out to you for looseing Ty. I cried when i heard Jack Russle say on the news that Ty was lost and that he was concerned his girl friend was at home carrying his baby. I especialy cried when i saw his girl friend on the news interview. He was an amazeing guitarist And Jack Russle has the most amazeing voice. I am a big fan of the bands and always will. You have my love, support and prayers. I dont believe this is the bands fault. In the begining i thought every one was gonna point fingers at the band. But most people have been open minded about the situation and are pointing the blame at the club owners. I would do any thing i could to help. My heart and prayers are with all of you.

I was saddened to hear about the fire at the club.But what saddened me most is how i grew up on these guys and now they r in the spotlight of the media.The media acts like they are stupid or they lit the fuse.The band shouldn't be accountable for this.When you see the video ,that of course they showed over and over on cnn,the guys are playin' there isnt one of them trying to set off pyros!So how can you blame the band?They even lost TY for heaven's sake! You know how it is,rock and roll is devils music yada yada yada bs.. Ive heard that till i'm sick of it!Please let Jack and Mark know this was just a freak accident that its not there fault,I send my condolences for TY, and Please don't let this keep them down.Please don't stop making music that i've enjoyed since 1984.
                                                          Thank You...........
                                                       Sincerely,......
                                               Worth jr. Carswell

First off, my heart and prayers go out to the families and band members... Second, I just imagine that everyone envolved feels terrible beyond words. Stuff happens and it is very unfortunate. But let's not forget that we have all made "not so good" decisions and because of them sometimes we hurt ourselves and others. We live and learn and WE HAVE to go on. Let's try not to be to hard. I just imagine that the members of Great White and every one envolved are being hard enough on themselves. God bless...

weeping_juniper aka ~Karla~

The real villains here are the Rhode Island elected officials and business interests that prevented a sprinkler mandate in all buildings. Sprinkler legislation is on the agenda in Rhode Island year after year, as it is in many states. The buck stops with the people who decided that a nightclub like The Station should not be subject to government regulation. If that club has sprinklers, nobody dies, and the fire does not merit much more than a mention on the inside pages of the local newspapers. The real guilty parties here will not get sued, but deep in their hearts they must carry the guilt. They know who they are. There have never been multiple deaths by fire in a building with sprinklers. That in itself is a sobering fact.

That's the view from here in Massachusetts anyway.

TY was the best,he will be missed .I hope will tour again .

This may be too long to post...maybe not. First of all, my thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. What a tragedy. But it could have been prevented.

I personally feel that the Derderian brothers are in deep trouble. First of all, the soundproofing. There is no way in hell that they can say that they didn't know it was dangerous. Jeffrey Derderian did a story on the same stuff when he was working for a Boston TV station. Right on video he is calling the stuff "solid gasoline." Then he uses the same crap in his own club. What a guy :-P Guess saving $600 was more important to him than human lives. He gets my vote for humanitarian of the year. Then, they oversold the club. Once the pre-printed tickets were sold, they wrote the letter "p" and/or stamped "paid in full" on their business cards. Fire survivors have come forward and showed investigators. When you consider the weather, along with other circumstances kept alot of people with tickets from attending, imagine what the death toll would have been had they all shown up. Makes me shudder. Michael Derderian listed his crowd capacity as 500 in a music trade journal read by bookers, etc. Evidently, most bands wouldn't play in venues of less than 450. Bookers wouldn't book it. Not cost effective. So they listed at 500. Can you say LIE????

Then we have the house stage manager/sound tech, Paul Vanner. Useless. I find it very difficult to believe that he "didn't know the gerb was being set up." Bull. If he was doing his job and paying attention, he would have seen it being put up. The cables being run from it. Something. And if it was such an issue or problem, then it was HIS JOB to pull the plug. Not to mention the fact that he wasn't there when the band set up. Why? It was his job wasn't it? And running over to GW's sound board, grabbing the fire extinguisher (which should have been on or near the stage) and running out a little known kitchen exit after realizing the extinguisher would probably be of no help...well, that just smacks of stupidity. Did he even bother to TRY using the extinguisher? No. And, evidently he yelled GET OUT NOW. Did he say FOLLOW ME and guide people to an unused, UNCROWDED exit? NO, he did not. Another one for the humanitarian hall of fame. And he threw the fire extinguisher in the woods. Hmmmm. And he has stated that he hopes to get another job as a stage manager. Anyone who would hire him needs their head examined.

The fire inspector, Mr. Larocque. How could an experienced fire inspector miss that soundproofing? Oooops, I stand corrected. PACKING MATERIAL. And if he did see it, why didn't he snip a piece and put a match to it? Can't tell by a visual if it is fireproof or not. Actually, I can answer my own question. It's for the same reason he overlooked the lack of fire extinguishers, the lack of adequate fire exits. He is a card carrying member of the local "good ol' boys' club. Bet he wishes he could cancel his membership now. Oh yeah....his newly found claims of the Station's maximum capacity of 404??? He just hung himself. According to his own state fire code, any building capacity over 300 is required to be sprinklered. So....where were the sprinklers if the capacity was really 404 like he claims? Either way..300 or 404, he's up a creek. So are the brothers. 300 capacity -- the club is overcrowded and has a history of it. 404 capacity -- did not have the sprinklers required for a building housing more than 300.

Now, on to Jack Russell and the rest of the band. One thing I've been wondering is why everyone is singling out Jack?? I heard that Jack could be facing some serious criminal charges. I didn't hear anything about the rest of the band...just Jack. Does he own the copyright on the name Great White? Is he somehow legally and on paper the sole point of accountibility for the band? Or is he just an easy target because he is the lead singer and the most visible? If anyone knows the answer to that one, I'd like to know. I personally can't see how he or any of the band members can be criminally responsible for any of this. I'm sure, however, that they will be served in civil court for damages. There may be a case there, but I can't see much money coming out of that either. Now Dan Biechele, their tour manager...that's more difficult. I'd like to say he's innocent, too, but if he didn't even have a Federal Explosives License then he could be in some serious shit here. Any local permits don't seem to matter as it doesn't seem that any other band got them either. Even pyrotechnic experts are stating that Dan Biechele did not use common sense. Some have even gone as far as to say he was negligent. I don't know about that as I don't know squat about pyro. I do know I've seen it many times in clubs the size of the Station and smaller. I don't ever remember seeing a fireman on the scene either. I don't know if permissions were given or the if the person who set it off had a license. I just know I've seen pyro many, many, many times over the years and for the grace of God nothing happened. It probably should have or could have. But it didn't. I do think that Dan Biechele needs a good attorney.

I've read too much about this in all different sources. Personalities seem to take over. I have something for all those who don't like Great White -- "Just because YOU don't like the band does NOT mean they are guilty." And just because I like the band and am acquainted with Jack Russell has no bearing on the fact I feel they are innocent of any criminal wrong-doing. Anyone want some good sites that have great information on this fire and the aftermath

check these out: www.KNAC.com, www.projo.com. www.bostonglobe.com, www.roadie.net. That's just to name a few.

Thanks for listening,

Sue

A little late I guess to post this, but it is really upsetting for anyone to blame the band in all this. I know people who work as road crew members and they do rely heavily on what club owners and workers tell them is the truth about their particular venue. No one has time to research ever single place that they play and make sure it is up to safety standards, that is the job of the club's owners and their employees.

I feel for the fans who died and were injured, it could have been me, I have been to many unsafe clubs and never gave it a thought. I feel for Ty's fiance and family and the unborn child who will not meet his/her father in this life. I feel for Jack and Mark and the other musicians and road crew involved for taking so much of the brunt of the criticism leveled at this freak accident that could have occurred on any night with any band having the misfortune to play that club. I know Jack is a very caring, hard working, and sweet individual who would have done anything he could have to prevent this if it had been possible to do so. No one should forget that Great White also lost family members in this too. Ty and a member of the crew are gone. Another crew member very seriously injured. The band were victims of this tragedy just as the attending fans were.

I really don't know what else to say other than my thoughts and prayers are with all involved--- and Jack, hang in there and carry on, your fans love you---you have too much talent and heart to be sacrificed on something you could have done NOTHING to prevent.

Liz

I just want to say how saddened I am by all this. My prayers and heart go out to all involved.
Sincerely,
Pam L.

i just want to tell jack and great white that i will stand with them. i say this because i now that they would not have put there fans in danger like that. what happen was a bad thing and a lot of people loss there lives. great white lost someone to a great person his name was ty. he will be missed as all that died that night. jack if you read this please send me a e-mail... donna in mass

Hey stuff happens. This was defenitly an accident. This band didn't set out to hurt or kill anyone. I still Love Great White.Jamie

its definately a trajedy,my birthday is the 28th of feb.if i hadnt just opened my tattoo studio and needed to work i would have been at that show the 20th.being the fan that i am of jacks,anyone that listened to his lyrics or the soul he put into it would see this man meant no harm to his fans.he was there for us when we needed that sweet melody in our ears.as sad as some of the songs might seem i think there might be comfort for some of the families listen to sail away the whole c.d.listen to what this man has felt.your loved ones are not forgotten jack will never them go.nor will i.even after all this trajedy i would like to express how i deeply regret not going to the show.i feel helpless like i cant help them, their tour doesnt look like it will be coming near boston,and i cant travel far to see them.so if they come to your area pleaz go even if you never heard them before they wont let you down,theres something deep in these guys. play on guys - Tattooreaper

Click here to see my
tribute to the victims....

If you have any thoughts or words about the tragedy...
email me here.. I will be posting them..