No Rock And Roll Fun

SYSTEM OF A FALL DOWN: The it-would-be-foolish-to-call-it-cursed Leeds Festival had another major fuck-up on Friday when a 'safety' barrier gave way during the System of a Down set. Mean Fiddler rushed out an ass-covering statement:

"During the first few minutes of the System Of A Down performance at the Leeds Festival yesterday the front of stage barrier moved approximately half a metre. This resulted in a young girl trapping her foot. The performance of System Of A Down was halted for a few minutes to release the girl and re-pin the barrier, which at no time collapsed. The medical services have reported that 22 people were treated for minor injuries and the whole System Of A Down and Metallica performances continued with no further incident. Overall the medical services on site reported a 25% decrease in patients this year compared to the same time last year. Today's performances are fully scheduled and under way and we're looking forward to a great weekend of live music."

So, that's alright then - the barrier didn't collapse, it just shot forward half a metre and injured 22 people. The statement manages to neglect mentioning three people were hospitalised, and two of them broke ankles. It doesn't reflect on the luck that it actually gave when it did was kind of lucky, as it was early on in a set and before the crowd started going really bonkers. The barrier did not collapse. That's what counts. So it turns out the function of the safety barrier isn't to guarantee safety, but merely to keep standing at all times. You'll also notice that Melvin Benn didn't bother to take the opportunity to apologise to anyone, or even wish them a swift recovery.