Page 32 - AT

A32 FEATURE
Tuesday 3 december 2019
Rock tragedy: Music superstars, small suburb forever linked

By DAN SEWELL thought, that "we should
Associated Press do something." The thought
FINNEYTOWN, Ohio (AP) — soon grew into the memo-
The concrete bench in a rial bench.
small northern Cincinnati They joined with Witten-
suburb depicts a guitar, baum and Walt Medlock
with the message "My Gen- — who remembers be-
eration" just below it. ing pressed tightly against
In the background are Preston before making the
plaques with the faces of possibly life-saving deci-
three teenagers, Jackie sion to work his way out of
Eckerle, Karen Morrison the crowd — to create the
and Stephan Preston, fro- P.E.M. scholarship fund, us-
zen in time 40 years ago. ing the last-name initials of
Bricks in the plaza around their three schoolmates.
the bench carry eight other "We wanted to take what
names. was a terrible tragedy and
All 11 were killed in a frantic try and turn it into some-
stampede of people trying thing that could be looked
to get into the British rock at as good," Wittenbaum
band The Who's concert on explained. "We wanted to
Dec. 3, 1979, at Cincinnati's pay it forward."
Riverfront Coliseum. The In this Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019 photo, a memorial plaque for eleven concertgoers killed at a Launched in 2010, the
city of Finneytown suffered 1979 concert stands between Great American Ballpark and Heritage Bank Arena, in Cincinnati. scholarships reward three
disproportionately, and Associated Press Finneytown students with
its three losses included $5,000 each for the study
the two youngest victims, and guitarist Pete Town- carry with us." and dedicated songs such of music or any other arts.
15-year-olds Eckerle and shend, the last survivors of "It took a long time for us as The Who's "Love Ain't For There have awarded 27 so
Morrison. Their schoolmates the original band, say they to get a sense that this was Keeping" to those who died far.
say well over 100 other have struggled emotion- not just about the 11 kids, it at the concert. Hutchins Auctions and raffles at an
people from Finneytown ally over the years with the was about the community," was at The Who concert; annual December show
were there. concert carnage, which Townshend told The Associ- he skipped school that featuring music by alumni
"Everyone's connected at the school's performing
to it, everywhere you go arts center help pay for the
around here," said Fred Wit- scholarships. The Who be-
tenbaum, who was a fresh- came involved in the third
man at Finneytown High year, making an exclusive
School then but did not DVD for showing at that
attend the concert. "Either year's benefit with com-
they went to the concert, ments from the band about
or they had a friend or a the tragedy and new con-
family member who was cert footage.
there." More aid from the band
Since then, the community followed. Last year, Witten-
of around 12,000 people, baum drove Daltrey from
many living in ranch-style a private airstrip near Day-
homes built years before ton to view the Finneytown
the concert, has been in- memorials that include
extricably linked with The artwork, personal items
Who, which was already and photos of the three
well on the way to the in a Who-donated display
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame case. Daltrey also met with
with such hits as "Won't relatives of those killed and
Get Fooled Again," "Can't with fans who attended the
Explain," and "My Genera- concert.
tion," an anthem of rebel- "It's been a really cathar-
lious youth. In this Dec. 3, 1979 file photo, concert-goers and a policeman stand with a pile of shoes and tic process for everybody,"
clothing which were left after a crowd surged toward doors to Cincinnati's riverfront coliseum to
Most of the blame after- get into a rock concert by British rock band The Who, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Wittenbaum said.
ward focused on the first- Associated Press D a l t r e y - a u t o g r a p h e d
come, first-served arrange- books, albums, guitars and
ment for seating that saw other items have been
thousands of fans line up they didn't know about un- ated Press in a recent inter- day, got to the coliseum sold online, including on
for hours ready to charge til their show was ending. view in New York. nearly seven hours early to the band's official site, to
toward the coveted floor "Because there's always a The sad stories and trau- be among the first in line, add to the fund. The P.E.M.
spots, and on confusion certain amount, 'If I hadn't matic memories among and got close enough to leaders' next goal is to
over and lack of prepa- been doing this, it wouldn't Finneytown alums evolved the stage to see The Who's see Daltrey and Townsh-
ration for when the doors have happened,' you three decades later into a song list. end perform in Cincinnati
were opening. Besides know," Daltrey said during plan to memorialize their Fellow Finneytown High for the first time since the
those trampled in the stam- an unpublicized visit last friends. alum Steve Bentz, who deadly concert. In the AP
pede, some two dozen year to the Finneytown me- John Hutchins was playing wasn't at the concert, ap- interview, Townshend said
other fans were injured. morial site. "That's just hu- an acoustic set at a nearby proached Hutchins after the band plans to return to
Frontman Roger Daltrey man nature. That's what we venue in December 2009 his performance with a Cincinnati.q