Maybe Concert Stages Should Have Warning Tracks Like Baseball Stadiums

Paula Abdul And Jimmy Buffett Have Both Fallen Off Stages In Concerts

By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Music Blogger

A few years ago, Jimmy Buffett accidentally walked off the stage during a concert in Sydney, Australia.

It knocked him out of action for six months.

And then in October of 2018, Paula Abdul did the same thing in Mississippi. She fell off the stage and landed on her head.

In both cases, each simply did not realize they were at the end of the stage, took a step and suddenly were on the ground in front of the front row.

Both artists were largely unhurt but still, it makes one wonder if concert stages should not have some type of warning track near the edges, like baseball fields do to warn players they are approaching the outfield wall.

Yes, that’s only two incidents in thousands of concerts but it’s a miracle it has not happened more often – quite often, in fact. After all, when they are playing and walking around the stage, musicians are into the crowd and the music and are not really paying attention to where they in relation to the end of the stage. More often than they probably realize, they are wandering dangerously close to the ledge.

What about those musicians and bands with huge shows that involve a lot of moment and dancing on the stage? Those stages are often five-to-10 feet above the venue’s floor and that’s a long drop, especially when there’s no time to brace or prepare for a fall.

If venues or production crews were to add some type of warning that an artist is near the edge, that should keep it from happening to other musicians. Something as simple as bright tape – or a couple of lines of tape – about a foot from the end of the stage would solve the problem.

The artist would have to get used to looking down on occasion to get their bearings, but it sure beats plunging off the stage. And, like Abdul, falling on your head.