Stage diving has become the latest concerts-may-kill-you craze in the last week, as several prominent performers have been accused of, and convicted of, causing injury by lunging into crowds from the stage. Music Times reported on Tuesday that EDM DJ Skrillex was being sued by a fan who alleged he caused her to have a stroke by stage diving, and now alternative rockers Fishbone are being ordered to pay a fan $1.4 million for injuries resulting from the stage antic.
Kimberly Myers was attending the band's 2010 show in Philadelphia when frontman Angelo "Dr. Madd Vibe" Moore jumped into the crowd. Myers lost consciousness when she was struck by the flying body, and suffered a cracked skull and broken collarbone.
The judge noted in her ruling that the band continued playing immediately following Myers' collapse, and reportedly continued to stage dive in following shows. Neither point probably helped the band's case. Also not helping is the fact that the band has been sued previously for stage-dive related injuries.
"People want to be on the edge when they go to a Fishbone show," Moore said in a statement justifying the band's lack of warnings before stage dives, according to the ruling.
The good news for Skrillex is that the plaintiff in his case has less evidence that his stage dive directly resulted in her stroke. Myers left the Fishbone concert in an ambulance, while Skrillex's accuser left the concert under her own volition, and claims that she later suffered the stroke due to "trauma" from the incident. We're neither doctors nor lawyers, but that all adds up to a less clean-cut case.
