DALLAS — Rihanna’s Loud tour concert in Dallas ended abruptly July 8 halfway through the show with a freakish fire in the rig. The singer had just left the stage after the song “California King Bed,” punctuated with a pyro display, when a wayward spark apparently created flames that appeared to grow higher and wider on the top truss. It took on the appearance of a bonfire as debris cascaded onto the stage. It took audience members a few moments to realize that this was not part of the show.
White smoke ballooned out from the truss, house lights soon came on and a figure could be seen up in the rig with a fire extinguisher, dousing the blaze. The PA system alerted the crowd of 12,500 in the American Airlines Center that the show was now over and ordered an immediate evacuation.
While crowds headed for the exits and uniformed firemen attended to the stage, a crew member said a spark might have set a followspot operator’s seat ablaze on the pyro truss. The operator was able to quickly abandon the chair before flames engulfed it. Part of the falling debris included the operator’s safety belt on the chair. No injuries and no major problems resulted from the fire, and the cabling underneath was spared for the most part.
Observers portrayed the show as snake-bit even before the fire. Rihanna had started the show almost an hour late due to her delay in getting from New York to Dallas, and a crew member said there had been problems with video gear as well. Alan Barber, owner of Background Images, the video content providers of the Rihanna tour, challenged that view, saying the show had been running smoothly before the fire. The Rihanna Loud tour proceeded to the following night’s tour stop in Houston without any serious disruptions.
Photos by Debi Moen
