Concert Terrorism: The Bataclan massacre and the Manchester Arena bombing | 24

Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry

You would think that going to a concert would be a safe thing for everyone…first, you have thousands of like-minded people looking to have a good time…no one sets out to ruin the evening for everyone else…you paid good money for your tickets and you’ve waited a long time for this night to come.

Second, there’s security everywhere…the last thing an artist, a promoter, or a venue wants is there to be some kind of trouble where someone gets hurt—or worse.

For 99.999% of all concerts, things run smoothly…yeah, someone might get a little drunk or stoned and cause trouble…maybe a fight breaks out because someone got pushed…but generally, these common issues are dealt with quickly and without any serious repercussions.

In other words, concerts (for the most part) are safe spaces…except when they’re not…concerts easy pickings for anyone who wants to cause carnage…they are mass gatherings—and such concentrations of unsuspecting people are easy soft targets for people determined to cause injury and death.

If you look at things on a global scale, concerts are more often the target of terrorism than you may realize… the global terrorism database did a study of attacks on concerts and festivals going back to 1970…they found 146 examples.

Most targets were religious festivals with 54…but in second place were concerts with 29…the most common type of attack was bombing followed by assaults, which included firearms…most victims were on-site when it happened.

Between 1970 and 2019, 244 people were killed at concerts and festivals and 1,656 were injured…those numbers have gone up substantially since that study concluded…they do not, for example, include the deaths and casualties in the Hamas attack on the Supernova Festival in Israel on October 7, 2023…at least 346 people died that day.

And if it seems that there have been more terrorist attacks on concerts and festivals, you’re not imagining things…there was a spike starting in 2015 that continued until the COVID lockdown in 2020.

I have details on two terrorist attacks that happened during that period…the first was on a seemingly normal Friday night in Paris…the other was late on a Monday evening when everyone was going home.

I’m speaking of the Bataclan massacre and the Manchester Arena bombing…this is episode 24 of “Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry”…and boy, have I got some stories for you.

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