Fred Schneider Divulges All About The C Trop Music Festival In Tilloloy, France
This is not my usual content. This is very serious. Last night was a total disaster. The promoter knew the dangerous storm that was brewing and on its way to The C Trop Music Festival in Tilloloy, France.
First, there was lightning, but the promoter still had the crew set up the stage and told the band to get ready to perform. Luckily,
Our tour manager said to hold back 10 minutes because it’s not safe, and we have to see what is going on with the storm.
Then it was like a world wind hurricane force and heavy rain.
Most of our crew was caught and had to duck under where they could for shelter. The festival was evacuated. We could not even leave because it was too dangerous to drive. The power went out several times backstage.
We felt terrible for the fans that have waited in the heat all day for us to perform. And then get very little warning to no warning from the promoter that it wasn’t safe to stay out and make our way to the stage, there was lightning striking the band before our set.
Scaffolding even fell from the stage and destroyed our equipment.
Keyboards, mic stands, laptops, sound equipment. All destroyed.
Clawdia, our mascot, tumbled off the stage when the sides and back curtain of the stage blew off.
One silver lining was John’s guitars weren’t destroyed, but we’re heavily soaked, and they can be dried out. I still haven’t found out what happened to Ken’s and Tracy‘s equipment and Sterling‘s drum kit. The drum kit was blown all over the stage.
I still don’t know the total assessment of the damage, but as you see in the photo with the lightning, the FYC band was on stage as lightning struck.
This was extremely dangerous for them because the stage is loaded with large metal objects.
And then, while we’re in the dark, and the people working for the promoter were walking around with flashlights, asking us to sign posters, and well, I won’t tell you what strong expletive words were used.
Our tour manager, Alice Martin, handled everything in an incredibly great manner. We could’ve been stuck on stage if we hadn’t held for those 10 minutes.
Our sound man, Frank, feared for his life. It was that dangerous. We were worried about the crew the entire time.
No one was hurt, thank goddess.