Festival defends decision to allow Green Day to perform after acrobat dies

Madrid’s Mad Cool Festival organisers have explained their decision not to postpone Green Day’s set shortly after an acrobat fell to his death between sets.

The band pressed on with their performance on Friday night despite acrobat Pedro Aunion Monroy plunging 100 feet as he attempted an aerial stunt from inside a box that was suspended from a crane.

Paramedics tried to resuscitate Pedro – a specialist in aerial dance – for 30 minutes before he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The tragic incident was witnessed by thousands of music-lovers in the Spanish capital, but it only caused a brief delay before Green Day took to the stage.

“The decision to not stop the festival immediately was made between the state and local security forces, as well as our security management,” organisers said.

“Mad Cool Festival complied with all the corresponding security measures that are mandatory for the audience, artists and workers at festivals and was prepared for all eventualities. In this situation it was officially deemed unsafe to have a large mass of people moving all at once, with the possibility of violent reactions, due to a sudden cancellation of an event of 45,000 people. The safety and security of the fans at the festival was of the highest order and it was not compromised.

“Throughout the night and since the tragedy, we worked together in a coordinated way with the healthcare professionals present at the event, as well as the emergency services of the city council and security team. A psychological unit was made available to the family.”

“We believe music and culture are a life celebration and the festival pays tribute to all the artists that work everyday showcasing their talent in front of admiring and appreciative audiences.

“Mad Cool would officially like to thank the audience for their kindness and support, the security forces and emergency services who worked so hard to keep everyone safe and we offer our gratitude and affection to all at this hard time.”

Green Day also released a statement and singer Billie Joe Armstrong said in a statement on the band’s website, Billie Joe said: “Many of you are wondering why we continued to play our show after the accident.

“Green Day did not hear about the accident until after our show was over. We didn’t even know there was an acrobat performance at all.

“These festivals are huge. There are so many things happening at the same time it’s impossible to keep up with every performer/artist. We were in a back stage compound about a half-mile away from the main festival stage.

“We were warming up ready to go at 11:25 pm. 15 minutes prior our tour management was told by local authorities to wait to go on stage because there was some sort of security issue. Security issues are a normal occurrence and procedure at any show. We were NOT told why which is also normal.”

He said, too, that despite the acrobat’s death, everything appeared normal from the stage.

Billie Joe wrote: “Everything seemed normal. The crowd and fans had a good time.”