Ongoing History of New Music

Ongoing History Daily: A very weird U2 lawsuit

When a band goes on tour, they can never, ever be too careful. Same thing goes for promoters. If there’s ONE thing you need, it’s insurance against the weird things that can happen. 

Take the case of the French man who went to a U2 show in 1993. He snuck past security and found his way around a fence that was set up around the PA system. He watched the show from there. But he was so close to the speakers that ended up going legally deaf.

So what did he do?  He sued the promoter for negligence. His defense was that the security people should have done a better job of keeping people like him out.  And guess what?  He won the equivalent of $34,000. 

This is why liability insurance is so important to musicians and promoters–and it helps explains why ticket prices are so high.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 37838 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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