Fan at Billy Talent concert recounts chaos, 'sucker punch,' and 'one hell of a show'

Billy Talent perform at the Danforth Music Hall, in Toronto on Saturday, August 11, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

A fan who attended the Billy Talent concert that was disrupted when several thousand people pushed through the fences says that despite the chaos, which saw him get "sucker punched," the band "put on one hell of a show."

Officials in Port Colborne, Ont. have said the venue at H. H. Knoll Park reached capacity just before 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, at which point police decided to close the surrounding fences.

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Police have said that a crowd of about 4,000 to 5,000 people outside the fences then pushed through the perimeter, challenging officers and security guards and leaving one officer with minor injuries.

Jasper Davies, a 36-year-old life-long Billy Talent fan, says he got sucker-punched by a drunken fan when people started flooding in before the show.

The City of Port Colborne said about 15 minor injuries were reported among the concertgoers, and organizers decided to shut down alcohol service in the interest of public safety.

Riley Gorman, who also attended the concert, says it seemed like the organizers expected the normal number of people at the Canal Days festival, "but they thought wrong."

An estimated 25,000 people showed up to the small venue, more than double the 10,000 expected.

Davies said he got to the venue around 5 p.m., lining up an hour before the gates would open and well before the headliner was scheduled to perform at 9:30 p.m.

"We looked behind us 15 minutes later and the line was well back across the road and down the street towards the hospital," he said.

Gorman was in the crowd when the chaos erupted but said things ultimately calmed down.

"Almost makes it hard to believe the gates got crashed at all," Gorman said.

Davies echoed that, saying that the rest of the night was a "typical rock concert" with crowd surfing and people "rocking out."

While he voiced hope the City of Port Colborne and festival organizers learn something from the experience, Davies says Billy Talent still put on "one hell of a show."

The band, a successful rock group from the 2000s, was headlining the evening as part a free, three-day festival called Canal Days.

"This was the first time seeing Billy Talent in concert and it definitely will not be the last time."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug 6, 2024