The Facts: Early Valentine’s Day morning the band, Viola Beach, had just finished their first international gig. They were tired but exuberant. (Note: a few seconds of that performance were captured by someone’s cell. from that one could glean it was a fun gig). When they arrived backstage they kind of busted open the door of the dressing room as the headliners (Pyskofant, a Swedish band) sat talking Viola Beach antimatedly ( I know that’s not a word but that kind explains how it was related without quoting)began looking for chairs. When they discovered there was only one they all went for it and sat on each others’ laps (hence the famous last picture taken by John Olsson, member of Psykofant, on his cell). John Olsson described as being reminiscent of a scene out of “Hard Day’s Night” complete with the accents. according to Mailonline, John Olsson saw the gig thinking these guys were going to go on to bigger things. Afterward as the drummer (Jack Dakin) was getting in the car Olsson thanked him for a great gig and joked that if he was ever in the Manchester area he would give them a shout. (Mailonline is not the only source for this. In, fact there is video of John Olsson giving his account).
Like everyone else that met them, John Olsson described them a nice, friendly, wonderful and charming. Then they drove away in the Swedish darkness (actually, darkness looks the same wherever you go but it sounded good 🙂 ). Witnesses accounts of the accident vary (as they tend to do) but the story is kind of like this: The warning lights of the bridge went on, the cars stopped, the rails went down. Their rented Nissan Qashqai barreled down at (comparatively) high speed toward the stopped cars. It swerved onto a shoulder on the left avoiding collision with the end car and seemingly swerved into the gate smashing it and disappeared into the water. This was done without hitting the other cars. The CCTV footage was automatically erased 24 hrs after the crash since no saved it. The Swedish police gave little other information except to say someone made a mistake (look on YouTube “Viola Beach Scandal”). ITV (Granada) reported on this. It is on YouTube under the title “Viola Beach Scandal”
Later, there was a “reconstruction” of this video released. How this was “reconstructed” no one says. (Beware if you are trying to look it up, though. Some moron posted a video of a crash on a bridge, in the daytime, it wasn’t even the same bridge and said it was the leaked CCTV. Why people do these things is beyond me and I’m not sure I want to know). One driver noted that it took a great deal of skill to driveon the shoulder like the driver did and not hit anyone. This may have been the reason the lead investigator was quoted as saying the driver acted deliberately. His comment was originally taken as an opinion that the accident was a suicide murder which angered some members of the families.
It is funny that as far as I know the Swedish authorities have still not revealed the identity of the driver. People who saw them drive away saw that it was Craig Tarry, their manager. Even so, one could figure it out when according to the autopsy there was no alcohol or drugs in the driver’s system. The only one that had no alcohol that night was Craig Tarry. According to John Olsson, Tarry took his job seriously and gave his complimentary beer to the band (who were reportedly upset that they were limited to two each).
Initially, there were many conflicting stories and rumours. One had to wait for the official findings, however . . . there were very little. The warning lights were supposedly working (all but one). The brake lights went on so it was presumed the brakes were working. Alcohol or drugs were not factors since they weren’t in the driver’s system. After they hit the barrier the two in the front seat were knocked unconscious, according to the autopsy. They hit the raised bridge and suffered fatal injuries before plunging in the water.
In writing this entry, I decided to give all the sites I got this information from but was frustrated to find that it was very difficult. The old searches I used when I wrote the first entry now instead bring pages upon pages of tributes, bands playing their songs, Coldplay (a dozen times), etc . . . . This is fine. However . . . it seems online media has stopped asking why. The Swedish authorities have ceased the investigation since no new results would come from it in their estimation. It has been listed as a “mystery.”
I have a hard time accepting this. Firstly, They were in all good spirits and were looking forward to the future so suicide/murder is ridiculous. Also, the avoidance of the other cars indicates they were interested not harming others if not themselves. The authorities claim they found no mechanical error in the car or bridge. We can’t look at the actual footage but just a reconstruction. The authorities ignored two emergency calls before responding to the third. From all this we conclude . . . it was a mystery. End of story, move on, next?
So what was it? Aliens? The car was possessed? Come on! How anyone can just say oh well is beyond me. but there is one thing . . . the brakes. I am no expert on cars but no report mentions the computer in the car. We do have some way of retrieving its information, right? The latest thing I read was on mancestereveningnews.co.uk where they mention that the brake line was severed and there was no brake fluid. the Swedish authorities conclude that was a result of the impact. My question is how do they know? It might explain why the brake lights went on and they seemed not to noticeably slow down. I can understand the thinking, “The brakes don’t work, avoid that car. Approaching the barrier, try again. Oh, shit.” Makes sense to me when you see the reconstructed CCTV. This is all guesswork, though. I am no expert. I just think more work could be done on the investigation and there were too many gaffs and holes in the info we have received.
On a better note, kudos to the Blossoms for not replacing Viola Beach as their opening act and playing a recording of their last U.K. show instead. That was class in the highest degree! I look forward to the new album patched together from the existing recordings and hope that the last show that the Blossoms had a recording of will be released.
Falling in the category of don’t have a clue . . . . When I ordered my copy of the aforementioned album from Amazon someone decided to put in a pre-emptive bad review. It said that the singing was awful and the plying was predictable. He said that he felt sorry for the families and it was tragedy that they died but “bad is bad.” Yes, Kris did not have a four octave range. Neither did Lou Reed. Contrary to what he said, the music was spirited and had personality. Had they lived the recordings would have been more polished but this is what we have. I’d rather have spirited rough demoes than some of the polished cookie-cutter manufactured crap that I hear regularly pushed by the mainstream media and the record companies. It’s not financially safe but good music rarely is. I liked that Kris in his last interview said he got a lot of inspiration Damon Albarn of Blur to just forget everything and go mental on stage. That’s what it’s about! I’m sorry but the music is not bad, you just don’t care for it. It’s not complex but so what? At the end of the day, if it doesn’t move you, WHO CARES? It’s your right not to like the music. It’s great to say why. But when you say it’s just bad then it’s just a cheap insult.
Side note: Morning after the crash (Feb. 15) I woke up to a strange vision of Kris standing over me smoking and laughing. I have vivid dreams and sometimes I get visions like this when I first wake up, weird as it is. If you believe in ghosts, could be that. If you believe in visions, could be that. Think it’s all rubbish and just a figment from the subconscious, could be that. Don’t take drugs or drink heavily, so it couldn’t be that. I make no assumptions in any direction. One thing for sure, is that wherever these guys are I’m sure they’re laughing despite everything. They appeared to really enjoy life. I don’t think death would stop that. Just my point of view, nothing big. Just my little impression.
Most of my info came from: BBC, Mirror UK, Mailonline, ITV, manchestereveningnews, Warrington Guardian.