Slipknot's show at Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in Tinley Park, IL on August 11 turned tragic when Richard Valadez, 62, collapsed and died in the crowd. About an hour into Slipknot's set, during their performance of "Sulfur", Valadez was allegedly hit too hard and fell out of the pit. It took from 15 to 25 minutes for staff or emergency personnel to even get to Valadez, and one report said multiple fans were disturbed by the slow response time.
Two men performed CPR on him. It was not clear Wednesday who those men were. Other people, witnesses said, shined flashlights from their phones and waved their arms to get guards' attention, and several people jumped fences to alert ticket-takers on the other side about the emergency. Witnesses also described seeing men carrying a stretcher toward Valadez. The men reportedly were not wearing emergency uniforms and were dressed as if they were heavy-metal fans attending the concert. It also was not clear who those men were.
Several people who saw what happened said that while they understood it must be difficult for the amphitheater's staff to manage an emergency during a loud concert with thick crowds, they were nevertheless disturbed by what seemed like an unacceptably long amount of time it took to not only reach Valadez, but to get him out of the concert area and to the parking lot.
Now according to Patch, police are investigating the death over the slow response time. The death is not being treated as one dealing with foul play. Live Nation, operators of of Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, refused to comment on the issue to Patch and instead referred questions to local authorities.
One concertgoer trying to help at the time, Jeremy Metzger, said he tried to get the attention of a manager at the show to no avail.
"I said 'we got a man down here and I think he's dying. His response was: 'I don't have time.'"
The cause of death is not known. Our hearts go out to the Valadez family and their friends at this time.
