Astroworld tragedy haunts pal of The Who 1979 concert victims: ‘This will happen again if nothing is done’

EXCLUSIVE: The tragedy at Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival has transported Fred Wittenbaum back to a painful time from his childhood.

On Dec. 3, 1979, 11 people were killed as thousands of fans tried to get into Cincinnati’s Riverfront Coliseum to see a concert by British rock band The Who. At least eight people suffered serious injuries, officials said at the time, and many others sustained minor injuries.

Three of the victims, Stephan Preston (19), Jackie Eckerle (15) and Karen Morrison (15), were students at Finneytown High School where Wittenbaum attended.

Nearly 42 years later, a similar catastrophe occurred at another live music event.

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On Friday, the crowd at Astroworld in Houston suddenly surged toward the stage during a performance by the rapper, squeezing fans so tightly together that they couldn’t breathe or move their arms, killing eight people in the chaos. Over 300 people were treated at a field hospital on-site and at least 13 others were hospitalized. The outdoor music festival, which was attended by some 50,000 people, is now the focus of a criminal investigation.

"This calamity has brought all of us back to that day," Wittenbaum told Fox News. "This shouldn’t have happened. The lesson we learned was that festival concerts are not in the best interest of the attendees because it leaves the door open to this kind of problem. When you listen to the interviews that have been given over the last week in Houston, and then go back and listen to the interviews that were given on December 3 – you could be talking to the same people. The comments being made are identical. It’s haunting."

In August 2010, the P.E.M. Memorial Scholarship Fund was founded by those who knew and loved the three students lost on Dec. 3. Three scholarships are awarded annually to eligible Finneytown High School seniors who are pursuing higher education in the arts or music. The name pays tribute to the last names of the classmates who were lost.

"We’re reliving that night," said Wittenbaum. "It’s agony to hear these stories. We are taken back to a time where we waited, wandered and hoped that our friends were safe in an era of no internet and no cell phones. We had to rely on landlines, the news and the radio… It’s a pain that never goes away. And it’s a shame that these promoters, venues and artists have not learned those lessons that were clear from Dec. 3. These types of horrific situations will continue to occur until festival concerts are banned forever."

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Wittenbaum described going up in a small town where all the students knew each other from over the years. At the time, Wittenbaum was 15 and friends with Eckerle. While everyone eagerly anticipated watching The Who live in their town, Wittenbaum said he wasn’t allowed to attend the concert due to his age.

And after the tragedy, he was forbidden by his parents from attending any concerts until well after college.

"We were not allowed to talk about this at school," he recalled. "It was dead silent the next day [after the tragedy]. There was no help in 1979. There was a school counselor who really was a teacher. So we had to keep our feelings bottled in for 36 years until we started this memorial. That’s when we were able to finally get together and finally have an outlet to express everything we’ve been feeling. And from there, we wanted to give back and honor those lives lost."

"When you’re 15 years old and you don’t know death, it’s a very strange experience to be in school and not see the same people you’re used to seeing every day," he continued. "And the repercussion was simple – no concerts. We weren’t allowed to put ourselves in a situation where this could happen again… This was a significant crowd surge that caused people to push together in such a way that they couldn’t move or breathe. And this could have happened at any concert."

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At the time of the tragedy, one usher described how the crowd surged through the door to the coliseum just before the gates were to open. The concert, which was sold out, went on as scheduled after the victims were taken away. The Who, as well as many concertgoers, were unaware of the deaths until after the show.

Cincinnati Public Safety director Richard Castellini said the rush on the door occurred because some seats for the concert were reserved while others were available on a first-come, first-served basis. Then-Mayor J. Kenneth Blackwell said many concertgoers stood in line for up to seven hours, and "when they saw the doors open, everybody made a mad rush -- they lost all sense of rationality."

Blackwell added that the concert went on as scheduled because officials feared a riot might break out of it were called off.

Wittenbaum stressed that those involved with P.E.M. Memorial don’t blame The Who for the tragedy.

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"[Singer] Roger Daltrey wanted to meet with the families from Finneytown and see the memorial, hear our stories," he shared.

In 2019, Daltrey and Pete Townshend, the only remaining full-time members of the band, spoke out about that fateful night in a WCPO-TV special.

"You know, I’m still traumatized by it," said Townshend, 76, as quoted by Cincinnati’s WVXU. "It’s a weird thing to have in your autobiography that, you know, 11 kids died at one of your concerts. It’s a strange, disturbing, heavy load to carry."

The band members described how their longtime manager told them "to go out and play that night, and to leave town the next day."  They also explained how the deaths have impacted them over the years.

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A rep for Daltrey, 77, didn’t immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment in regards to Astroworld. A rep for Townshend declined to comment.

The outlet noted that in 2015, a historical marker was unveiled outside the arena in Ohio. Vigils continue to be held there. And in 2018, Daltrey quietly visited Finneytown High School to meet with supporters of the P.E.M. Scholarship Fund. The Who had planned to return to the community for a gig in 2020 as part of their tour, which would have been their first performance in the Cincinnati area since 1979. However, it was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The virtual show, livestreamed on Facebook, was viewed in 29 countries, including Brazil, Germany and Malaysia. Daltrey pledged he will be back for an in-person event. And Wittenbaum said he hopes the show will occur in 2022.

Wittenbaum shared he’s determined to continue honoring those who were lost on what should have been a joyous night for music fans. And he hopes the lessons learned from Astroworld won’t be ignored.

"Anyone in this community would tell you that we need to put a permanent ban on festival seating and festival concerts – period," he said. "You just can’t have enough security or first responders. You can’t have enough entrances and exits. A crowd surge supersedes it all. It’s an unstoppable force. It’s like a tidal wave. The only solution is to stop it from occurring in the first place. This will happen again if nothing is done. And it doesn’t have to happen again."

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Scott, who founded the Astroworld festival, said he would cover funeral costs for the victims. The dead were between the ages of 14 and 27 and were from Texas, Illinois and Washington, according to Harris County authorities. They included high schoolers, an aspiring Border Patrol agent and a computer science student.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.