Many new artists aspire to enter the music business with dreams of selling millions of records and performing in front of millions of adoring fans. A lot of new artists spend time and money perfecting their songs, their sounds and their image. But how much time goes into perfecting a live performance? There are many aspects to performing live on a stage. In addition to conquering a little thing called stage fright, your memory must serve you well. Artists like Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg and The Roots are amazing because of the amount of information they must remember and execute flawlessly in front of millions of people. But there is one aspect of performing seldom spoken of – the dangers of the stage. As you chuckle at the latest viral clip floating around of Rick Ross falling off the stage, just remember, the stage can be a deadly place. Rick Ross taking a fall…First off, most artists can be blinded by the glare that is associated with the bright lights the beam down upon the stage, which usually causes the floor to heat up. Sometimes these floors can be quite slippery. The Game slipping during a performanceThe lights can also make it hard for an artist to see where the edge of the stage starts and where a nasty fall begins. Rich Boy goes tumbling downThen, there is the electricity. Thousands of feet of wires are required to hook up turntables, speakers, guitars, microphones elaborate lighting systems and other needed equipment. Steps can be a performers nightmare, especially for the ladies out there who are fond of wearing heels and long dresses, which can get tangled. Those steps jump right out at you Bey…Hip-Hop lost one of its own in July of 1990, when Heavy D.’s backup dancer Troy “Trouble T-Roy” Dixon was killed after he fell from the stage. Pete Rock and CL Smooth named their classic Hip-Hop track “T.R.O.Y. They Reminisce Over You” in honor of the fallen dancer. “T.R.O.Y.” Just a month later, in August of 1990, R&B legend Curtis Mayfield was paralyzed from the neck down, when a piece of lighting fell on him on stage. The injury would eventually cause Mayfield’s untimely death in 1990, at the age of 57. In July of 2009, two people where killed and 10 people were injured when Madonna’s stage entire stage collapsed. The Material Girl has taken a few falls throughout her career as well.Madonna’s falling off…Let’s not forget about the deafening roars of the crowd, in addition to the music, which must be amplified and mixed loud enough an audience to clearly hear the performance. So as you view on your mobile device or at your computer and enjoy a good laugh when you witness one of your favorite, or not so favorite artists take a spill, Just remember, the stage can be a deadly place. R.I.P. to Greg Ladanyi, a Grammy Award winning engineer/ producer who died last Tuesday (September September 29). Ladanyi, 57, was the CEO of Maple Jam Music Group. He suffered severe head trauma after falling 13-feet off the stage. Ladanyi worked with legendary artists like Jackson Browne, Hollywood Undead, Type-O, Don Henley, Fleetwood Mac and others.
