- Music
- 20 Aug 10
Saratoga concert goers have been sharing their accounts with newsapers and online
SF Weekly has had several eye-witness reports from audience members who were distraught when the man jumped to his death, landing mere feet from singer Glen Hansard. A fan who had been standing beside the man described him as mid-to-late twenties with dark hair.
"He stood alone and he seemed melancholy and removed from the show... but not necessarily distraught," he says. "We made eye contact and smiled at each other and shortly after, I noticed he had left. Almost immediately, I noticed a figure climbing onto the roof. He pulled himself up on the roof and starting sprinting towards the edge. It's quite a distance and he lost his footing more than once. He kept getting up, determined to follow through."
Another audience member adds: “At first, we thought it was a dummy, or part of the lighting, but after seeing the horrible shock on Glen's face, we realized it was something very serious. He came out of nowhere. The staff acted quickly and tried to resuscitate the man, but to no avail. What a horrible end to a wonderful evening. There were some very young kids behind us enjoying the concert with their parents. I hope this was not too traumatizing for them.”
Twitter has also been abuzz with eye-witness accounts of the incident. Here a few of the tweets:
RyanGoble
"I witnessed a man commit suicide tonight at the Swell Season concert in Saratoga. One of the most horrifying things I have ever witnessed."
WinnieWongSF
"Witnessed this tonight and am still completely disturbed."
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whitneysings
"Unbelievably tragic. So sad for Swell Season and everyone else who just experienced that. I'm still shaking."
SilvanaF
"Just returned from the Swell Season concert where a man committed suicide. I saw him falling and then hit the stage. So shocking."
eltonlin
"Tragic ending to Swell Season concert @ Mountain Winery. Guy jumped to his death from about 3 stories right on stage during performance."
TnAtheist
"Feeling really bad for Swell Season and their fans right now. Absolutely horrific. My heart goes out to all who witnessed it."