Green Day defend decision to headline festival after acrobat’s death: “We didn’t hear until after the show’

Pedro Aunión Monroy died after falling 100ft from a cage during a performance 
In defense: Green Day have insisted they were unaware about acrobat Pedro Aunión Monroy’s death when they performed
evin Winter/Getty Images
Jennifer Ruby10 July 2017
The Weekender

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Green Day have insisted that they were unaware that an acrobat had died at Madrid’s Mad Cool festival when they headlined.

The US band defended their decision to perform at the festival on Friday, saying that they weren’t told about Pedro Aunión Monroy’s death until after they came off stage.

The Brighton-based performer died when he fell 100 feet from a cage during a stunt in between acts, with paramedics unable to revive him at the scene.

Green Day faced criticism for not cancelling their headline set later that day, but claim they were not informed about the accident.

“Many of you are wondering why we continued to play our show after the accident,” the statement read.

"Green Day did not hear about the accident until after our show was over. We didn't even know there was an acrobat performance at all. These festivals are huge.”

Tragic: Pedro Aunión Monroy’s was treated by medics after the fall
EPA

They added: “Everything seemed normal. The crowd and fans had a good time. We got off stage and drove back to our artist compound. It was there when we were told the shocking news about Pedro.

"All of us were in disbelief. I don't know why the authorities chose not to tell us about the accident before our concert.

"If we had known prior to our performance we most likely would not have played at all. We are not heartless people. The safety and well being at any of our concerts absolutely comes first. What happened to Pedro is unthinkable."

Festival organisers have since releaded a statement explaining their decision to continue, saying that it was “deemed unsafe” to have large number of people exiting at once.

“Mad Cool Festival complied with all the corresponding security measures that are mandatory for the audience, artists and workers at festivals and was prepared for all eventualities,” it read.

“In this situation it was officially deemed unsafe to have a large mass of people moving all at once, with the possibility of violent reactions, due to a sudden cancellation of an event of 45,000 people.

“The safety and security of the fans at the festival was of the highest order and it was not compromised.”

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